Jessie Knadler's "Rurally Screwed"

Jessie Knadler is a writer whose articles and stories have appeared in publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Glamour. She is the coauthor of the preserving cookbook Tart and Sweet.

Her blog rurallyscrewed.com has been featured in Newsweek and French Elle and on Jezebel.com. She lives with her husband, her daughter, and a bunch of chickens in Lexington, Virginia.

Here Knadler dreamcasts an adaptation of her new book, Rurally Screwed: My Life Off the Grid with the Cowboy I Love:

My top pick to play the role of Jessie (that would be me) would be Kate Winslet, the pitch perfect blend of kookiness, warmth and intensity. Since there’s not a chance in hell this will ever happen (she’s only one of the best actresses on the planet and to my knowledge, doesn’t do romantic comedies), Emily Blunt, Drew Barrymore, Emma Stone and Charlize Theron could all do an equally bang up job. For the role of Jake, I can’t really think of an actor who could convincingly play him since so few seem capable of shedding their inherent glossy Hollywood patina, but I’ll go with Ryan Gosling since he played a believable soldier-slash-working man in The Notebook.

Learn more about the book and author at Jessie Knadler's website.

Writers Read: Jessie Knadler.

--Marshal Zeringue

Duncan Barrett & Nuala Calvi's "The Sugar Girls"

Duncan Barrett studied English at Cambridge and now works as writer and editor, specializing in biography and memoir. He most recently edited The Reluctant Tommy (Macmillan, 2010) a First World War memoir. Nuala Calvi also studied English and has been a journalist for eight years with a strong interest in community history pieces. She took part in the Streatham Stories project to document the lives and memories of people in South London. They live in South London.

Here Barrett shares some ideas for director and part of the cast if their new book, The Sugar Girls: Tales of Hardship, Love and Happiness in Tate & Lyle's East End Factories, is adapted for the big screen:

The Sugar Girls is based on interviews with women who worked at Tate & Lyle’s East End factories in the 1940s and 1950s. One of our core interviewees, Gladys Taylor, wasted no time in announcing her desire to be a character in a feature film. We had just arrived at her house for our first interview, and hadn’t even had a chance to sit down, when she demanded, ‘Is this going to be a film then, like Made in Dagenham?’ before pondering who might play her part.

Certainly, if The Sugar Girls were to make it to the big screen, Made in Dagenham would be the obvious reference point – and Nigel Cole, who directed both that film and Calendar Girls, would be an obvious first choice for director. Like both those films, our book focuses on the friendship and camaraderie of ordinary women – and our sugar girls were as tough and strong-willed as their sisters at the Ford motor plant, calling unofficial strikes at work when they felt they weren’t being treated fairly.

It’s actually rather hard to imagine who would play Gladys and the other sugar girls. In the 1940s, girls started work at 14, so it seems likely that young unknown actors would take the main roles. However, there are some wonderful supporting parts among the factory management. The one character who was mentioned in pretty much every interview was Miss Smith, the formidable labour manageress who hired and fired the girls, and who was known around the factory as ‘The Dragon’ for her strict sense of discipline. At her most no-nonsense and intimidating, I can imagine Imelda Staunton in the role.

The other great part for a character actor is Oliver Lyle, the eccentric fellow who used to run the factory, and whose grandfather, Abram Lyle, had built it over 60 years previously. ‘Old Ollie’, as he was known around the factory, was so obsessive about the production process that he once fell into a vat of sugar juice he had been studying particularly intensely – and when he was pulled out, his suit had hardened into armour. He was a warm, enthusiastic man and would be a gift of a part for a larger-than-life performer: perhaps Simon Callow, or maybe even Kenneth Branagh, who bears something of a resemblance to Mr Lyle.

Visit the official blog of The Sugar Girls for pictures, excerpts, reviews and more.

The Page 99 Test: The Sugar Girls.

Writers Read: Duncan Barrett.

