Mariah Fredericks's "The Girl in the Green Dress"

Mariah Fredericks was born, raised, and still lives in New York City. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in history. She is the author of the Jane Prescott mystery series, which has twice been nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, as well as several YA novels. The Lindbergh Nanny, her first standalone novel, was nominated for the Agatha and Anthony Awards.

Here Fredericks dreamcasts the lead for an adaptation of her new novel, The Girl in the Green Dress:

Who should play Zelda Fitzgerald?

I am reliably informed that no one in Hollywood wants to make period movies these days. So the chances of someone playing Zelda Fitzgerald as she’s depicted in The Girl in the Green Dress, are slim to none. But let’s take a page from Zelda’s book and not let boring reality stand in our way.

A surprising number of actresses have played Zelda, from Natasha Richardson to Christina Ricci. Richardson was a feminine, fluttery Zelda. Ricci more pert than provocative, although she only got one season and might have evolved. (It’s usually a mistake to make a famously dark actress blonde. Edgy deadpan is Ricci’s hallmark and I kept waiting for her to cut David Hoflin’s fratboy Scott to pieces with the raise of an eyebrow.) There are reportedly several Zeldas in the works: Jennifer Lawrence, Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson.

Before I knew much about Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, I would have said she was easy to cast. Find a flapper type, a little manic, a little pixie, throw in a Southern accent and you’re there. Pretty and sexy, of course. But the real Zelda wasn’t obviously pretty. Her voice seems to change over time. Her first letters to Scott are by extravagant and blase. Her articles for McCall’s witty, mischievous, serious about not taking things seriously. I felt I heard her adult voice for the first time in the therapy sessions as she cuts through Scott’s nonsense. One feels she has spent a lot of time with men impressed by their own eloquence, and she’s fed up.

My Zelda is 20, just married and taking her first steps into the world’s consciousness. She was a star in her hometown: rule breaking, fearless, and with illegal levels of baby-of-the family charm. I took my cue for her voice from those McCall’s articles. Also from contemporaries’ observation that her conversation could be hard to follow. Most of all, I took Scott’s reference to her courage and “flaming self-respect” as a baseline.

To me, the ideal Zelda has a touch of the tomboy. She was brave and athletic and just as there’s a touch of the feminine in Scott’s appearance, there’s a touch of the masculine in hers. Jennifer Lawrence has that. She also has Zelda’s broad, full cheeked face. She is from Kentucky, which is not Alabama, but it’s better than New York or California. Part of Zelda’s allure was her southerness, which was exoticized and eroticized by Scott’s friends. Images of Lawrence at the Reaping in The Hunger Games come the closest to a celluloid match for Zelda at 20—and argue she would be a persuasive Zelda at any age.

Alison Pill is a startlingly successful Zelda in just a few short scenes in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, partly because she is allowed wit and charisma. Tom Hiddleston’s Scott is in awe of her and that feels right. I’d love to see what Florence Pugh would do with a good Zelda script. But any time I had to conjure full Zelda, my imagination went to the woman who has disgracefully never played her: Jessica Lange. The minute she wrapped on Frances, someone should have been putting a Zelda project together. She is from Minnesota, but if you’ve seen Blue Sky, for which she won her Best Actress Oscar, you know she can play Southern and bi-polar. She can be both fully herself and a woman who inspires worship. A woman who might put you through hell—but you’d never leave because you know after her, heaven would be…well, boring.

Visit Mariah Fredericks's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Girl in the Park.

The Page 69 Test: A Death of No Importance.

My Book, The Movie: Death of an American Beauty.

The Page 69 Test: Death of an American Beauty.

Q&A with Mariah Fredericks.

The Page 69 Test: The Lindbergh Nanny.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jerome Charyn's "Maria La Divina"

Jerome Charyn is the author of more than fifty works of fiction and nonfiction, including Maria La Divina; Ravage & Son; Sergeant Salinger; Cesare: A Novel of War-Torn Berlin; In the Shadow of King Saul: Essays on Silence and Song; Jerzy: A Novel; and A Loaded Gun: Emily Dickinson for the 21st Century. Among other honors, his work has been longlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award and PEN Award for Biography, shortlisted for the Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Award, and selected as a finalist for the Firecracker Award and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Culture at the American University of Paris, Charyn has also been named a Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture and received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Manhattan.

Here Charyn dreamcasts an adaptation of Maria La Divina:

I’ve had one of my books turned into a movie and it was not a great experience. I handed over my crime novel The Good Policeman to a showrunner and lost all my power. The film played in Europe but not in the United States and frankly, I was at peace with that outcome.

But with my Maria La Divina film I would not make the same mistakes. I want my Maria to sing, to act, to be a strong powerful woman worthy of the name Greatest Diva of All Time.

