Charles B. Fancher's "Red Clay"

Charles B. Fancher is a writer and editor, and a former senior corporate communications executive for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He also worked as a journalist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Detroit Free Press, and WSM-TV, as well as a publicist for the ABC Television Network. Fancher was previously a member of the School of Communications faculty at Howard University and the adjunct faculty at Temple University. He lives in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.

Here Fancher dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, Red Clay:

Red Clay is a multigenerational family saga told through the shared memories of Adelaide “Addie” Parker, an elderly white woman when readers meet her, and Eileen Parker, a Black college student still in her teens. Although they share a surname and roots in the same southern Alabama town, the two women have never met until a cold winter day in 1943, when Addie shows up after the funeral of Felix H. Parker, Eileen’s grandfather, and announces: “A lifetime ago, my family owned yours.”

It is the beginning of a conversation in which the story of Felix, an enslaved boy on the plantation owned by Addie’s family when the Civil War ends, unfolds against the backdrop of Reconstruction and eventually the arrival of the Jim Crow era. Neither Addie nor Eileen knows the full story—one of many twists and turns and secrets within secrets—but together they weave a rich tapestry of societal change and racial animus that continues to reverberate through contemporary American life.

Through it all, Felix, an unwitting eight-year-old pawn in a scheme by the plantation owner to save face and fortune—perseveres to achieve success for himself and for his family. By the time he dies, in his late eighties in 1943, Felix has faced hard times and good times and has emerged as a man of substance, tempered by all he has experienced.

Red Clay has many distinctive characters, but the principal ones (with the dream castings in parentheses) are:

--Felix Parker, an enslaved boy who matures into a respected carpenter and Black community leader after Emancipation (as an adult, Michael B. Jordan)

--Plessant Parker, Felix’s father and valet to the Road’s End plantation owner (Idris Elba)

--Elmira Parker, Felix’s mother and big-house cook (Viola Davis)

--Zilpha Parker, Felix’s wife (as a young woman, Zendaya; as an older woman, Halle Berry)

--John Robert Parker, owner of Road’s End plantation (George Clooney)

--Marie Louise Parker, wife of John Robert (Emma Stone)

--Addie Parker, youngest child of John Robert and Marie Louise (as a young woman, Florence Pugh; as an old woman, Sissy Spacek or Linda Purl)

--Claude Parker, middle child of John Robert and Marie Louise (as a young man, Paul Mescal; as a mature man, Brad Pitt or Chris Pine)

--Jean Louis Parker, eldest child of John Robert and Marie Louise (Timothée Chalamet)

--Jimmy Flowers, Felix’s best friend (as an adult, David Oyelowo)

The Felix Parker, Jimmy Flowers, and Addie Parker characters have significant roles as children, but rather than suggest specific individuals, I would hope that a casting director would see all three as requiring actors who appear youthful, but whose skills would enable them to convey a loss of innocence at young ages.

Visit Charles B. Fancher's website.

The Page 69 Test: Red Clay.

Q&A with Charles B. Fancher.

--Marshal Zeringue

Robert Inman's "Villages"

Novelist, screenwriter and playwright Robert Inman is a native of Elba, Alabama where he began his writing career in junior high school with his hometown weekly newspaper. He left a 31-year career in television journalism in 1996 to devote full time to creative writing.

Here Inman dreamcasts the leads for an adaptation of his new novel, Villages:

Would my new novel Villages make a good movie? You bet. I’ve worked for years as a screenwriter, and I believe this story has all the ingredients for film – authentic characters, a compelling plotline, conflict, love, courage and hope. Am I being immodest? Why not.

Now, who to play the lead – a young war veteran, wounded in body in spirit, trying to come to grips with the traumatic experience that has turned his life upside down. My vote is for Timothée Chalamet. I’ve been following his career since the beginning, and I admire his innate ability to inhabit complex characters and bring them relatably to life. I point especially to his role in Beautiful Boy as a youth struggling with addiction, and his most recent turn as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. He’s the real deal.

The other key character in Villages is a small-town doctor who has been my veteran’s friend and mentor for all of his young life. Here, I give the nod to Bill Pullman. Bill was in my first movie, a Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation of my novel Home Fires Burning. He was just getting started, but he already had all the great acting chops. At the beginning of the filming in Georgia, the cast and director and I sat down for a table reading of my script. There was a wrenching scene involving Bill’s character, and he read the part with such incredible depth of emotion that he had all the rest of us teary-eyed. I’d love to see him portray my doctor the same way.

I love movies. I love writing for movies, especially adapting my own work. It’s telling the story but using the special language and perception of film. I could do Villages in a heartbeat.

Visit Robert Inman's website.

The Page 69 Test: Villages.

--Marshal Zeringue

Lincoln Mitchell's "Three Years Our Mayor"

Lincoln Mitchell is an instructor in the School of International and Public Affairs and the political science department at Columbia University. He has written numerous books, scholarly articles, and opinion columns on American politics, foreign policy, the history and politics of San Francisco, and baseball. In addition to his academic interests, Mitchell has worked in domestic political campaigns and on foreign policy projects in dozens of countries, particularly in the former Soviet Union. Mitchell earned his BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his PhD from Columbia University. He lives in New York and San Francisco.

Mitchell's new book is Three Years Our Mayor: George Moscone and the Making of Modern San Francisco.

Here the author dreamcasts the lead for an adaptation of Three Years Our Mayor:

I do not have a deep knowledge of film or of actors, so rather than try to cast my whole book, Three Years Our Mayor: George Moscone and the Making of Modern San Francisco, I will focus simply on who would play the lead role, that of George Moscone. When thinking about who might play Moscone in a film version of my biography of him two things come to mind.

First, Moscone has been played on film before. In the 2008 biopic of Harvey Milk titled simply Milk, Moscone was paid played by Victor Garber. Garber is a fine actor, but in that film Moscone was peripheral to the story, so could be played by a character actor. Howeer, for a movie about Moscone, Garber is not the right guy.

Second, the question of who might play George Moscone is fun to answer because he could, and should, be played by a real movie star. Moscone had a career, and life, that calls for star treatment. He was a young man from modest background who was became All-City basketball player in high school and went on to a successful career in politics, was a bit of womanizer and, according to many who knew him, had movie star looks and charisma. Additionally, his life ended in horrific but nonetheless cinematic circumstances.

Moscone died when I was a child and although I remember the day he died and how upset many, but not everybody, I knew was, I never met the man, so it is tough for me to have a real sense of what movie star should portray him on film. However, it happened that while I was mulling over this question, I had the opportunity to have breakfast with a friend who is a bit older than me and knew Moscone quite well, having worked with him for many years. We talked about it and he agreed that a real movie star should play Moscone.

Based on our conversation and my own limited knowledge of film, for the movie of George Moscone's life, I would cast Brad Pitt in the leading role. Pitt is a good-looking leading man type and can pull off the kind of grace, athleticism, charisma and complexity that Moscone had. I had briefly entertained the idea of Jason Segal as well. The role would be a more serious than many of Segal’s role, but I think he has the versatility to play Moscone. He is also a handsome guy with a friendly and casual air about him that would help. Additionally, Segal is Jewish, and there is a long tradition of Jews and Italian Americans portraying each other in film.

