Alie Dumas-Heidt's "The Myth Maker"

Alie Dumas-Heidt lives in the Puget Sound with her husband, adult kids, and two Goldendoodles – Astrid and Torvi. Growing up she wanted to be a detective and a writer and spent a few years working as a police dispatcher. Now, working is writing in her home office with the dogs at her feet. When she’s not writing she enjoys being in the forest, creating glass art, yarn crafts, and watching baseball.

Here Dumas-Heidt dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Myth Maker:

I assembled a dream cast for The Myth Maker while I was writing the first draft. I went through my character list and assigned a face to each role. It wasn’t just a fun exercise – although it is fun to play that game! – it helps me visualize how the characters move around in their environment and interact physically with others.

My cast list still exists and most of the side characters have remained the same for years. Timothy Olyphant is who I imagined as I constructed FBI Agent Cole MacAllan, with the perfect amount of serious and tired. Christopher Gorham in his role of Augie on Covert Affairs made him the perfect Jamie Cantwell for me. Jamie is Cassidy’s twin, older by thirteen minutes, and I think Gorham would be perfect as her concerned older brother.

Michael Peña easily takes the role of Cassidy’s partner, Bryan Ramirez, for me. I’ve seen him play characters on both sides of the law, but there is a coolness he has that resonates with the character of Bryan. FBI Agent Phoenix Rhys was probably the hardest for me to cast, but I eventually landed on Vikings' actor Travis Fimmel. I think Fimmel has the right energy to play Phoenix, who is described as being a little unpredictable, with a palpable energy, and he could pull off an almost dangerous level of confidence.

From her small role in the Marvel movies, I was originally drawn to Cobie Smulders to play the role of Detective Cassidy Cantwell. But my leading lady ended up cast in a role that was similar to a detective, but that character is harsher than Cas, definitely more of a mess, but she was perfect in that other role. It made her less like Cas when I was writing so I had to recast. I started using Annie Murphy, best known for playing Alexis Rose in Schitt’s Creek, as my lead. I do not write comedies, but Annie Murphy does have plenty of serious projects in her portfolio, and it’s fun to imagine how she would bring Cas to life.

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--Marshal Zeringue