Cindy Jiban's "The Probable Son"

Cindy Jiban lives in Minnesota, where she was awarded a 2023 emerging fiction writer fellowship through the Loft Literary Center. Jiban holds a Ph.D. in educational psychology; before writing novels, she was an educator and researcher who published frequently, particularly focusing on how students learn to read.

Like the main character in her debut novel The Probable Son, Jiban has taught in middle schools and is raising two sons. She was born and raised in the Seattle area but has now lived with her family in St. Paul for over twenty years.

Here Jiban dreamcasts an adaptation of The Probable Son:

Teacher Elsa Vargas has always suspected that the boy she is raising is the wrong child, accidentally switched at birth. But because of her deep love for Bird, Elsa has planned to keep her doubts buried forever.

Then one day, a student named Thomas in her middle school classroom is uncannily familiar. When she learns that he shares a birthday with Bird, she realizes: Thomas is probably her son.

If she’s right, what will that mean for Bird?

Here’s my dream cast for The Probable Son:

Elsa, the mother

Casting Elsa well is critical. She is a warm and inherently funny mother and teacher who has to navigate the possibility of terrible loss. Still, her sometimes-clumsy search for the truth becomes a bit cringeworthy, at turns. Her yearning drives her forward, but her penchant for rattling the school parent community fills her path with obstacles.

I need an actress who can portray a layered Elsa: hilarious eyerolls but also escaped tears; clever planning but also moments of love-fueled but unhinged judgment.

 To give us a complex and lovable Elsa we can’t look away from, I trust Emily Blunt.

Bird and Thomas, the possibly-switched sons

The son Elsa has been mothering, Bird, is a quiet and serious optimist within a family of extroverted skeptics. Meanwhile, Thomas is a charismatic questioner of the world, someone much more like the rest of Elsa’s family. Both are eighth graders who turn fourteen years old in front of us, a fleeting and awkward in-between time where boys grow wide shoulders to go with their still-soft faces.

Casting a young fourteen-year-old requires magic, perhaps freezing time. Instead, I’ll point to magic moments from the past.

 As sweet and endangered Bird, I cast River Phoenix in the year of Stand by Me.

 As magnetic and eager Thomas, I cast a young Tom Holland, perhaps one year before his Peter Parker was first bitten by that spider.

More roles

If money is no object, then let’s pack this cast.

 As Elsa’s lovable and effortfully resilient husband: Jake Gyllenhaal.

 As the hot, single-mom president of the PTA, exasperated by Elsa: Reese Witherspoon.

 As the quiet mother raising Thomas instead of Bird: a mousey Carey Mulligan.

 As the perceptive teacher friend, one classroom over: Quinta Brunson.

 As Elsa’s snarkily over-honest sister: Anna Kendrick.

 And as the best friend, whose best might not be good enough: Ali Wong.

Meanwhile…

The film is… held up, currently. But the book comes out December 2nd . Given these facts, it seems fair to say: The book is better.

Visit Cindy Jiban's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Marshall Fine's "Hemlock Lane"

Minneapolis native Marshall Fine’s career as an award-winning journalist, critic, and filmmaker has spanned fifty years. Before his bestselling 2024 fiction debut, The Autumn of Ruth Winters, Fine wrote biographies of filmmakers John Cassavetes and Sam Peckinpah, directed documentaries about film critic Rex Reed and comedian Robert Klein, conducted the Playboy interview with Howard Stern, and chaired the New York Film Critics Circle four times.

Here Fine dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, Hemlock Lane:

Hemlock Lane is a family drama that takes place over the course of four days, with each day told from the viewpoint of one of the four central characters—the perfect structure for a limited series on a streaming service, in case you’re a producer seeking a project.

The story is about a flashpoint weekend in the life of a suburban family in the summer of 1967. Secrets are both kept and revealed, building to a family showdown between a domineering mother and an independent- minded daughter, who is about to start a professional life that will put her beyond her mother’s reach.