On balance, either Pitt or Segal would be fine, but filling out the rest of the cast is beyond my ken.

Visit Lincoln Mitchell's website.

The Page 99 Test: San Francisco Year Zero.

The Page 99 Test: The Giants and Their City.

The Page 99 Test: Three Years Our Mayor.

Writers Read: Lincoln A. Mitchell.

--Marshal Zeringue

Leslie Karst’s "Waters of Destruction"

Originally from Southern California, Leslie Karst moved north to attend UC Santa Cruz (home of the Fighting Banana Slugs), and after graduation, parlayed her degree in English literature into employment waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock and roll band. Exciting though this life was, she eventually decided she was ready for a “real” job, and ended up at Stanford Law School.

For the next twenty years Karst worked as the research and appellate attorney for Santa Cruz’s largest civil law firm. During this time, she discovered a passion for food and cooking, and so once more returned to school—this time to earn a degree in Culinary Arts.

Now retired from the law, Karst spends her time cooking, singing alto in the local community chorus, gardening, cycling, and of course writing. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix, Ziggy, split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai'i.

Here Karst dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Waters of Destruction:

Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen are a longtime couple in their early sixties who’ve recently retired to the Big Island of Hawai‘i from Los Angeles, where Valerie worked as a caterer for the film and TV industry and Kristen as a union carpenter.

Val and Kristen bicker some—as old married couples will do—but they have a loving and comfortable relationship. Until, that is, Valerie becomes obsessed with solving the murder of the bartender she’s recently replaced at the Speckled Gecko in Hilo, whose body has just been pulled from the treacherous Wailuku River (which translates as “waters of destruction”). Although Kristen is initially supportive of her wife’s efforts, she soon tires of her singular focus—and eventually begins to worry for Valerie’s safety as she digs deeper into the case.

My pick for who would play Valerie were Waters of Destruction to be made into a movie would be Annette Bening. In particular, the Annette Bening as she appeared in the marvelous film The American President (also starring her husband, Warren Beatty). She’s feisty and has a wry sense of humor, but also shows a vulnerability that’s necessary for Valerie’s character. Although at 5’ 7” Bening is a bit too tall for the shorter Valerie, her looks otherwise match those of my character, who has dark, now- graying hair and an olive complexion she’s inherited from her grandparents in Marseilles, France.

As for Kristen, I’d be thrilled to see Jody Foster in the role. Her tough demeanor and snarky sense of humor would fit Val’s wife to a T, and I could totally see her as the know-it-all (but generous and supportive) Kristen. Yes, Jody’s far too short to play the tall and lanky Kristen—too bad Jody and Annette’s heights aren’t reversed!—but hey, that could no doubt be fixed with CGI. Look what they did with the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings.

Oh, and speaking of generous-and-loving-meets-snarky-sense-of-humor, how fun would it to be to score Nancy Meyers as director and Aaron Sorkin as screenwriter for Waters of Destruction?

I can dream, right?

Visit Leslie Karst’s website.

Coffee with a Canine: Leslie Karst & Ziggy.

My Book, The Movie: The Fragrance of Death.

Q&A with Leslie Karst.

The Page 69 Test: Waters of Destruction.

--Marshal Zeringue

Bryan Gruley's "Bitterfrost"

Bryan Gruley is the Edgar-nominated author of six novels – Purgatory Bay, Bleak Harbor, the Starvation Lake Trilogy, and his most recent, Bitterfrost - and one award-winning work of nonfiction. A lifelong journalist, he shared in The Wall Street Journal's Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks. He lives in northern lower Michigan with his wife, Pamela, where he can be found playing hockey, singing in his band, or spending time with his children and grandchildren.

Here Gruley dreamcasts an adaptation of Bitterfrost:

Wouldn’t it be great if Bitterfrost were made into a movie? I’d be famous and rich and everyone would want to buy my books. Alas, I might also be dead because of how long it typically takes to get a book made into a movie.

But, please, bring it on!

Bitterfrost tells the tale of Jimmy Baker, a former minor-league hockey player who quit the game on the spot after he almost killed an opponent during a fight. Thirteen years later, he is the Zamboni driver for an elite amateur hockey team in the little northern Michigan town of Bitterfrost—and the prime suspect in a brutal double murder.

I don’t imagine actors as my fictional characters when I’m writing. But when someone asks who I might have play so-and-so, ideas jump to mind. I actually think Bitterfrost would work as well if not better as an episodic television series along the lines of The Night Of, Fargo, Slow Horses, or Mare of Easttown. I love those shows, which have influenced my writing, particularly my efforts to make every written scene as cinematic as possible. So, for Bitterfrost …

The actors:

Timothy Olyphant as Jimmy Baker. My wife, Pam, and I both fell in love with Olyphant’s portrayal of Raylan Givens in the TV series Justified. He can play tough and he can play vulnerable, exactly what’s needed for Jimmy’s flawed but likeable character. (Pam wondered if maybe Olyphant is “too pretty” to play Jimmy Baker; I told her viewers like pretty.)

Aimee Ffion-Edwards as Jimmy’s defense attorney, Devyn Payne. I’ve admired Ffion-Edwards’s work as Shirley Dander in Slow Horses. But mainly, I think she looks as I imagine Devyn to look. Her character also is tough with an acerbic sense of humor, like Devyn as well.

Jeff Daniels as Garth Klimmek, the detective who investigates Jimmy’s case. I’ve always liked watching Daniels, especially in Purple Rose of Cairo, The Newsroom, and A Man in Full. He, too, looks like what I imagine Klimmek to look like, and his versatility is beyond question. He’s also a Michigan native and resident, and would probably understand Klimmek, the classic Upper Midwestern guy who wants to follow the rules but may find that he cannot. Daniels also directed a Michigan-based movie, Escanaba in Da Moonlight.

Director/Showrunner:

Simone Stock, a Canadian director/screenwriter, read Bitterfrost and loved it. She has directed award- winning films and could make my novel into a fine TV series or movie. It might have to be set in Canada, but that’s going to be our 51 st  state anyway, so perfect.

Noah Hawley, showrunner of the Fargo TV series, would be great. Fargo encapsulated the cold, bleak feel of the town of Bitterfrost, and I admire Hawley’s appreciation of complex characters.

Brad Ingelsby, showrunner of Mare of Easttown. I just plain loved this series for its grit and layered characters. It seems like Inglesby would appreciate the town and the inhabitants of Bitterfrost.

Where do I sign?

Learn more about the book and author at Bryan Gruley's website.

The Page 69 Test: Starvation Lake.

The Page 69 Test: The Hanging Tree.

The Page 69 Test: Bleak Harbor.

The Page 69 Test: Purgatory Bay.

The Page 69 Test: Bitterfrost.

Q&A with Bryan Gruley.