--Marshal Zeringue

Erika Marks's "Little Gale Gumbo"

Erika Marks is a native New Englander who was raised in Maine and has worked as an illustrator, cake decorator, and carpenter. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and their two daughters.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her novel, Little Gale Gumbo:

I have to believe there isn’t a writer out there who hasn’t cast her or his novel at some point along the way—whether in the earliest draft or in the final product. Although my story takes place over 30-plus years, I’ve only cast the adult roles (but would love to hear if anyone has any suggestions for the younger versions of the characters.)

For the role of Camille, the Creole woman who leaves New Orleans with her teenage daughters and opens a café in coastal Maine, I would cast Thandie Newton. Not only is she a beauty, but I imagine her conveying Camille’s warmth and calm, her passion and sensuality, as well as her determination to do what she needs to do to care for her daughters and make their new life on the island.

Camille’s daughters are complete opposites in every way, but are absolutely devoted to one another. Older sister Dahlia, who is fiercely independent and outspoken but also comfortable with her sexuality, strongly resembles her mother, Camille; I think either Paula Patton or Halle Berry would be wonderful. For emotionally-fragile younger sister Josie, who looks like her father Charles, I think Amy Adams would be great in the role.

In terms of the male characters: for the role of single-father Ben, I see Matt Damon embodying that quiet confidence, that lack of ego, as well as that clear sense of being a protector. I think Aaron Eckhart would be a good choice for his son Matthew—sensitive and easy-going but moody enough to adequately express his conflicted feelings for the two sisters.

Jack, Dahlia’s long-time love, is a warm, stand-up guy but also sexy; Eric Bana or Josh Brolin come immediately to mind. Josie’s husband Wayne is very much the boy-next-door, someone like Jason Segel.

For Charles, there’s no question I think Michael Fassbender would nail it. He’s handsome and charming, but able to turn that charm on a dime into something much more dangerous.

Learn more about the book and author at Erika Marks's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jennifer duBois's "A Partial History of Lost Causes"

Jennifer duBois was born in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1983. She earned a B.A. in political science and philosophy from Tufts University and an M.F.A. in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She recently completed a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University, where she is currently the Nancy Packer Lecturer in Continuing Studies. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Playboy, The Missouri Review, The Kenyon Review, The Florida Review, The Northwest Review, Narrative, ZYZZYVA, FiveChapters and elsewhere.

Here she shares some suggestions for casting an adaptation of her new novel, A Partial History of Lost Causes:

A Partial History of Lost Causes follows the stories of two very different characters facing fundamentally similar challenges. Aleksandr Bezetov is a Russian chess champion turned political dissident launching a quixotic political campaign against Vladimir Putin. Irina Ellison is a young American academic who is positive for Huntington’s disease, the degenerative neurological disease that killed her father. In the year before she knows she’s likely to become symptomatic, Irina travels to Russia to get an answer to the question her chess-obsessed father had once posed in an unanswered letter to Bezetov: how do you proceed when you’re confronting a lost cause?

Part of the fun of fantasy-casting A Partial History of Lost Causes is that the book spans thirty years, so almost every actor would need to look many decades older or younger than he or she actually is at some point in the movie. But in my imaginary film, the make-up/prosthetic budget is limitless. (The same is true of my imaginary nation-state.) Also, in my imaginary film, hugely famous actors are lining up for bit parts. You’re welcome, Bill Murray!

Aleksandr: Robert Downey Jr., because he can do anything.

Irina: There’s no obvious choice for her, since she’s ornery and cerebral and over 30, but I suppose movie-Irina would have to be a bit sweeter and prettier than book-Irina. I love Emma Stone—her comic timing is phenomenal—and we know from her fine work in The House Bunny that she can play a reasonably plausible nerd. So if she ever wanted to begin a dramatic career, I think my imaginary movie, with its limitless prosthesis budget, would be an excellent place for her to start.

Elizabeta: Frances McDormand would be an amazing older-Elizabeta. Frances McDormand radiates this profound unwillingness to deal with nonsense, which I really like and hope to achieve in my later years.

Nikolai: Kevin Spacey. There is no one more satisfyingly villainous.

Misha: Steve Buscemi. I only just realized that he probably subconsciously inspired every physical description of this character as I was writing.

Lars: Bill Murray. We’ve seen him eccentric and world-weary, but have we seen him eccentric and world-weary and Swedish?