The mother, Lillian—haughty, sharp-tongued, full of secret fears—would be perfect for an actress who can shift from warm to glacial with barely a movement of her eyebrow. I’d love to see someone like Cate Blanchett or Patricia Clarkson, actresses who combine steeliness with vulnerability.

The father, Sol, is a successful businessman whose secret shame is his inability to stand up to his wife to defend his daughters from her withering abuse. I see him as a likable, salt-of-the-earth type whose bluff good nature hides his fear of his spouse. Someone like Paul Giamatti or David Harbour would be perfect.

The daughter, Nora, is a blossoming second-wave feminist, fresh out of graduate school, who has always resisted her mother’s authority without openly defying it—until now. Her lively wit and sharp intellect would be perfect for an actress like Margaret Qualley or Saoirse Ronan.

Clara, the family housekeeper, is the story’s wild card. She’s someone who has figured prominently in the life of each family member in different ways for more than 25 years—and she’s the one who sees them all clearly, while maintaining an emotional agenda of her own. I would love to see an actress like Sarah Paulson or Judy Greer disappear into that role.

And for director? That poet of emotional repression, Ang Lee. Who better to illuminate the undercurrents of fear and insecurity that lurk just beneath the surface of the action?

Visit Marshall Fine's website, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

My Book, The Movie: The Autumn of Ruth Winters.

Q&A with Marshall Fine.

The Page 69 Test: Hemlock Lane.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jacinda Townsend's "Trigger Warning"

Jacinda Townsend is the author of Mother Country, winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and Saint Monkey, winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize. She teaches at Brown University.

Here Townsend dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, Trigger Warning:

Trigger Warning’s protagonist, Ruth, is a middle-aged woman who is revisiting the trauma of her father’s murder after the passage of two decades. Ruth would be so well-acted by Jurnee Smollett, who was one of my favorite actresses as a kid. Jurnee is a brunette as an adult, but she still brings that fierce redhead energy to her roles, albeit in the same muted, smoldering aura that Ruth has settled into at the time of my novel’s opening. In attempting to navigate her previously disavowed grief, Ruth absconds with her trans kid, Enix, on a cross-country trip from Louisville to a fictional town in Northern California, and Enix must navigate their mother’s middle-aged attempt at magmic transformation at the same time they themselves are handling gender fluidity and plain old adolescence. I’d cast Storm Reid as Enix: Storm did such a great job on Euphoria, capturing a character’s struggle with a close family member’s dysfunction. The other major character in my novel is Ruth’s soon-to-be-ex-husband Myron, who is bombarded throughout the novel with explosive discoveries about his wife. Ruth has filed for divorce at the opening of the novel, but it is Myron who does the shattering: for Myron’s character, I’d cast Harold Perrineau, who plays earnest yet flawed characters. Harold is a bit dorky and comedic without trying to hard, and exudes a lovably awkward inner strength, just as Myron does.

The soundtrack of Trigger Warning the movie is mostly the soundtrack to Ruth and Enix’s roadtrip. It’s deliciously old school for Ruth’s benefit — there’s the Soft Cell song "Tainted Love" and Van Halen’s Greatest Hits — but Enix is listening to Melanie Martinez and Lil’ Peep. The mood of the soundtrack is everywhere, really, but what all the songs have in common is that they are deeply emotional for all of these characters, all of whom are undergoing their own intense and painful transformations.

Though the novel concerns about three decades’ worth of time, the actual road trip that forms the backbone of the novel takes only the better part of a week. That road trip spans the long stretch of America from Louisville to Northern California, with its terminus point being the fictional town of Rosalind, about twenty minutes south of Sacramento. The American Southwest, of course, is its own dream set; it needs no filtering, and it needs no CGI. I’d love for Trigger Warning the movie to be filmed on location, with the backdrop of wise mountains, and the quietude that allows Ruth to narrate her mind through so much of the novel. Tesla charging stations provide pivotal plot points in the movie, as Ruth picks up a hitchhiker, watches a man freebase in the Tesla next to hers, and meets the stranger who tries to teach Ruth a lasting lesson about love. I’ve never seen a movie filmed at a series of Tesla charging stations: it’d be neat if Trigger Warning the movie was the first!