--Marshal Zeringue

Douglas Corleone's "Falls to Pieces"

Douglas Corleone is the international bestselling author of Gone Cold, Payoff, and Robert Ludlum’s The Janson Equation, as well as the acclaimed Kevin Corvelli novels, the Simon Fisk international thrillers, and the stand-alone courtroom drama The Rough Cut. Corleone’s debut novel, One Man’s Paradise, won the 2009 Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award and was a finalist for the 2011 Shamus Award for Best First Novel. A former New York City criminal defense attorney, Corleone now resides in Honolulu, where he is currently at work on his next novel.

Here Corleone dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, Falls to Pieces:

It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade since I wrote my last piece for “My Book, the Movie.” Of all the prompts on all the sites I’ve written for, this is my favorite. Why? Because we authors only write novels in the hopes that they’ll be adapted into screenplays, cast with megastars, and made into award-winning films. I’m kidding, of course. But the allure of Hollywood is undeniable. My storytelling skills come chiefly from movies and, let’s face it, not all of our friends read. (Even when we dedicate the book to them!)

Getting down to casting Falls to Pieces: For my main characters, Kati and Zoe, I needed a mother-daughter team, yet my mind went straight to sisters Vera and Taissa Farmiga (ca. 2014 in keeping with the character’s ages).

Kati’s lawyer Noah Walker was always Owen Wilson. But Matthew McConaughey is also acceptable!

My favorite character in the book is Mac, who’d be played by Jonathan Banks, famous for his role as Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

Graham, meanwhile, needs to be played by Woody Harrelson.

Learn more about the book and author at Douglas Corleone's website.

The Page 69 Test: Good as Gone.

My Book, The Movie: Payoff.

The Page 69 Test: Gone Cold.

My Book, The Movie: Gone Cold.

Writers Read: Douglas Corleone (August 2015).

The Page 69 Test: Falls to Pieces.

Writers Read: Douglas Corleone.

--Marshal Zeringue

Lauren Stienstra's "The Beauty of the End"

Lauren Stienstra is an American novelist who enjoys writing about the intersection of duty, science, and humanity. She believes that fiction can encourage readers to re-think their roles, responsibilities, and relationships in our own present world.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Stienstra now lives, works, and writes around Washington, D.C. She holds advanced degrees in science and public policy from the George Washington and Johns Hopkins universities, and trained in creative writing at UCLA.

Here Stienstra dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Beauty of the End:

Though it’s set against the backdrop of a species-ending catastrophe, at its core, The Beauty of the End is about the tension and contradiction between opposites: life and death, right and wrong, betrayal and justice, personal choice and collective duty—one cannot exist without the other.

The theme duality is also set up in the dynamic of the main characters, a set of genetically-identical-but-entirely-different twin sisters: Charlie and Maggie. Off the page, Charlie and Maggie are born to a Marshallese family and later adopted out to an unsuspecting white family in Pennsylvania via fraudulent proceedings. (This is based on a real life tragedy.) For the role, it would be important to me to cast someone with Pacific Island heritage, and Keisha Castle-Hughes quickly comes to mind. Not only does she have Māori heritage, she also has experience playing a twin—a major feature of her Oscar-winning film Whale Rider.

There is of course a bit of a love triangle in the story, with a male character named Nolan. One of Nolan’s most salient features is his blaze of red hair, and who better to play that kind of role than someone who literally embodies that characteristic: Eddie Redmayne (a younger version of him, perhaps.) I was first captivated by his performance in Starz’s Pillars of the Earth, an adaptation of Ken Follett’s novel, where he proved his ability to bring literary characters to life.

Another pivotal male role is Theo, Charlie’s professional assistant and personal confidant. Described as Korean-American, Theo’s casting presents an opportunity to draw from the immense talent in the K-Drama and Korean film industry. Gong Yoo was mesmerizing in Squid Game, but Hyun Bin would also be a strong contender, bringing both depth and international appeal to the film.

There are a few important supporting actors that are also worth mentioning:

Aunt Frankie, a reformed drug addict, could be a natural fit for Kirsten Dunst, who has spoken openly about her journey through treatment and recovery.

Dr. Carmichael’s character was inspired by the slippery and enigmatic Horace Slughorn of the Harry Potter series, making Jim Broadbent an ideal choice.

Fiery, fearless, and flawed, Dr. Fontanez demands an actress who can effortlessly combine grace, presence, and intensity—Salma Hayek comes immediately to mind.

Finally, my tweenager daughter insists that her favorite actress, Cynthia Erivo, be part of the cast. The only role weighty enough for her immense talent is Dr. Byrne, the formidable head of the government agency in charge of addressing the crisis—though, unfortunately, it’s a relatively small part.

Visit Lauren Stienstra's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Rosanne Limoncelli's "The Four Queens of Crime"

Rosanne Limoncelli is an author, filmmaker, and storyteller living in Brooklyn. She has written, directed, and produced short narrative films, documentaries, and educational films. Limoncelli also writes plays, feature scripts, poetry, games, mysteries, and science fiction. Her short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Suspense Magazine, and Noir Nation, and her short films have been screened in festivals around the world.

Here Limoncelli dreamcasts an adaptation of her debut mystery novel, The Four Queens of Crime:

The Four Queens of Crime takes place in 1938. The best selling authors of the decade, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham, are hosting a gala to raise money for the Women’s Voluntary Service to help Britain prepare for war. Baronet Sir Henry Heathcote has loaned Hursley House for the event, and all the elites of London society are attending. The gala is a brilliant success, despite a few hiccups, and the four writers witness quite a bit of dramatic family dynamics and political intrigue that pervade the event. The next morning, Sir Henry is found dead in the library. Detective Chief Inspector Lilian Wyles, the first real life woman detective at Scotland Yard, and her partner DCI Richard Davidson are assigned the case and discover a cluster of potential suspects among the weekend guests, including an upset fiancée, a politically ambitious son, a reserved but protective brother, an irate son-in-law, a rebellious teenage daughter, and the deputy home secretary. Quietly recruiting the four queens of crime, DCI Wyles must sort through the messy aftermath of Sir Henry’s death to solve the mystery and identify the killer.

As I was writing the book, since I am also a filmmaker, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about the story as a movie or TV series. There are so many wonderful English actors that could fill the roles, especially at the age of the these real people in 1938. Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and Ngaio Marsh were in their late 40’s and Margery Allingham was 34. And the real life first woman DCI Lilian Wyles was 52. I wanted to keep these real ages in mind as I developed their characters. So often, in movies, women’s roles are given to actors much younger than the character’s physical age, it seems older women are just not always celebrated the way older men are. I would not want that to happen in the movie of my book. And why should it with so many great choices? Agatha could be played by Kate Winslet, and Cate Blanchett could play Ngaio since she is from down under. Dorothy L Sayers could be portrayed by Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts would make a great Margery Allingham. And I would love to see Emily Blunt play Lilian Wyles, she has the subtlety and the spunk. As far as directing the movie, I have strong opinions on that too! I could see Susanna White as the director, as she so brilliantly directed Parade’s End ten years ago and has gone on to do more wonderful projects. Someone who is also very skilled as a director is Rebecca Hall, who did such brilliant work as the director of Passing. I honestly can’t decide if The Four Queens of Crime novel should be a movie or a mini series. Perhaps I’ll have to survey the readers!