Petr Pavlovich: Paul Giamatti. His sniffling alone would steal the movie/win an Academy Award.

Finally, a cameo by Vladimir Putin as himself. He’s already harpooned a whale, achieved a black belt in Judo, and reportedly saved an entire TV crew from a tiger attack—starring in a movie is the natural next step for his career. Also, he could probably use the good press.

Learn more about the book and author at the official Jennifer DuBois website.

The Page 69 Test: A Partial History of Lost Causes.

--Marshal Zeringue

S.G. Browne's "Lucky Bastard"

S.G. Browne worked in Hollywood for several years before moving to Santa Cruz to be a writer. He currently lives and writes in San Francisco. His novels include Breathers: A Zombie's Lament.

Here Browne dreamcasts an adaptation of his latest novel, Lucky Bastard:

While I see my books visually as I’m writing them and have been told that my short chapters and style of writing lends my novels to film adaptation, I didn’t have any actors or actresses in mind when I wrote Lucky Bastard.

Although I have a short list of actors I’ve come up with for the characters in my first two novels (Breathers and Fated), I didn’t come up with the lists until after the books were written. Had I imagined certain actors playing those roles, I think it would have influenced or affected the development of the characters as I was creating them. Imbued them with a voice or a demeanor that was similar to previous roles I’d seen those actors play in other films. So I just allowed my characters to become who they were before casting anyone to play them in the film version.

In case you’re curious, the actors on my short list for Breathers are Joseph Gordon-Levitt / Jake Gyllenhaal (Andy), Scarlett Johansson / Anne Hathaway (Rita), Bruce Campbell (Andy’s dad), and Christopher Walken (Ray). The actors I imagine playing the characters in Fated include Ryan Reynolds (Fate), Rose McGowan (Destiny), Jonah Hill (Gluttony), Seth Rogan (Sloth), and Gary Oldman (Death).

As for Lucky Bastard, I could see Ryan Gosling as a possible Nick Monday. Although I’ve never seen him do straight comedy, I think he could pull off being an amusing, sarcastic, smart-ass detective. Though if I could create a gap in the space-time continuum and grab an actor from another era, Val Kilmer in his late 20s would have been perfect for the role. A young Robert Downey Jr. would have been perfect, too.

Other roles could go to Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad (Bow Wow), Ken Watanabe (Tommy Wong), William Fichtner (Barry Manilow), John Malkovich (The Albino), and Scarlett Johansson or Rose McGowan as Tuesday Knight.

Apparently, I have a thing for Scarlett Johansson and Rose McGowan.

Learn more about Lucky Bastard and the author at S.G. Browne's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Breathers: A Zombie's Lament.

The Page 69 Test: Lucky Bastard.

Writers Read: S.G. Browne.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ann Pearlman's "A Gift for My Sister"

Ann Pearlman is a writer of both fiction, and non-fiction books and has been passionate about writing since eighth grade. Getting Free: Women and Psychotherapy was written with two colleagues and used as both a consciousness-raising book in the woman’s movement as well as college textbook.  Keep the Home Fires Burning: How to Have an Affair With Your Spouse, garnered the attention of the Oprah Winfrey Show and many other TV talk shows. Her memoir, Infidelity, was nominated for National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, and made into a Lifetime movie by Lionsgate. Inside the Crips, with a foreword by Ice T, took readers into the life of a Crip gang member and the California Prison system. The Christmas Cookie Club became an international bestseller, spawning cookie exchanges and donations to charity.

Here Pearlman shares some suggestions for casting an adaptation of her new novel, A Gift for My Sister:

I don’t think of movie stars when I envision my characters. My characters exist so fully in my mind no real person could match my imagination. Yet, Lionsgate turned one of my books, Infidelity, into a Lifetime movie and the people they chose fit the movie they created. I had not imagined that Kim Delaney who I loved on NYPD Blue would play the lead and that Kyle Secor, who became the President’s husband on Commander and Chief, would be her husband. Cristian de La Fuente was the ‘other man’. I loved being on the set and watching my book morph into a project that grew from the creativity and imaginations of cast and crew. When a book is made into a movie, it becomes the producer, director, and cast, and scriptwriter’s collaborative art project.