Visit Jacinda Townsend's website.

My Book, The Movie: Mother Country.

--Marshal Zeringue

Brittany Amara's "The Bleeding Woods"

Brittany Amara is an author, screenwriter, actress, and model with a passion for science fiction and fantasy that ventures beyond space and time. She loves writing about curious aliens, morally gray protagonists, other dimensions, rifts in reality, and all things playfully wicked. When she’s not working on something new, Amara can be found stargazing, collecting stuffed animals, and baking pumpkin bread. She grew up in Bronx, New York, and graduated summa cum laude from SUNY New Paltz in 2021 with a degree in digital media production, creative writing, and theater arts. In 2024 she furthered her storytelling journey at Queen’s University Belfast. Since then, her work in various genres has been recognized by film festivals and writing competitions across the globe.

Here Amara dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Bleeding Woods:

The Bleeding Woods is part-botanical horror, part-speculative fiction, part-dark romance. Set within the eerie stretches of forestry in upstate New York, it pulls inspiration from the drives I’d take to visit my family when I was a little girl. They always seemed endless, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was… watching me. Something was studying me just as closely as I was studying it. As I grew, a fuller story took shape. Then, it served as a conduit through which I was able to turn horror into healing. Clara Lovecroft is a monster who craves to be human caught between two warring forces: a human family urging her toward complacency, and a monster so equally matched, it feels like fate.

Every time I write a novel, I can’t help but envision it for the screen. Alongside writing, I am deeply passionate about acting and filmmaking. I’ve seen magic happen when the three fall into perfect synergy. Crafting a story is delightfully solitary, but bringing that story to life on film is all about collaborative creative flow and connection. I like to believe that, should The Bleeding Woods find its way to the screen, I’ve been in connection with those destined to work on it from the start.

This novel did so much to help me alchemize struggles that I hadn’t found the bravery to say aloud at the time. When I dare to dream of a team who will lift it from its pages, I dream of people who need it now as much as I needed it then. I dream of an actress who might find a deeper sense of self-love through playing Clara and an actor who might learn to face his own demons by playing Jasper. I dream of a director who will see into the heart of the story, and consequently, into how my heart ached as I wrote it. Together, we’d create a piece as gory and horrifying as it is heartfelt and healing.

If I had to dreamcast and select a dream director, if only to help readers get a sense of how I see, hear and feel this world, I’m definitely happy to give it a shot!

In terms of directing, I deeply admire Guillermo Del Toro’s handling of horror. He is able to imbue even the goriest and most visceral scenes with such poetry. I recently watched his take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and I was blown away by how uniquely gothic and vibrantly alive the world felt. I am also a big fan of Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, and Pacific Rim. Each deals with monsters of profound complexity, and without fail, I end up caring about them. I’d like people to empathize with Clara and Jasper the same way.

In the role of Clara, I’ve always seen someone disarmingly dainty, someone the world might make the mistake of underestimating. The beautiful and bewitching Isabela Merced and Inde Navarette have always been inspirations to me. Also, as a young Hispanic woman learning to step into my own power, it would be incredible to work with women who so gracefully wield their own.

Jasper is meant to be unnervingly, hypnotically handsome in a way that seems impossible, a way that seems designed. Everything about him in his human form is meant to destroy Clara’s defenses, handsomeness woven with sinister intent. I think it would be lovely to have someone like Jacob Elordi or Bill Skarsgârd in the role. They know how to breathe life into monstrous characters in a way that helps us feel their human hearts.

As I said, no matter who finds their way to this story, and no matter who helps it come alive on screen, my only hope is that it brings as much healing to them as it’s brought me. To my future dream team, I am already endlessly grateful for you.