Visit Rosanne Limoncelli's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Su Chang's "The Immortal Woman"

Su Chang is a Chinese-Canadian writer. Born and raised in Shanghai, she is the daughter of a former (reluctant) Red Guard leader. Her fiction has been recognized in Prairie Fire’s Short Fiction Contest, the Canadian Authors’ Association (Toronto) National Writing Contest, the ILS/Fence Fiction Contest, the Masters Review’s Novel Excerpt Contest, the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival Fiction Contest, among others.

Here Chang dreamcasts an adaptation of her debut novel, The Immortal Woman:

If someone wants to adapt my novel, The Immortal Woman, into a movie (ideally a tragicomedy), I’d like either Lulu Wang or Yung Chang to direct it. I loved Lulu’s 2019 film The Farewell; she nailed the differences between Eastern and Western cultures and the awkward but often comical cross-cultural experiences of immigrants. I was shocked to watch the film, as my family almost went through that exact same story in real life, and I felt completely seen. Lulu would understand the nuances of my novel – the conflictual feelings towards one’s birth country, the erosion of an immigrant’s identity, the push and pull of assimilation and birth heritage, the suspicion of “dual loyalties,” etc. etc.

The documentary filmmaker Yung Chang would also be a fantastic director for the adaptation. He was the only Chinese-Canadian boy who grew up in a small town in Ontario without other Asians; he'd intuitively understand characters like Lin and Dali. I adored his documentary Up the Yangtze so much that I watched it multiple times. His Wuhan Wuhan was also a triumph. He is adept at capturing intimate human stories against the backdrop of massive historical events. He has a beautifully subtle sensibility that resists over-editorializing.

And in terms of my dream cast, that would be Stephanie Hsu or Constance Wu as Lin (the daughter), Simu Liu as Dali, Paul Mescal as Sasha, and Joan Chen as Lemei (the mother). Joan came of age during the Cultural Revolution and was dubbed “The Elizabeth Taylor of China.” I grew up watching her Chinese films and later, her recurring appearances in Twin Peaks. Her performance in the recent movie Didi solidifies my belief that she is the quintessential “insider-outsider” and she has a visceral understanding of the adult immigrant experience and the psychological chasm between Chinese immigrant mothers and their American children.

In fact, since my novel is a six-part multi-generational epic tale, it’s best to be adapted into a limited series. Now that I’ve got the main cast and crew figured out, I’ll be home waiting for the calls to start pouring in!

Learn more about the book and author at Su Chang's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Amy Shearn's "Animal Instinct"

Amy Shearn is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed novels Dear Edna Sloane, Unseen City, The Mermaid of Brooklyn, and How Far is the Ocean From Here. She has worked as an editor for Medium, and her work has appeared in the New York Times Modern Love column, Slate, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, Oprah, Coastal Living, Poets & Writers, Literary Hub, Catapult, The Millions, The Rumpus, and many other publications.

Shearn has an MFA from the University of Minnesota, and currently lives in Brooklyn with her two children.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Animal Instinct:

I have thought about this one a lot, as this is my first book I actually have a film agent for. I think it would actually work better as a limited series, is that allowed?

I'd love to see Melanie Lynsky or Lizzy Caplan as Rachel, the main character -- someone who is earthy and sexy and has a bit of an edge.

Her ex-husband could be Will Arnett.

Rachel's best friend Lulu is kind of a Phoebe Waller-Bridge type if she can do an American accent and not steal the show... I believe in her.

Then we'd need a diverse variety of hot men and women to play Rachel's various paramours. And there's one character -- I don't want want to give too much away -- but they have a small but mighty role that should go to someone nonbinary and/or androgynous -- ER Fightmaster or Mae Martin or maaaaybe Kristen Stewart.

Okay, hear that movie producers and showrunners? It would be a great show!

Visit Amy Shearn's website.

The Page 99 Test: How Far Is the Ocean from Here.

Writers Read: Amy Shearn (March 2013).

Q&A with Amy Shearn.

My Book, The Movie: Dear Edna Sloane.

The Page 69 Test: Dear Edna Sloane.

The Page 69 Test: Animal Instinct.

Writers Read: Amy Shearn.

--Marshal Zeringue

Peter Colt's "The Banker"

Peter Colt was born in Boston, MA in 1973 and moved to Nantucket Island shortly thereafter. He is a 1996 graduate of the University of Rhode Island and a 24-year veteran of the Army Reserve with deployments to Kosovo and Iraq. He is a police officer in a New England city and the married father of two boys.

Here Colt dreamcasts an adaptation of his new Andy Roark mystery, The Banker:

The Banker is set in 1986 and takes place in Boston and Amesbury, Massachusetts, which is on the border with New Hampshire. PI Andy Roark is hired to look into a case of embezzlement at a bank in Amesbury. After a few weeks he quits out of boredom. A short time later the bank is robbed and one of the suspects in the embezzlement is murdered. Roark thinks the timing is just too coincidental and gets back on the case. He is helped by his old friend from Vietnam and fellow Green Beret, Chris. Also Angela Estrella is back as his romantic interest.

If the book were made into a movie I would love Ben Affleck to direct it. He has proven with movies such as Gone Baby Gone and Argos that he is a skilled director. His familiarity with Boston would make him a natural to direct the film. I could see him doing that and even taking a small role like that of the bank president Brock who hires Andy.

There are a lot of fantastic actors who could play the part of Andy but in my mind Scoot McNairy would be great at it. He has delivered solid performances in Narcos Mexico and his turn in Killing Them Softly was solid. Also his accent in KTS is just how I imagine Andy's.

Nicholas Hoult would make an excellent Eric Lintz. Lintz is one of the suspects in the embezzlement scheme. He might also be a murderer. Hoult's performance in The Order was gritty and believable. He would bring depth to the character of Lintz who might be a good guy or a really, really bad one.

The main heavy in the book is Stanley Clark. Clark is a body builder who has some very violent tendencies. He is a physically imposing man and I would love to seem him played by Alan Richson of Reacher and SAS Rogue Heroes fame. Richson has the sheer size that would make him perfect for the role. Also isn't it delicious fun when we see someone who is so well associated with playing the heroic good guy take a turn as a baddie?

Visit Peter Colt's website.

My Book, The Movie: Back Bay Blues.

The Page 69 Test: Back Bay Blues.

Q&A with Peter Colt.

The Page 69 Test: Death at Fort Devens.

My Book, The Movie: Death at Fort Devens.

Writers Read: Peter Colt (June 2022).

My Book, The Movie: The Ambassador.

The Page 69 Test: The Ambassador.

The Page 69 Test: The Judge.

My Book, The Movie: The Judge.

Writers Read: Peter Colt (May 2024).

Writers Read: Peter Colt.

--Marshal Zeringue

C. I. Jerez's "At the Island's Edge"

C. I. Jerez, who has a blend of Irish, Puerto Rican, and Cuban parentage, grew up near El Paso’s Mexican border experiencing a true cultural amalgamation. After graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso, she commissioned as a signal officer in the US Army and rose to the rank of major before transitioning out of the military. She holds an MBA from Webster University and a doctorate in international business from Liberty University. When not writing, she serves as cofounder and vice president for Ashire Technologies & Services Inc., a cybersecurity firm specializing in securing federal information systems. She lives in central Florida.