So, the first star I want my producers to talk to is – The Lady herself, Lady Gaga. I’ve watched every film she’s made and every performance I could get to. Lady Gaga is everything Maria was in her prime – the greatest singer, a talented actress, an exotic beauty and fashion icon, with a genius understanding of her times.

Lady Gaga is the Maria Callas of the 21st Century.

Maria gave it all up for love, for the love of Aristotle Onassis, a strange sort of superman who tossed her aside and lived to regret it. Both of their lives came to an end when their affair did – although neither one knew it then.

I worry about the casting of Onassis. He certainly did not look like the magician he was, in business and – it seems – in the bedroom. I think Anthony Quinn would be the perfect choice to play Ari. Manly and charismatic, Quinn would be able to portray the love of Maria’s life beautifully (and much more accurately than the actor chosen to play him in the recent failed feature film, Maria.)

The last and perhaps most difficult casting decision must be Maria’s husband, mentor and shaman, Giovanni Battista Meneghini. Among his family of ten brothers, one of them a general, Meneghini had the only success on the world stage as the Svengali who helped make Maria Callas an international celebrity and the greatest opera diva of her time. He loved her, worshiped her, pushed and championed her, supported her and followed her around like a puppy, all the while grifting most of her money.

I believe Oliver Platt would have the talent to bring Meneghini to life onscreen - and with his casting, my film is complete.

As for the film’s branding and poster – I, who have built my life on words, dream of an artist who would create magic from the letters of MARIA’s name, which contain the two things she loved more than her own life – ARIA and ARI – her own unique monolith.

Visit Jerome Charyn's website.

The Page 69 Test: Under the Eye of God.

My Book, The Movie: Big Red.

Q&A with Jerome Charyn.

The Page 69 Test: Ravage & Son.

Writers Read: Jerome Charyn (August 2023).

--Marshal Zeringue

Alma Katsu's "Fiend"

Alma Katsu's novels include Red London, The Fervor, Red Widow, and The Deep. Prior to the publication of her first novel, she had a thirty-five-year long career as a senior intelligence analyst for several U.S. agencies, including the CIA and NSA, as well as RAND. Katsu is a graduate of the master's writing program at the Johns Hopkins University and received her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University. She lives in West Virginia with her husband and is a contributing reviewer for the Washington Post.

Here Katsu shares some ideas for the cast in an adaptation of her new novel, Fiend:

In the case of Fiend, this isn’t a hypothetical. We optioned Fiend for a TV series shortly after we buttoned up the final version of the manuscript, literally days after the Los Angeles wildfires. As an aside, when my film agent said we were going to go on submission, I thought she must be crazy but she was right. There was a lot of interest and despite everything going on in Hollywood at the time, we got a great offer.

There are four main characters in the novel. First is Zef, the father and patriarch of the Berisha family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful dynasties in the world. The Berishas are known for being ruthless, but they’re also dogged by rumors that they’ve benefitted from an ancient power that’s somehow been gifted to them. They call it “the family blessing,” a power that sees things fall in their favor and that their enemies are punished. I could see Oscar Isaac as Zef: handsome but hard and ruthless. He’s got the strong facial characteristics needed for this character: the piercing eyes, strong jaw, prominent nose.

Even though there are multiple narrators, Maris is ostensibly the book’s protagonist. She’s the middle of Zef’s three children. She thinks she’s the obvious choice to take over as head of the family and the business empire, but since the Berisha empire is patriarchal and has been for a thousand years, that role belongs to her older brother Dardan.

Maris adores her father and wants nothing more than to win his approval. Ironically, she’s the only one that takes after Zef, with his ethnic features. The Berishas have selectively bred themselves to a Western ideal and Maris’s sister and brother both take after their mother, a former model. Maris is short and stockier, with wiry hair and an olive complexion. Alia Shawkat would be my choice for Maris, with her unconventional beauty and obvious intelligence.

Dardan is the reluctant heir. While he had been a spoiled brat as a child, as he’s been drawn into the company and made privy to the family secrets, he’s been sort of scared straight. He understands that he will be taking on a tremendous burden for the family, one that’s going to damn him for eternity. He takes after his mother: tall, handsome, more European looking than Zef and Maris, more god-like than merely attractive. A tragic figure. I don’t have an actor in mind but it could be a breakout role for a handsome unknown.

The last major character is Nora, the youngest child. She’s the wild one, the one that wants nothing to do with the family business, who not-so-secretly wishes they would stop being so ruthless and greedy (a most un-Berisha-like quality). I had Elizabeth Debicki in my head as I wrote the character. Nora, like Dardan, takes after Olga: tall, slender, classically beautiful. But she’s also a bit subversive and unconventional, which keeps her family off balance.