Visit Brittany Amara's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Elle Marr's "The Lie She Wears"

Elle Marr is the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of Your Dark Secrets, The Alone Time, The Family Bones, Strangers We Know, Lies We Bury, and The Missing Sister. Originally from Sacramento, Marr graduated from UC San Diego before moving to France, where she earned a master’s degree from the Sorbonne University in Paris. She now lives and writes in Oregon with her family.

Here Marr dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Lie She Wears:

Set in Portland, Oregon, The Lie She Wears begins with museum curator and Asian-American Pearl receiving a letter from her recently deceased mother—confessing to murder. Pearl thinks she’s uncovered her mother’s darkest secret. But, when more letters surface, and new victims appear, Pearl realizes she’s caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

While I’m writing, I never think of what actor or filmmaker would be a fit for a screen adaptation of my book. However, it would be my dream to see this story brought to life by today’s talented variety of Asian-American creatives out there. First, and most importantly, I’d dreamcast Lana Condor as Pearl, as I think she’d bring the angsty innocence that Pearl exhibits through most of the book, and she’d also bring to life the heartbreak that characterizes Pearl at the beginning of the story.

As Pearl’s mother, and a deceased character at the outset of my book, Sally’s casting requires an actress who can exude exhaustion and disdain through the text of the hidden letters, as well as the deep-abiding love for her daughter that underlines each biting retort. Lucy Liu would be a fantastic Sally.

Liam, Pearl’s father and a man living with debilitating multiple sclerosis, needs an actor who can demonstrate the love and affection for Pearl that Sally was always unable to muster, while believably presenting the same strength and fierceness that protected Pearl when she was a child. Randall Park would be a great choice.

Finally, Sally’s in-home nurse and caregiver, Zelda should be brought to life by an actress who can bring the levity to the screen that Zelda provides on paper. Her life experiences contrast the Davis family’s, but also complements them due to her complicated history growing up in the foster system. Chloe Bennet could demonstrate that depth in a way that would round out my dream cast.

As for directors? I’m dreaming here, so let me say Olivia Munn, simply because I love her. She could make her directorial debut, and she’d get the inherent dark comedy to this story, as well as the cultural themes that The Lie She Wears highlights and explores. Olivia, slide into my DM’s and let’s figure this out together!

Visit Elle Marr's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Missing Sister.

The Page 69 Test: Lies We Bury.

--Marshal Zeringue

G. M. Malliet's "Death and the Final Cut"

G. M. Malliet is the Agatha Award–winning author of the St. Just mysteries. She lives on the East Coast of the U.S. but dreams of living in the U.K.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Death and the Final Cut: St. Just Mystery #7:

If Death and the Final Cut makes it to the screen, I can predict the opening shot: the ancient stones of Cambridge’s Round Church faintly glowing in nightlight, its peace about to be shattered by ambitious actors, a frazzled camera crew, and bloody murder.

Hollywood has descended on the University of Cambridge to film Viking Bride, starring once-famous actress Agnes Dermont in what’s meant to be her big comeback. But the project quickly dissolves into farce—an overworked script, an overwrought leading lady, and a general disregard for historical accuracy.

Then a prop Viking knife turns out to be real, and poor Agnes is found with it buried in her chest.

Enter Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just. A stalwart, quietly decent policeman in his forties, St. Just tries to apply a steady moral compass to a world gone mad. Assisted (and sometimes challenged) by his fiancée, criminologist Portia De’Ath, he navigates a minefield of jealousies and tabloid-worthy secrets as he searches for the truth. Though set in present-day Cambridge, the tone is Golden Age / Agatha Christie whodunit.

My Dream Cast

St. Just should be easy to cast, as I’ve described him vaguely as a large policeman with a head full of dark hair! While my choices have had to change over the years, Chris Evans might now make a good St. Just. He has that rare mix of intelligence, restraint, and quiet wit—a man whose stillness makes people underestimate him.