Here Jerez dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, At the Island's Edge:

I thought about the ideal producer and cast from the very beginning stages of pitching this novel and for good reason. The very first agent to get super excited about the idea for this book had recently sold another of her client’s novels to Benny Medina and Jennifer Lopez’s (JLO) production company Nuyorican Productions. And while I ended up being represented by a different agency, a seed was planted about the possibility for this story and how it would look on film.

I’m still convinced that if JLO or her team has an opportunity to read my book about a young, Puerto Rican single mother returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom as an American war hero grappling with PTSD, they will be interested in the film rights. Especially when they get to delve into the themes and cinematic depictions of family, culture, and daily life in Puerto Rico when Lina, my protagonist, finds herself returning home after twelve years away with her nine-year-old son, Teó who struggles with Tourette’s Syndrome, but is exceptional bright and precocious.

With this in mind I’ve cast the book’s main characters as follows:

Sergeant Lina LaSalle: Eiza Gonzalez, best known for the Michael Bay film, Ambulance.

Elijah “Eli” Montgomery: With the perfect look of a true Charleston, SC southern gentleman — Liam Hemsworth.

Leonardo (the ex): Would be perfect for Benito “Bad Bunny” Ocasio to make his film debut.

Cousin Dolores: Jenna Ortega from the Netflix series, Wednesday.

Lina’s Mom: Jennifer Lopez (JLO).

Lina’s Father: Carlos Ponce – those eyes make him a perfect fit.

Tia Lisandra: Roselyn Sanchez – beautiful and villainous.

Lina’s Grandma: Rita Moreno, of course!

Lina’s Grandpa: Jacobo Morales – a true Puerto Rican legend!

And there you have it! The entire cast!

Visit C. I. Jerez's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nick Kolakowski's "Where the Bones Lie"

Nick Kolakowski is the author of several crime novels, including Where the Bones Lie and Payback is Forever. His work has been nominated for the Anthony and Derringer awards, and his short story “Scorpions” appeared in The Best Mystery and Suspense 2024. His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, including Mystery Weekly, Shotgun Honey, Rock and a Hard Place Press, and more.

Here Kolakowski dreamcasts an adaptation of Where the Bones Lie:

When I sat down to write Where the Bones Lie, my mystery novel about a washed-up Hollywood fixer and a young hipster lady trying to solve a decades-old murder, I didn’t have actors in mind for a hypothetical movie or TV adaptation—which perhaps is ironic, considering how much of the book takes place amidst L.A.’s movie industry.

As time went on, though, I couldn’t help but consider a bit of “dreamcasting.” Natasha Lyonne, who I loved in Poker Face and Russian Doll, would make a perfect Madeline, the younger and more sarcastic of my amateur detective duo. Madeline is bitter about her past, a big fan of chain-smoking, and possesses an eccentric fashion sense—and Lyonne would nail all of that perfectly (her Russian Doll character is most of the way there, especially on the smoking front).

Casting for Dash, my burned-out fixer, is a lot tougher. Before he got into the sleuthing business, Dash spent years cleaning up the Hollywood studios’ biggest messes as quietly as possible. He’s haunted by many of the things he’s done, and he’s looking for some kind of redemption, even if he’s not quite sure what that looks like. If you’re adapting the book, it’s not the kind of role you fill with a young, smooth-skinned actor; you need someone with some real miles on their face. The more I think about it, the more I like someone like Walton Goggins, who proved so spectacular in crime fare like The Shield and Justified.

The cool thing about Goggins is that he’s masterful at playing someone who’s haunted and battle-scarred, but he’s also spectacularly funny when he needs to be. Dash is a witty protagonist, and much of the book is powered by his constant back-and-forth with Madeline as they hunt for clues and dodge death; Goggins can pull this off. Pair him with Lyonne? That would rock.

I don’t want to go too deeply into spoiler territory, but there’s another major character in the book, Manny, who’s something of a mentor to Dash. An early reader suggested that JK Simmons would be perfect here, as Manny (like Simmons) is funny and energetic, but also capable of turning quickly to real menace. If you’ve ever witnessed Simmons’ raging performance as the music instructor in Whiplash, you know he can be downright terrifying if the role calls for it.

For the rest of the characters, you could aim for interesting faces, as if you were casting an old noir movie. There are corrupt cops, decadent movie stars, shady PR types, and more—plenty of opportunities for any actors who want to go villainous. Once you get into California’s shady underbelly, things get scary quickly.

Visit Nick Kolakowski's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nicole Galland's "Boy"

Nicole (N.D.) Galland’s novels span the spectrum from historical (The Fool’s Tale, Revenge of the Rose, Crossed, Godiva) to Shakespearean (I, Iago) to contemporary rom-com (Stepdog, On The Same Page) to speculative fiction (New York Times bestselling The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. co-written with Neal Stephenson). She has a MFA in Creative Writing from University College Dublin, and loves teaching workshops on world creation.

She has also worked as a stage director, dramaturg, and X-wing fighter pilot.

Here Galland dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Boy:

My two 19-year-old protagonists are largely described in contrast to each other. Alexander (Sander) is an actor: ethereally, delicately attractive, a bisexual man-boy desired by nearly everyone in London. A singer and dancer, he moves with androgynous grace. Black-haired, blue-eyed, marvelous bone structure that has been praised since childhood. In contrast, his best friend Joan is the living embodiment of nondescript. An unschooled intellectual, she pays little attention to her own appearance: blandly light brown hair, blandly hazel eyes, with an unremarkable physique, and a soft, forgettable face. Her sole distinctive feature: beautifully expressive lips, which live on her face without adding to its overall beauty. She spends a good chunk of the book disguised as a boy – a boy as nondescript as Joan herself.

In general, I never think about who would play my characters in a movie adaptation. I develop such specific mental images of them, an actor would strike me as a mere impersonator.

But…

…virtually every early reader of Boy cooed, “Ooo, based on your description, you’re obviously thinking of Sander as Timothée Chalamet.” Because I’m bad with names, I wasn’t sure who Timothée Chalamet was, so after the fifth time someone said it, I Googled him – and found myself staring at someone who looked remarkably like Sander! But once I’d been prompted to contemplate Sander portrayed by a not-Sander in the flesh, I realized a young Billy Crudup would suit better. By a sweet coincidence, Crudup played a Sander-like character, Ned Kynaston, in the movie Stage Beauty (2004).

Once a Sander impersonator was on my radar, I idly contemplated who might then play Joan. Joan is hard to cast, precisely because she is so nondescript. It’s wonderful that actresses no longer need to look conventionally beautiful to have careers, but they do need to look interesting - and Joan disappears in a crowd. As a thought-experiment, I turned again to Google, and spent an hour seeking young character actresses who reminded me of her. The ideal Joan-actress should make the audience feel “I like you” without also feeling “I like looking at you.” Nobody really fit the bill, but three of them came close: Florence Pugh (too conventionally pretty), Saoirse Ronan (too strikingly distinctive), and Sophia Lillis (too adorably tomboyish). While I’d be thrilled to see any of them in the role, some little part of me would secretly grouse, “Yeah, but she’s relying on her looks to make a good impression; Joan herself doesn’t need to do that.”