I suppose there is a fifth major character and that’s the Protector—if it really exists. You really have to read to book to find out more. I’ve had a conversation already with the studio about how the Protector will be portrayed and I think there’s a number of ways you could go. But there’s only one way in the book, and I can’t wait to see readers’ reaction to it.

Visit Alma Katsu's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Taker.

My Book, The Movie: The Hunger.

The Page 69 Test: The Hunger.

Writers Read: Alma Katsu (March 2020).

The Page 69 Test: The Deep.

The Page 69 Test: Red Widow.

Q&A with Alma Katsu.

The Page 69 Test: The Fervor.

Writers Read: Alma Katsu (April 2022).

My Book, The Movie: Red London.

The Page 69 Test: Red London.

The Page 69 Test: Fiend.

--Marshal Zeringue

Peter Colt's "Cold Island"

Peter Colt is a 1996 graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a BA in Political Science. Colt was a 24-year veteran of the Army Reserve with deployments to Kosovo and Iraq as an Army Civil Affairs officer. He is currently a police officer in Providence, Rhode Island. He is married to his long suffering wife with whom he is raising two sons.

He enjoys, kayaking and camping and tries to get on the local rivers and ponds as often as he reasonably can. Colt is also an avid cook, a hobby which manages to find its way into his novels. He is a proud member of both the Mystery Writers of America and The Pawtuxet Athletic Club.

He is the author of the Tommy Kelly mysteries, Cold Island (2025). He also wrote the Andy Roark series of books, The Off-Islander (2019) and Back Bay Blues (2020) and Death at Fort Devens (2022), The Ambassador (2023), The Judge (2024) and The Banker (2025). He has also published short stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.

Here Colt dreamcasts an adaptation of Cold Island:

I have to confess something dear readers. This concept is brilliant because since the first movie was made, every author pictures their book as a movie. I don't care what you write, how you write, we all do.

My novel Cold Island, returns to my roots, both literally and literary. My first novel The Off Islander was set on Nantucket Island and I lived there until I was 13. Even after I moved away I went back regularly until my father passed away in 2014. I mention all of this because I not only picture actors but also a director for the book to movie sequence.

Cold Island is set on Nantucket Island, in both 1981 and 2016. When I was writing the book I was concerned about casting two characters, Massachusetts State Police Detective Tommy Kelly and Nantucket Police Detective Jo Harris. There are lots of other characters but those were the two that carry the story. There is a roughly ten year age difference between them.

My first choice to play MSP Detective Tommy Kelly is Ben Affleck. He is also the person whom I would want to direct the movie as well. My protagonist Tommy Kelly is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts. He is fit and complex. Ben Affleck is a solid actor but would have a huge advantage in that none of the regional nuance would have to be explained to him. He knows it because he's lived it. And for the Boston/Massachusetts accent which a lot of actors get wrong, or worse overdo, he would nail it because, again, he's lived it.

That is also what would make him an excellent choice to direct. Affleck has proven through his film Argo and his excellent interpretation of Dennis Lehane's Gone Baby Gone, that he is as good a director as he is an actor. I won't lie, I love the thought of reading a headline or marquis that reads; "Directed by and Starring Ben Affleck."

The ever excellent former Mad Man, John Hamm would be a strong choice to play Tommy Kelly. Hamm is a versatile actor, whose greatest strength, in my opinion, is the fact that his performances are understated. He delivers every nuance, every emotion, without ever overdoing it. That is what made his portrayal of Don Draper in Mad Men brilliant. It was believable because it wasn't over acted. John Hamm could deliver all of Tommy Kelly's complexity without over delivering.

I have a very clear picture of Nantucket Police Detective Jo Harris in my mind. She's petite. She's competent. She has dark hair and while she's not naive or a kid, she's not yet jaded by police work. In my mind it takes a very special actress to deliver her to the screen without turning her into a cliche. For me, that actress is Mila Kunis. I think she is an actress who is wasted in romcon's and can deliver a solid, layered, character study.

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 (March 2025).

My Book, The Movie: The Banker.

The Page 69 Test: The Banker.

The Page 69 Test: Cold Island.

Writers Read: Peter Colt.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kitty Zeldis's "One of Them"

Kitty Zeldis is the pseudonym for a novelist and non-fiction writer of books for adults and children. She is the author of Not Our Kind and The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, NY.

Zeldis's new novel, One of Them, is "a story of secrets, friendship, and betrayal about two young women at Vassar in the years after World War II, a powerful and moving tale of prejudice and pride that echoes the cultural and social issues of today."