For Portia, I picture Emily Blunt—graceful, sharp-eyed, and capable of tenderness and patience—the sort of vast patience required of any woman betrothed to a policeman. (Their wedding date keeps getting pushed forward.)

Emily will, however, have to cut her hair short for the part.

The ill-fated actress Agnes Dermont calls for someone who can play fading glamour with heartbreaking accuracy. Cate Blanchett (although not that old!) could capture Agnes’s brittle charm, her lingering vanity, and the slight madness of a woman watching her fame slip away.

The film’s handsome director—in over his head with this film—could be played by any of a dozen too-handsome Hollywood actors, while Jodie Comer could play the too-perfect ingénue a bit too eager to step into Agnes’s shoes.

My Dream Director

For director, I’d love to see Rian Johnson (Knives Out, Glass Onion) bringing a witty, contemporary spin to the classic whodunit form, balancing humor with tension. And for a Brideshead element, Julian Fellowes of Gosford Park fame, of course. (That is still one of my favorite films—I’ve viewed it a dozen times.) At its heart, Death and the Final Cut is—above all the other books in the series—about performance and pretense. Everyone in this story is acting for their lives, because there’s just so much money and reputation riding on the outcome.

Visit G. M. Malliet's website, Facebook page, and Instagram home.

The Page 69 Test: A Fatal Winter.

The Page 69 Test: The Haunted Season.

Writers Read: G.M. Malliet (April 2017).

Q&A with G. M. Malliet.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mirta Ojito's "Deeper than the Ocean"

Born in Havana, Mirta Ojito is a journalist, professor, and author who has worked at the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, and the New York Times. The recipient of an Emmy for the documentary Harvest of Misery as well as a shared Pulitzer for national reporting in 2001 for a series of articles about race in America for the New York Times, Ojito was an assistant professor of journalism at Columbia University for almost nine years. She is the author of two award-winning nonfiction books: Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus and Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town. Currently, Ojito is a senior director on the NBC News Standards team working at Telemundo Network.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of Deeper than the Ocean, her debut novel:

Oooh, I love this question! I’m a huge movie fan.

I didn’t think about actors when I was writing the book, but I did have images that inspired me. For example, for the two protagonists — Mara Denis and Catalina Quintana — I had pictures of what I wanted them to look like. With the picture of Mara, I cheated a bit. I used a photo of me circa 1992 that a friend took during a trip to Mexico. I was much younger then than the character I was writing about -a slightly cynical, deeply wounded journalist, who lost the love of her life at young age and was left alone caring for their child, a boy named Dylan. What I liked about the picture was that, in it, I look pensive and troubled, just like I imagined Mara to be.

The perfect actress for this role would be Juliette Binoche. Few actresses can convey as much inner turmoil as she does with the muscles of her face. It is a face that telegraphs pain and acceptance equally. And that is the Mara I created, a woman intent on unearthing a family secret so that she can understand her own life and conquer her fears.

The other protagonist is more complicated because she ages in the book. She is Catalina Quintana, the great grandmother Mara is looking for, and the keeper of a secret that haunted her family for generations. For inspiration I found a picture of a young woman with flowing red curly hair, which fit the description of the character, and kept it on my desk during the long years of writing. Two actresses would have to play her.

For the young, easily impressed, impulsive and stubborn Catalina, I’d say someone like Emma Stone, who looks far younger than her 36 years. For the older, resilient, strong but profoundly damaged Catalina, I’d cast Susan Sarandon, who can portray strength and vulnerability at the same time with one of her languorous gazes.

As director, I’d pick Sergio Leone because I loved Once Upon a Time in America, and my book, like this movie, spans decades and the bulk of it transpires in the same time period. The score would be by Ennio Morricone, of course. Because, really, who can forget the music of that film? And the cinematographer would be Nestor Almendros, known for his work in films such as Sophie’s Choice and Days of Heaven. Sadly, they are no longer with us, but since this question asked me to dream, I’m dreaming.

Visit Mirta Ojito's website.

--Marshal Zeringue