Visit Nicole Galland's website, Facebook page, and Threads page.

Coffee with a Canine: Nicole Galland & Leuco.

The Page 69 Test: Stepdog.

My Book, The Movie: Stepdog.

Writers Read: Nicole Galland (August 2015).

--Marshal Zeringue

Clea Simon's "The Butterfly Trap"

Before turning to a life of crime (fiction), Boston Globe-bestselling author Clea Simon was a journalist. A native of New York, she came to Massachusetts to attend Harvard University and never left. The author of three nonfiction books and 32 mysteries, most recently the psychological suspense The Butterfly Trap, her books alternate between cozies (usually featuring cats) and darker psychological suspense, like the Massachusetts Center for the Book “must reads” Hold Me Down and World Enough. She lives with her husband, the writer Jon S. Garelick (another Boston Globe alum), and their cat Thisbe in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Here Simon dreamcasts an adaptation of The Butterfly Trap:

If The Butterfly Trap is made into a movie, the main thing I’d be looking for is chemistry. On the surface, Greg and Anya are very different. He’s a science guy who ultimately decides to abandon research and go into surgery. She’s a painter, and her whole life revolves around the art world. Physically, he’s a nice-looking but somewhat beefy guy. Maybe a younger Ben Affleck, or even Chris Evans, if he put on a few pounds. Anya, on the other hand, is a stunner: a petite woman with arresting eyes. I wasn’t thinking of Anya Taylor Joy when I wrote her, but I am now.

But casting The Butterfly Trap should not about star power or who visually resembles the characters as I’ve written them. This is a pas de deux between two very different people who, against all odds, come together…at least for a while. Again, it’s all about chemistry. I was thinking about the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in which despite all their differences you could feel there was an attraction between the two. And, sure enough, the actors ended up married and are now dealing with a messy divorce. I’m not saying that’s what happens in the book – I don’t want to give anything away. But that tension? That “will they or won’t they fall in love? Will they or won’t they make it? That would be perfect for The Butterfly Trap!

Visit Clea Simon's website.

The Page 69 Test: To Conjure a Killer.

The Page 69 Test: Bad Boy Beat.

Writers Read: Clea Simon (May 2024).

Q&A with Clea Simon.

--Marshal Zeringue

Diane Barnes's "The Mulligan Curse"

Diane Barnes is the author of All We Could Still Have, More Than, Waiting for Ethan, and Mixed Signals. She is also a product market manager in the health-care industry. When she’s not writing, Barnes can be found at the gym, running or playing tennis, trying to burn off the ridiculous amounts of chocolate and ice cream she eats. She and her husband, Steven, live in New England with Oakley, their handsome golden retriever

Here Barnes dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, The Mulligan Curse:

My novel, The Mulligan Curse, is a story about regrets. The main character, Mary, is 54 years old and having a delayed mid-life crisis. She regrets a decision she made when she was 24 to pass up a promotion and eventually give up her dream job as a television newscaster/reporter. She wishes she could be 24 again and take the promotion. Then because of a “magical” family gene, her wish comes true, and she wakes up as her 24-year-old self. However, the story isn’t a time travel book. Instead, the last 30 years of Mary’s life are erased so she has the opportunity to see what happens to her friends and family without her. Some early readers have said the story is a modern day take on It’s a Wonderful Life.

Of course, I always dream about my novels getting turned into a movie, and if The Mulligan Curse were a movie, Olivia Wilde would be a good young Mary. I was actually thinking of her from her days in House when I wrote twentyish Mary. I did research for The Mulligan Curse at a CBS affiliate, and there was a poster of Norah O’Donnell. So, I was thinking of her when I wrote the older Mary scenes, but I think Jennifer Connelly would certainly pull off the part.

Mary’s husband Dean is an affable, sporty guy. He’s described as Sicilian, but I can’t think of any actors who look like what I was picturing. Instead, I think it would be amazing if Bradley Cooper played Dean, because, well, Bradley Cooper!

Mary’s cousin Darbi plays a big part in the story. She’s a bit zany and the only person besides Mary who knows about the family gene. Melissa McCarthy would kill it as Darbi. She’s such a great actress, and I really want her to play one of my characters.

If there’s a streaming service out there looking for content, please make my dream come true and turn The Mulligan Curse into a movie!

Visit Diane Barnes's website.

Q&A with Diane Barnes.

The Page 69 Test: All We Could Still Have.

My Book, The Movie: All We Could Still Have.

The Page 69 Test: The Mulligan Curse.

--Marshal Zeringue

Lisa Black's "Not Who We Expected"

As a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Black analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, and blood as well as other forms of trace evidence. Now she is a Certified Crime Scene Analyst and Certified Latent Print Examiner and for the Cape Coral Police Department in Florida. Black is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts. She has testified in court as an expert witness and served as a consultant for CourtTV.

She is the author of the Locard Institute series and of the highly acclaimed Gardiner & Renner series, for which she was nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Her books have been translated into six languages.

Here Black dreamcasts an adaptation of the fourth title in the Locard Institute series, Not Who We Expected:

This book takes place in two worlds. Locard Forensic Institute director Rachael Davies stays in the east interviewing their new client, rock legend Billy Diamond at his vast mansion and behind the scenes of his comeback concert venue. Billy’s daughter Devon left college for the summer and never returned after a career development retreat in the Nevada desert turned into her new home. When the boyfriend who accompanied her turns up dead, Billy wants eyes on his daughter without appearing to hover.

Former FBI agent and new Locard professor Ellie Carr is dispatched to said desert to find some answers—and she does. But they come with new and ominous questions.

As Rachael, I would cast Gabrielle Union. If, however, the creative team felt her stunning beauty too much of a distraction, Tamara Lawrance of Get Millie Black has a sufficient amount of grit to balance the looks. Provided she could hide her British accent.

For Ellie, I would still want Tatiana Maslawny, who could play the scientist with the right amount of unpredictability.

Billy Diamond is—this is not a spoiler—in thrall to several different abused substances. He tends to be dramatic and a bit unstable, but truly loves his daughter. Johnny Depp could play him. Or Ozzy Osborne.

Devon Diamond….angel child, or devil in disguise? Ellie doesn’t know what to make of the young woman. Devon is quite young, 19, so Lily-Rose Depp would be about right. Plus, if her father is in the same movie…!

The toughest to cast is the leader of the desert enclave, the charming Galen. I need someone whose eyes can change from the kindliness of Gandhi to the danger of Ted Bundy in a flash. Tom Hiddleston? Jared Leto? Michael Ealy? Timothée Chalamet? Any of them would be amazing.

Visit Lisa Black's website.

The Page 69 Test: That Darkness.

My Book, The Movie: Unpunished.

The Page 69 Test: Unpunished.

My Book, The Movie: Perish.

The Page 69 Test: Perish.

The Page 69 Test: Suffer the Children.

Writers Read: Lisa Black (July 2020).

The Page 69 Test: Every Kind of Wicked.

Q&A with Lisa Black.

My Book, The Movie: What Harms You.

