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

Allison Montclair's "An Excellent Thing in a Woman"

Allison Montclair is the author of the Sparks and Bainbridge mysteries, beginning with The Right Sort of Man, the American Library Association Reading List Council's Best Mystery of 2019. Under her real name, she has written more mystery novels and a damn good werewolf book, as well as short stories in many genres in magazines and anthologies. She is also an award-winning librettist and lyricist with several musicals to her credit that have been performed or workshopped across the USA. She currently lives in New York City where she also practiced as a criminal defense attorney.

Here Montclair dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, An Excellent Thing in a Woman:

The Sparks and Bainbridge series features a pair of female protagonists in 1946 London, both in their late twenties. Iris Sparks is short and brunette, Gwen Bainbridge tall and blond. My mental casting of them draws on British films of the period, more centered on their voices than their appearances because they are constantly talking inside my head.

My model for Iris was the young Glynis Johns, most notable for The Court Jester with Danny Kaye, where she was funny and drop-dead gorgeous. She was also possessed of a distinctive throaty voice that I was lucky to hear live some twenty years after that film when she was the first to sing “Send In The Clowns” on Broadway in A Little Night Music.

While I had no contemporary counterparts for Gwen in terms of her above-average height, I did summon up some of the cool British blondes of the times, particularly Madeleine Carroll of The 39 Steps, but with a thought or two thrown in the direction of Deborah Kerr vocally.

Who would I cast today? At the time I began writing the series, the height contrast combined with the talent suggested Jenna Coleman and Elizabeth Debicki, both terrific actresses with a full foot separating them. I would have loved to see them interacting on the screen together. Another possibility for Iris: Jessica Brown Findlay, most noted for the doomed Sybil Crawley in Downton Abbey, a terrific actress who could bring Iris’s intensity. And an interesting choice was suggested when a possible screenwriter for the series proposed making Gwen Anglo- Indian: Jameela Jamil, who blew me away in The Good Place and is an imposing 5’11”.

The heights are superficial characteristics, of course, and yet Iris’s determination to learn martial arts may have stemmed in part from her desire to compensate for not being taken seriously not just as a woman in that period, but a short one as well. And Gwen’s position in the other end of the bell curve both separates her in her social circles and can surprise and intimidate the men she encounters.

All I can say is, let’s turn this into something and cast these ladies before we all get too old! But I’m sure there are some up-and-comers ready to take on these roles.

Visit Alan Gordon's website.

The Page 69 Test: An Excellent Thing in a Woman.

Q&A with Allison Montclair.

--Marshal Zeringue

Megan Chance's "Glamorous Notions"

Megan Chance is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of more than twenty novels, including A Dangerous Education, A Splendid Ruin, Bone River, and An Inconvenient Wife. She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest.

Here Chance dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Glamorous Notions:

Glamorous Notions takes place in 1950s Rome and Hollywood during the Cold War, where propaganda and communist plots were all the rage in real life and the movies, and my costume designer heroine handles movie star scandals with aplomb even as she hides her own. It was only natural that I would have actors cast in my head as I wrote it. The entire story is one big set-piece, with the streets of Rome, movie studio sound stages, and famous Los Angeles restaurants as its backdrops. I think it would lend itself very well to the movies.

I needed an actress who could go from unassuming to confident and beautiful, and for that I ended up with Florence Pugh, who can frankly play anything. I thought she was a great pick to take on my Elsie Gruner/Lena Taylor, who transforms herself from a pig-farmer’s daughter to the most-requested costume designer in Hollywood.

For Lena’s best friend in Rome, the mysterious, chameleon like woman who changes Lena’s look and life, and plunges her into a danger Lena doesn’t realize until far too late, I chose Jodie Comer, an actress I love. I’ve loved her since the White Princess, and Killing Eve only cemented that love. She can play deceptive and bewitching with one hand tied behind her back.

As for Lena’s screenwriter fiancé, I needed someone who could do both vulnerability and charisma, who struggles with his wish to change the world, his inner anger, his self-confidence and doubt—the things every writer struggles with. For that, I chose Oscar Isaac.

Flavio, the famous costume designer who takes on Lena as his assistant, who is aristocratic, uber-talented, and whose own flaws bring him down, was either Jeremy Irons or Daniel Day Lewis, depending on the day.

Well, I can dream, can’t I?

Visit Megan Chance's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Splendid Ruin.

The Page 69 Test: A Splendid Ruin.

Q&A with Megan Chance.

The Page 69 Test: A Dangerous Education.

My Book, The Movie: A Dangerous Education.

Writers Read: Megan Chance (February 2023).

Writers Read: Megan Chance.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jacqueline Faber's "The Department"

Jacqueline Faber is an author and freelance writer. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University, where she was the recipient of a Woodruff Scholarship, and taught in the Expository Writing Program at New York University, where she received an award for excellence in teaching. She studied philosophy in Bologna, Italy, and received a dissertation grant from Freie University in Berlin, Germany. Faber writes across genres, including thrillers, rom-coms, and essays. Her work explores questions about memory, loss, language, and desire. Steeped in philosophical, psychological, and literary themes, her writing is grounded in studies of character. She lives with her family in Los Angeles.

Here Faber dreamcasts an adaptation of her debut novel, The Department:

The Department is set in an unnamed Southern university town. Imagine a vivid green lawn, manicured hedges where new buds emerge in pinks and whites, cut-off shorts and tank tops at the first signs of spring. The kind of lawn where you can be central, a game of hacky sack, lunch on the grass, students studying for tests on the benches, peals of laughter lifting into the outstretched arms of trees. Surrounding the quad are brick buildings, windows that peer down, to see but not be seen, a voyeur behind a pane of glass.

Two lead characters hold this fictional world aloft. A philosophy professor, Neil Weber, whose life is imploding. His wife has left him for someone else in the department. His work has stalled and in its place, an intellectual (and existential) lethargy has crept in. Mark Ruffalo could nail this performance, delivering the right combination of charm and despair. A soul we can root for, but not without judgment.

The other protagonist, Lucia Vanotti, is a student who has gone missing. As readers, we follow her through the year leading up to her disappearance. She is reckless and brilliant, wrestling with the ghosts of her past, an early childhood trauma that leads her down dark and treacherous paths. The right actress would possess a wild and exuberant sense of youth, but also a wizened and world-weary perspective. At once jaded and wistful. Jenna Ortega could capture these seemingly contradictory demands.

Visit Jacqueline Faber's website.

--Marshal Zeringue