Here Zeldis dreamcasts an adaptation of One of Them:

For Sophie, I can see Anne Hathaway. Sophie is an artist. She’s charming, passionate and extremely smart; she’s also selfish, dramatic and an often indifferent mother to Delia. These are not attractive qualities but what is attractive is her single-mindedness, something every artist needs to pursue her path. Hathaway is someone whose career I’ve followed and so I believe she has the range to play this role—she’d have the charisma but also the dark notes.

Anya Taylor-Joy would fill the role of Anne Bishop well. There’s a sense that she’s very tightly wound and working hard to maintain control; since Anne has put herself in the unenviable position of pretending to be someone she is not, she too is keeping a tight rein on her actions and emotions. Taylor-Joy’s brittleness could reflect this tension and I’d love to see her play the part.

My last pick is Saoirse Ronan for the part of Delia. I love, love, love Ronan and think she is a brilliant actress. Her strong and unapologetic sense of herself would convey these traits of Delia’s perfectly. Delia is her own person, not particularly troubled by or even really concerned with other people’s opinions of her and Ronan could bring that to the screen.

My Book, The Movie: Not Our Kind.

Writers Read: Kitty Zeldis (December 2018).

Coffee with a Canine: Kitty Zeldis & Dottie.

The Page 69 Test: Not Our Kind.

The Page 69 Test: The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights.

--Marshal Zeringue

Beth Morrey's "Isabella's Not Dead"

Beth Morrey‘s work has been published in the Cambridge and Oxford May Anthologies and shortlisted for the Grazia Orange First Chapter competition. Her novels include The Love Story of Missy Carmichael and Delphine Jones Takes a Chance.

Here Morrey shares some thoughts on an adaptation of her new novel, Isabella's Not Dead:

OK, well, I haven’t really thought about it, but I guess there is a dream scenario where I get a call from Netflix out the blue – can I fly to New York at a moment’s notice to meet a director? The director would be Greta Gerwig – I’m fairly sure she made both Lady Bird and Little Women for me personally. She would also adapt the screenplay of Isabella’s Not Dead because she picked it up in a kooky book store in Greenwich Village and fell in love with it. We’d have coffee in some arty café on the Upper East Side and get on like a house on fire – can I be some sort of consultant on the show? Like, wafting around set, advising?

The casting director would also be me, and I would meet lots of people I admire for expensive dinners, and gush over them before selecting the following stellar cast: The main character of Gwen (who is me) would be played by Tina Fey. I have been devoted to her for years and love everything she does. I recently watched The Four Seasons, which has similar vibes to Isabella’s Not Dead. It’s the same life stage, similar humor and a bit of travel, so the tie-in works nicely. Maybe I can also be in the next series of The Four Seasons, or at least stay in the hotels with them while they’re making it. After that, Tina and I become best friends and I will be very busy working on other projects with her and hanging out, but I would still manage to cast someone incredibly glamorous to play the elusive Isabella. Perhaps Kristin Scott-Thomas, who has the right slightly brittle elegance.

Morag, Gwen’s mad mother-in-law, would be played by a national treasure with comedy chops – someone like Lily Tomlin, Catherine O’Hara or Bette Midler. They could have a lot of fun with the character, who is a very strong flavor. Gwen’s husband Angus would be played by someone looming, mild, but with the ability to be quite annoying – maybe Vince Vaughn? Gwen’s friend Min might prove an interesting challenge – she is deaf and, ideally, I’d cast a deaf actress in the role. It could be an opportunity to audition a great new talent, but I’d be looking for the style and energy of Maggie Q, who I recently saw in Ballard – an excellent series. For the rest of Gwen’s hockey team chums, I’d recruit various actresses from Saturday Night Live who I ardently admire – Kate McKinnon, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler. The whole thing somehow ends with me as a guest host of SNL doing a hilarious skit with Ayo Edebiri and Paul Rudd. Then we have a massive party and I get to tell Jennifer Aniston that I like her hair.

The hangover the next day is not much fun but I stir myself for a New York Times feature on middle-aged British writers who are taking the US by storm. Mario Testino photographs me in Central Park flanked by two enormous poodles, and Taffy Brodesser-Akner congratulates me on social media. Oh, and obviously the film of Isabella’s Not Dead wins a million awards and I get to go to the Oscars dressed by Valentino and squired by Paul Rudd, my new boyfriend.

But, you know, I haven’t really thought about it.

Visit Beth Morrey's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Beth Morrey & Polly.

The Page 69 Test: The Love Story of Missy Carmichael.

My Book, The Movie: The Love Story of Missy Carmichael.

Q&A with Beth Morrey.

The Page 69 Test: Delphine Jones Takes a Chance.

My Book, The Movie: Delphine Jones Takes a Chance.

Writers Read: Beth Morrey (April 2022).

Writers Read: Beth Morrey (August 2025).

--Marshal Zeringue