The Page 69 Test: What Harms You.

My Book, The Movie: The Deepest Kill.

--Marshal Zeringue

William Boyle's "Saint of the Narrows Street"

William Boyle is the author of eight books set in and around the southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Gravesend, where he was born and raised. His most recent novel is Saint of the Narrows Street. His books have been nominated for the Hammett Prize, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France, and they have been included on best-of lists in the Washington Post, CrimeReads, and more. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

Here Boyle dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, Saint of the Narrows Street:

Saint of the Narrows Street opens on a hot summer night in August 1986, when main character Risa Franzone is pushed to the limit by her bad seed husband, Sav. She has an infant, Fabrizio, to take care of, and Sav has crossed one too many lines. Risa’s sister, Giulia, has also shown up looking for solace after a bad breakup, and Giulia tries to convince Risa to leave Sav. Things come to a boiling point in their sweltering apartment and eventually go sideways after Sav drunkenly storms in and assaults Giulia. Risa brains Sav with her cutlet pan, and he hits his head on the edge of a table on his way down. Not sure what to do, the sisters enlist the help of Christopher “Chooch” Gardini, who lives across the street and is Sav’s childhood friend, though he adores Risa and recognizes what Sav has become. What happens that night ripples out across the next three decades, and we drop in on these characters in moments of crisis in 1991, 1998, and 2004.

It’s a difficult book to imagine a cast for because of the elements of time and aging. Fab goes from nine months old to eighteen years old over the course of the book, so I’m leaving him off. I can’t say I was thinking of specific actors as I was writing, but here are some folks I’d love to see in the three main roles:

Risa: Cristin Milioti

Chooch: John Magaro

Giulia: Victoria Pedretti

I can also see Ray Romano as Joey Sends, Susan Sarandon as Lola, and Patti LuPone as Vi. Maybe Michael Gandolfini could play Father Tim. Some of the other supporting roles are harder for me to imagine—most of the folks I can think of are probably too old for the parts.

After seeing the excellent Fresh Kills, I think Jennifer Esposito would be a great choice to direct. She really gets the era, and her film has a lot of the same thematic concerns as my book. I also think directors like Tyler Taormina (Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point) and Ricky D’Ambrose (The Cathedral) could do something really interesting with it.

Visit William Boyle's website.

My Book, The Movie: Gravesend and The Lonely Witness.

The Page 69 Test: Gravesend and The Lonely Witness.

The Page 69 Test: City of Margins.

My Book, The Movie: City of Margins.

Q&A with William Boyle.

The Page 69 Test: Shoot the Moonlight Out.

My Book, The Movie: Shoot the Moonlight Out.

Writers Read: William Boyle (December 2021).

The Page 69 Test: Saint of the Narrows Street.

--Marshal Zeringue

James L. Cambias's "The Miranda Conspiracy"

James Cambias has been nominated for the James Tiptree Jr. Award and the 2001 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, The Miranda Conspiracy:

My new novel The Miranda Conspiracy is the first direct sequel I've ever written — the first time characters from a previous book go into a new narrative with almost no break. It's a followup to my 2021 novel The Godel Operation, chronicling the further adventures of Daslakh, Zee, Adya, and Pelagia in the final years of the Tenth Millennium. For imaginary film casting, this means I'm strongly tempted to repeat the casting ideas I suggested for The Godel Operation: Anya Taylor-Joy as Adya Elso, Adam Beach as Zee Sadaran, Alan Tudyk as the voice of Daslakh, and Scarlett Johansson as the voice of the orca-brained spaceship Pelagia.

But that's no fun at all. Anyway, actors age but fictional characters don't. Some of the people I cited may be getting too old to play a pair of youngsters in their early twenties. It's time for a reboot!

So: who will be in the new and improved cast for The Miranda Conspiracy?

For Adya, I'll go with Jenna Ortega. She is good at conveying intelligence, which is important since Adya is "the smart one" in her family. But she's got range, and that's important because she's also going to be playing Adya's identical clone-sister Kavita, who is wild and outgoing, "the popular one." With a little makeup she'll also be playing their nearly-identical mother Mutalali. This means she'll be doing several scenes in which she argues with herself, so she will need to be able to let the audience know which identical character is speaking.

For Zee, I've picked Chaneil Kular, who has the good looks and physical presence Zee requires.

Daslakh is still the same snarky digital intelligence wearing a small multilegged "spider bot" body. For this version I'll go with a more dry and British sound, and blow the casting budget to get Jeremy Irons. (And if time travel is permitted, swap in Basil Rathbone.)

Pelagia is a space mercenary so let's get a voice fans will recognize: Jennifer Hale (best known as Commander Shepard).

Naturally, there are plenty of new characters in The Miranda Conspiracy as well. I've already mentioned Adya's mother. Her father needs to be someone who can shift between comically pompous, tragic, and genuinely dignified. I think Jared Harris can do anything, so let's give him the part.

Dai Chici is a crime boss who runs a gambling den on the bottom of Miranda's underground ocean. He's also a giant octopus. He doesn't actually speak, but can send "voicemail" style messages to people. The voice for those messages needs to be almost ridiculously menacing, and should have a recognizable "gangster' sound. Let's see if Robert De Niro wants to do it.

And now we come to the most difficult character to cast: "Qi Tian" (not his real name), a secret agent working to destabilize Miranda politics. He's specifically supposed to be the most forgettable-looking person who ever lived. Which actor do you cast to be memorably unmemorable? I'm going to pick Pedro Pascal. He has good range, and his features are plausibly ordinary.

Visit James L. Cambias's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Darkling Sea.

Writers Read: James L. Cambias (January 2019).

My Book, The Movie: Arkad's World.

The Page 69 Test: Arkad's World.

My Book, The Movie: The Godel Operation.

Q&A with James L. Cambias.

The Page 69 Test: The Godel Operation.

The Page 69 Test: The Miranda Conspiracy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Constance E. Squires's "Low April Sun"

Constance Squires holds a Ph.D. in English from Oklahoma State University and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. Her latest novel is Low April Sun. She is the author of the novels Along the Watchtower, which won the 2012 Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction, Live from Medicine Park, a 2018 Oklahoma Book Award finalist named in Electric Literature as one of the "Seven Candidates for the Great American Rock and Roll Novel," and the short story collection Hit Your Brights. Her short stories have appeared in Guernica, The Atlantic Monthly, Shenandoah, Identity Theory, Bayou, the Dublin Quarterly, This Land, and a number of other magazines.

Here Squires dreamcasts an adaptation of Low April Sun:

It's fun to think about casting Low April Sun, and harder than I'd have imagined. I've got three main characters who turn up in two timelines, twenty years apart, so it's them I thought of casting. Edie Ash is a waitress applying for graduate schools and battling a drinking problem in the 1995 timeline of the story, when her half-sister disappears on the day of the Oklahoma City bombing, and she's a sober oil executive with a guilty conscience about fracking, a little boy she loves, and a gambling-addict husband in the 2015 part of the book--which is the present of the story. Given the time jump, I could either cast young actors and age them up a little for the twenty-year jump or cast older actors for the 2015 timeline. Since money's no object here, I'll do the latter. So, for 1995 Edie, I think her young self could be played by Margaret Qualley, who was the best thing about the Coen Brothers' Drive-Away Dolls, and Rebecca Ferguson would be perfect for Edie in her 40s. Both actors convey smarts and vulnerability and energy. The question is: can they do Okie accents? One imagines that a Bene Gesserit witch like the one Ferguson plays in Dune could do anything she wanted, even making two syllables out of three-letter words (Dad=Dayed).