A Gift For My Sister would make a fabulous movie. There’s the psychological tension between the characters, with settings as rich as rap concerts, and an entire trip across America. Each actor will bring something new to the character that cannot match my image. Here are some ideas for the characters in A Gift for My Sister.

Michelle Williams for Sky because she reveals huge amounts of emotion in small gestures. She can portray a cautious, yet internally anxious and angry, character.

Katharine McPhee for Tara because she can sing, act, and has an edge. She can do impetuous, loving and self-sacrificing.

T.I. for Aaron/Special Intent because he looks and raps a bit as I imagine Aaron. And he has experience in front of a camera.

Kathy Bates for Allie, the friend who helps them on their journey across the country, because she can be wise, loving, yet tough, bridging those characteristics effortlessly.

Alfre Woodward for Sissy (Aaron’s mom) because of her welcoming warmth.

It’s exciting to see words I’ve written spoken by actors and I would love to be on the set when they do the rap concerts.

Learn more about the book and author at Ann Pearlman's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: A Gift for My Sister.

Writers Read: Ann Pearlman.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jon Talton's "Powers of Arrest"

Jon Talton's novels include the thriller, Deadline Man, several David Mapstone mysteries, and The Pain Nurse, the first of The Cincinnati Casebooks series.

Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of his latest Cincinnati Casebook, Powers of Arrest:

For Powers of Arrest, the most important character is Cincinnati. The film should be shot there, lovingly showing the place that Churchill called America’s most beautiful inland city. From the gritty architectural jewel box of Over-the-Rhine to the Ohio River sweeping past downtown to the hills and valleys of Cincinnati, it is a cinematic paradise.

As for major characters, I see Jodie Foster as Cheryl Beth Wilson, the nurse and nursing professor. Detective Will Borders would be well served by Vincent D’Onofrio, who can play the pain and depth of this character. As for his partner, Detective Dodds, Terrence Howard.

Learn more about the book and author at Jon Talton's website.

The Page 69 Test: Powers of Arrest.

Writers Read: Jon Talton.

--Marshal Zeringue

Terra Elan McVoy's "Being Friends with Boys"

Terra Elan McVoy has held a variety of jobs centered around reading and writing, from managing an independent children’s bookstore, to teaching writing classes, and even answering fan mail for Captain Underpants. McVoy lives and works in the same Atlanta neighborhood where her novels After the Kiss, Being Friends with Boys, and Pure are set. She is also the author of The Summer of Firsts and Lasts.

Here the author shares some ideas for director and cast of an adaptation of Being Friends with Boys:

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking of my favorite John Hughes films (Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles, specifically) when I wrote Being Friends with Boys. While there isn’t exactly a connect-the-dot between any of the book or movie characters, I hope that the same the mood those films evoke is still there. Were he alive today, it would be awesome to have John Hughes direct the movie version of this book. I also loved (500) Days of Summer and since there’s a heavy music element to this book, Marc Webb might be another interesting directorial choice.

Since all the actors I loved in John Hughes’ films are now almost be too old to play the parents (though gosh—Molly Ringwald as Charlotte’s stepmom, Hannah, would be fantastic), I’ve got try to use my imagination a little more to cast these characters.

For the role of Charlotte, the main character, I’d choose Kat Dennings in her Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist mode, hands down. She might have to work to un-glamourize herself just a little at the beginning of the Being Friends with Boys film, but her tough, edgy, funny vibe would be really perfect for Charlotte, especially once Charlotte learns a thing or two about sticking up for herself. (As she does later in the book.)

Oliver, Charlotte’s best friend since 5th grade, is a bit of a broody looker, and so it’d be interesting to see Daniel Radcliffe (at about HP #5 age) play him. Trip, her other best friend, is bouncier and goofier, so maybe Hunter Parrish (slightly younger than he is now) would be a good fit. The bad-boy of the book, Benji, I can’t imagine being played by anyone else but Macaulay Culkin (much younger and healthier than he is now, of course—maybe around when he was 19). I loved him so much in Saved!, and that’s the energy that would be perfect for Benji. Of course, I’m also a huge Robert Downey Jr., fan, so if we wanted to cast Benji as someone more darkly complected, that might work too (so long as RDJ was, you know, 18). Charlotte’s love interest, Fabian, needs to be someone approachable, but creative and sexy at the same time. Maybe Tye Sheridan; he played a smallish role in The Tree of Life, but I think he’d be ready for a bigger role now!