Keith Frayne, who is Edie's sister's boyfriend in 1995 and Edie's husband in 2015, is described as looking like someone Finn Wolfhard could play. Vaguely eastern-European features, pale skin, dark hair, tall and thin. My daughter has been watching Stranger Things on heavy rotation for the last five years, so I may even have had Finn Wolfhard in mind as I wrote. I could see an older Keith being played by Timothy Olyphant or Adam Driver. All three actors can do feckless and screwed up and gobsmacked yet can also bring leading man energy into a scene. They'd need all of that with Keith, who is good guy with some bad traits. In 1995 he's a graduate student in history focusing on manifest destiny in the American West, and in 2015 he's an adjunct professor with no tenure and a bad gambling addiction. The third character to cast for both timelines is August P. He's a 16-year-old boy being forced because of his parents to live at Elohim City, the white separatist compound in Northeast Oklahoma that Timothy McVeigh may have frequented. He's a little odd in an undefined way, and a good person, kind of the moral center of the book. He's 36 in 2015 and has spent the ensuing years eaten up with guilt about his brief association with Timothy McVeigh, the bomber of the Oklahoma City Murrah building. He's blond and blue-eyed and strange. I see Ben Foster for him in the later timeline. Garrett Hedlund could work, too. For August as a sixteen-year-old, Asa Butterfield could do it, though he's mid-twenties now, and with the same caveat about the accent. He was so good in Sex Education I think he can probably do anything.

There are several other important characters, but I'll just mention one--Timothy McVeigh, the only real person, the domestic terrorist who planned and executed the bombing in Oklahoma City. The lead singer of Movements, Patrick Miranda, looks uncannily like McVeigh in the band's earlier videos, so maybe he's always wanted to be an actor. Also, Jacob Lofland, currently in Landman, could work.

Sterlin Harjo or Taylor Sheridan are the directors/screenwriters whose interest in my book would make me happiest. They both know the contemporary southern plains culture in the book and are both good at dramatizing character flaws.

Visit Constance E. Squires's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tamara L. Miller's "Into the Fall"

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Tamara L. Miller earned her PhD in Canadian history before embarking on a career working for the federal government. Miller began as a doe-eyed policy analyst and eventually moved into an executive role with the Government of Canada. She later left public service, older and perhaps a little wiser, to become a writer. Miller is past president of Ottawa Independent Writers and has written several articles published online by the likes of CBC and Ottawa Life Magazine.

Over the years, the author has called many Canadian cities home but now lives in Ottawa with her family and two long-suffering cats. She’s always been fascinated by the raw beauty of the wilder places in the world and escapes to them whenever possible.

Here Miller dreamcasts an adaptation of Into the Fall, her first novel:

How fun is this? I bet every novelist spends at least a little time imagining which actors could bring their novel to life on screen. Into the Fall centers on the morally ambiguous terrain we travel when life drives us into desperate circumstances. When Sarah Anderson’s husband disappears, she’s forced to consider the lengths she’ll go to in order to protect her family, including from her own secrets.

There are so many talented actors who I think could beautifully embody the main characters, but I settled on the ones I thought had a bit of a darker edge in their performances:

Sarah — Eve Hewson would make an unbelievable Sarah. Her role in Bad Sisters was a perfect blend of sweet innocence and practically macabre. Plus, I think Irish artists share a lot in common with Canadian ones when it comes to exploring the darker reaches of the soul.

Matthew — Readers gets to know Sarah’s husband, Matthew, mainly through the memories of other characters. His presence always comes with a bit of a dark shadow. Cosmo Jarvis had this wonderful brooding strength in the recent Shogun mini-series. I think he could perfectly capture Matthew’s wordless internal moral struggles.

Izzy — It has to be Kathryn Hahn for Izzy, Sarah’s estranged sister and emotional support. Hahn’s character in Bad Moms was a partial role model for Izzy. She has this terrific restrained edge to her portrayals, which would really suit Izzy’s temperament and her ability to command a room.

Boychuk — I love the idea of Jeff Daniels for Rob Boychuk, the determined small-town cop who’s driven to find the answers behind Matthew’s disappearance. As an actor, Daniel’s is a chameleon and can embody just about any character, but it was also his face I imagined every time I sat down to write Boychuk’s dialogue.

Lasty, I think Dane DeHaan would make a perfect Detective Ritter. There is something about his small stature and the look of distain that he’s mastered that I think would be a great fit for a bright young cop looking to make a name for himself.

Visit Tamara L. Miller's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sherry Rankin's "The Killing Plains"

Sherry Rankin grew up in New Jersey where she became an early and avid reader of mystery fiction. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in English and currently lives in Abilene, Texas where she has taught writing and literature at a local university for twenty years.

She has written scholarly articles and worked as an editorial consultant, manuscript reader and ghostwriter, but her avocation has always been creative writing.

Her novel, Strange Fire, was shortlisted for the 2017 Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize and won the 2017 CWA Debut Dagger Award.

Here Rankin dreamcasts an adaptation of her debut thriller, The Killing Plains:

The Killing Plains is set in the fictional town of Crescent Bluff, a tiny backwater place nestled in the bleak desert landscape of West Texas. It’s true cowboy country, with more cattle than people and more rattlesnakes than cattle—a place still haunted by the spirit of the Wild West and by atrocities past and present.

Houston detective Colly Newland hates the place, but when her former mother-in-law, the matriarch of the powerful Newland family, summons her to Crescent Bluff to investigate a series of particularly heinous murders in which a family member is implicated, Colly complies. She feels responsible for the death of her husband and daughter, and she wants to pay her emotional debt to the Newlands so she can turn her back on them forever.

Colly is a determined, sarcastic, resilient, no-nonsense person driven by a powerful inner moral integrity; she has a big heart, as well, which makes her more vulnerable than she likes, so she hides it behind a tough exterior. My dream actress to play Colly would be Kate Winslet, who seems capable of executing any accent to perfection. I was blown away by her performance in the HBO series Mare of Easttown and would love to see what she could do with the character of Colly in a movie version of The Killing Plains.

Matthew McConaughey would be ideal in the role of Russ Newland. He’s the easy-going local police chief and also the twin brother of Colly’s late husband; Russ is a peacemaker who is trying (with mixed success) to balance the competing demands of family solidarity and his duty as a lawman.

For Avery, the bitter, hard-edged younger rookie cop—I can’t imagine anyone better than Aubrey Plaza. Hilary Swank would nail the role as Colly’s sister-in-law Brenda Newland. For matriarch Iris Newland, the spider in the center of the family web—Sigourney Weaver. For the brilliant cosmopolitan child psychologist Niall Shaw, Idris Elba.

Visit Sherry Rankin's website.

--Marshal Zeringue