Of course, the reader’s imagination is always the best casting director ever, so mostly I defer to readers of Being Friends with Boys regarding who should play whom. Even if that means the result is a bunch of yet-undiscovered unknowns!

Visit Terra Elan McVoy's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: The Summer of Firsts and Lasts.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kate Klise's "In the Bag"

As a correspondent for People magazine, Kate Klise covered everything from celebrity scandals to serial killers. After writing several bestselling children's books, Kate decided to write In the Bag, her first novel for adults, when she found a note from a fellow passenger in her carry-on bag.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of In the Bag:

I wrote In the Bag after watching The Holiday (Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black) and remembering how fun a trading-places story can be.

In my book, the characters don’t trade houses. They swap suitcases—by accident. These are the two teenage characters who then begin flirting online while purportedly trying to track down their missing luggage in Paris (the 18-year-old girl) and Madrid (the 17-year-old boy).

The teenagers’ parents—both single—are clueless about their kids’ budding e-romance. Why? Because they’re too preoccupied with work. The mother (I can picture Sandra Bullock, Kate Winslet or Diane Keaton in this role) recently quit her job as chef at a fancy restaurant in Chicago. The father (I’d love to see Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Steve Martin, or Alec Baldwin here) is a museum exhibit designer with a big show coming up titled "Love in the Post-Digital Age." He has no time to slip an admiring note in the bag of a woman (our Sandra-Kate-Diane character) he sees on an international flight. But that’s exactly what he does.

These characters will meet each other, lose each other, find each other again (in Barcelona), tick each other off (romantic partners and parents/children alike) before they realize adore each other to pieces.

But now do you see why I need either Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail) or Nancy Meyers (The Holiday, Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated) to direct the movie version of this book? In the Bag is a romantic comedy about two generations, three international cities, and four major characters—all trying to find love in this post-digital world.

And it is complicated.

But not really.

It’s a feel-good story about taking chances on new relationships, even though we all know by now that falling in love can be as risky as checking a bag on a long flight—or thinking about the movie adaptation of a book a week before the pub date.

And I know exactly who I’d love to write the soundtrack: Jimmy “Wichita Lineman” Webb.

Learn more about the book and author at Kate Klise's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Alex Adams's "White Horse"

Alex Adams was born in New Zealand, raised in Greece and Australia, and currently lives in Oregon–which is a whole lot like New Zealand, minus those freaky-looking wetas.

Here she shares some ideas for casting an adaptation of her new novel White Horse, the first volume in a debut trilogy:

I don't populate my stories with famous faces. Sometimes my characters don't wear faces at all. They remain hazy, with features that stand out only when they need to.

But lately people have been asking questions about who I'd cast in the various roles, should a production company snap up White Horse's film rights. So I've been sifting through faces.

Kate Winslet would really work for Zoe. As my protagonist, the whole story is filtered through her point of view, so the role needs an actor strong enough to carry every scene. Is there anything Kate can't do? I don't think so.

There's no one I've ever seen as Nick Rose. None of the current crop of Hollywood stars would work for me, so he'd have to be a complete unknown.

I'm not all that familiar with the UK's young stars, so for Lisa, the young blind woman Zoe saves, I'd have to go with Ahna O'Reilly—but with an English accent.

Morris I see as Jada Pinkett Smith. She's got the look and the right blend of toughness and vulnerability. Morris has lost everyone, yet she's able to push that aside, lead people, do tough things that need to be done. And somehow, she manages to maintain her sense of humor. I think Jada would totally kill in that role.

White Horse's villain, the Swiss, is probably the trickiest to cast. I have someone in mind, but there's a huge plot-gaping reason why it wouldn't work (and no, I'll never say who unless you've read the book). A fellow writer suggested Giovanni Ribisi, and so far I can't think of anyone better.

Learn more about the book and author at Alex Adams's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue