Auston Habershaw's "The Iron Ring"

On the day Auston Habershaw was born, Skylab fell from the heavens. This foretold two possible fates: supervillain or scifi/fantasy author. Fortunately he chose the latter, and spends his time imagining the could-be and the never-was rather than disintegrating the moon with his volcano laser. He lives and works in Boston, MA.

Here Habershaw dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, The Iron Ring: Part I of the Saga of the Redeemed:

The Iron Ring was just released by Harper Voyager Impulse early this month, so perhaps discussions of who will play whom in the movie are premature, but, hell, this is the Internet, dammit! Why shouldn’t I indulge in delusions of grandeur?

Tyvian Reldamar—played by Damian Lewis

Lewis has the right look, the right charm, and I have no doubt he can sport a devilish grin if he needs to. Whoever plays Tyvian needs a certain arrogance about him—he’s a guy who is supremely confident in himself and supremely disdainful of everyone else. I’m pretty sure Lewis could pull this off.

Artus—played by Currently Unknown

Tyvian’s sidekick/constant annoyance should be played be a newcomer—a fresh faced kid with a lot of potential, just like Artus. I want the next Daniel Radcliffe or similar here. Somebody who can mature with the role and make it their own.

Hool—voiced by Viola Davis

Hool is a giant gnoll—a furry, dog/lion/person who would obviously be a work of CGI. As for the voice, I want a strong, authoritative female voice. When she speaks, she brooks no nonsense. Viola Davis seems the logical candidate.

Myreon Alafarr—played by Lauren Lee Smith

I don’t know her work that well, but Ms. Smith caught my eye in SyFy’s Ascension as the no-nonsense investigator. She is tall, imposing, and has the capacity to play a good cop, I think, and an ideal foil to Tyvian’s plotting and moral ambivalence.

Carlo diCarlo—played by Nathan Lane

Carlo needs to seem foolish, even when he is not foolish. He needs to seem slow and uncoordinated, even when he is not slow or uncoordinated. Most of all, he needs to be able to smirk. All you, Mr. Lane.

Zazlar Hendrieux—played by Adrien Brody

Hendrieux is thin, strung-out, nervous, and can turn cruel on a dime. I think Brody can fit the bill admirably. At the same time, there needs to be a certain competence there that would indicate why Tyvian would have associated with the guy in the first place.

Banric Sahand—played by Rutger Hauer

The big bad needs to be somebody who knows how to be big and bad. He also needs the look of an aging warlord—He Who Is Not To Be Messed With. That’s Hauer to a T.

Well, that covers the big players. I didn’t exactly have these people in mind while I was writing, but rather afterwards—long after the book was done—I’ve found myself wondering about what a movie version would look like. I’ve found these people after the fact, and I think they fit pretty well. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy my book!

Visit Auston Habershaw's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Iron Ring.

Writers Read: Auston Habershaw.

--Marshal Zeringue

Leanna Renee Hieber's "The Eterna Files"

Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright and the award winning, bestselling author of Gaslamp Fantasy‎ series such as the Strangely Beautiful saga, the Magic Most Foul saga and the new Eterna Files saga for Tor Books.

Here Hieber dreamcasts an adaptation of The Eterna Files:

May I introduce you to the very large cast that is The Eterna Files!

I’m a professional, classically trained actress as well as a playwright and author, so of course I’ve had possible cast options in my head all along!

First, a little bit about The Eterna Files, from the publisher (Tor Books):

Welcome to The Eterna Files, written by Leanna Renee Hieber, “the brightest new star in literature” (True-Blood.net)

London, 1882: Queen Victoria appoints Harold Spire of the Metropolitan Police to Special Branch Division Omega. Omega is to secretly investigate paranormal and supernatural events and persons. Spire, a skeptic driven to protect the helpless and see justice done, is the perfect man to lead the department, which employs scholars and scientists, assassins and con men, and a traveling circus. Spire's chief researcher is Rose Everhart, who believes fervently that there is more to the world than can be seen by mortal eyes. Their first mission: find the Eterna Compound, which grants immortality. Catastrophe destroyed the hidden laboratory in New York City where Eterna was developed, but the Queen is convinced someone escaped—and has a sample of Eterna.

Also searching for Eterna is an American, Clara Templeton, who helped start the project after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln nearly destroyed her nation. Haunted by the ghost of her beloved, she is determined that the Eterna Compound—and the immortality it will convey—will be controlled by the United States, not Great Britain.

THE AMERICANS:

Senator Rupert Bishop – Richard Armitage
Clara Templeton – Kirsten Dunst or Amanda Seyfried
Franklin Fordham – Chris Evans
Evelyn Northe-Stewart – Meryl Streep or Jessica Lange
Effie Bixby – Gina Torres
Louis & Andre Dupris – Jesse Williams
Josiah – (a young African American kid who needs his big break into film!)
Lavinia Kent – Holliday Grainger

THE BRITS:

Harold Spire – Martin Freeman (my choice) or David Tennant (my editor’s choice, both, amazing choices)
Lord Denbury – Ben Barnes
Rose Everhart – Ruth Wilson or Anne Hathaway
Mr. Blakeley – Tom Mison
Miss Knight – Lara Pulver
Moriel (The Bad Guy) - Aidan Gillen
Queen Victoria – Imelda Staunton
Mr. Moseley – Aneuriun Barnard
Lord Black – David Bowie (David Bowie, you guys)
Reginald Wilson – Patrick Wilson
Adira Wilson – Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Gabriel Brinkman – Tom Hiddleston

So, basically, a cast of awesome. If all these people were on screen presenting my characters and my work, I would die of happiness.

Enjoy The Eterna Files with these fine actors in mind!

Visit Leanna Renee Hieber's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

Writers Read: Leanna Renee Hieber.

--Marshal Zeringue

Shari Goldhagen's "In Some Other World Maybe"

Shari Goldhagen is a journalist, eggroll enthusiast, and author of the novels Family and Other Accidents (2006) and In Some Other World, Maybe (2015). She lives in a very tiny (but normal for NYC) apartment in Manhattan with her husband and daughter.

Here Goldhagen dreamcasts an adaptation of In Some Other World, Maybe:

Several of the characters in In Some Other World, Maybe are themselves actors or writers, so I suspect that they would actually have thought about this quite a bit...even if they wouldn’t admit it.

Phoebe is someone whose early life is defined by the fact that she’s conventionally beautiful—something she uses to her advantage, even if she isn’t quite comfortable with that. There are several contemporary actresses who I think would work well—Gemma Arterton, Natalie Portman, maybe Rachel Weisz (who is technically a little old for the character, but never seems to age). In my head though she kind of looks like a young Elizabeth Taylor.

So while we’re doing my dream cast of Phoebe as Liz, I’d love to see Paul Newman—circa Cat on a Hot Tin Roof—as Adam. But if we’re keeping things confined to this world, maybe, Ben McKenzie from Gotham for Adam—bonus points because Gotham is very much like the show Adam ends up working on in the book.

For Sharon, who is more introverted, I’d want someone who isn’t necessarily the first person you would notice when you walk into a room, but someone who becomes more attractive the closer you get to her—both physically and emotionally. Maybe Ellen Page or Thora Birch?

And I think that Eddie Redmayne would make a great globe-trotting Oliver.

Visit Shari Goldhagen's website and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

Elliot Ackerman's "Green on Blue"

Elliot Ackerman is a writer based out of Istanbul. His fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and Ecotone among others. He is also a contributor to The Daily Beast, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as a White House Fellow in the Obama Administration. Prior to this, he spent eight years in the military as both an infantry and special operations officer.

Ackerman is a decorated veteran, having earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart for his role leading a Rifle Platoon in the November 2004 Battle of Fallujah and a Bronze Star for Valor while leading a Marine Corps Special Operations Team in Afghanistan in 2008.

Here Ackerman shares some thoughts about casting an adaptation of his debut novel, Green on Blue:

If Green on Blue were turned into a movie, I think, by definition, most of the actors would be relative unknowns. Nearly the entire cast would have to be of Afghan or at least of South Asian decent. For any writer, if you’re lucky enough to have your work adapted for film, you’re ceding your story to another’s interpretation of it. The possibilities for that interpretation are endless, but I can tell you who I hope wouldn’t be cast in the film: Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Julia Roberts. Aside from that, I’ll just hope to score some complimentary popcorn at the premiere.

Visit Elliot Ackerman's website.

The Page 69 Test: Green on Blue.

Writers Read: Elliot Ackerman.

--Marshal Zeringue

William Klaber's "The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell"

William Klaber is a part-time journalist. He lives in upstate New York on a hill overlooking Basket Creek, a short way upstream from where Lucy Lobdell lived 160 years ago.

Here Klaber shares an idea for the lead in an adaptation of his new novel, The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell:

I was with Brenda, my future editor at St Martin’s. It was the first time we met and we were sitting down for lunch to discuss Rebellion, Lucy Lobdell’s purported memoir. Brenda was chirpy and out popped the question. Who should play Lucy? A good conversation starter, but not a role for just any actress. Sharp with a rifle, Lucy passed for three years as a man on the western frontier before she was discovered and put on trial for the crime of wearing men’s clothes. Back east she ran a dancing school, so convincing as a man that women started falling for this new guy, and Lucy started liking them back. Big trouble. And a challenging movie role.

Brenda proposed that for fun we each write down who should play Lucy, fold the paper and hand it across the table. We did this. We passed the ballots and laughed, because we had each picked Jennifer Lawrence. Turns out, neither of us had thought about who would be best for the part, Jennifer Lawrence was simply the person in movies we most wanted to meet. So if you ask me that question now, I give the same answer. Jennifer Lawrence.

Visit William Klaber's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kristen Ghodsee's "The Left Side of History"

Kristen Ghodsee is Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at Bowdoin College and a former Guggenheim Fellow. She is the author of several books and over two dozen articles, including The Red Riviera: Gender, Tourism and Postsocialism on the Black Sea and Muslim Lives in Eastern Europe: Gender, Ethnicity and the Transformation of Islam in Postsocialist Bulgaria, which won the 2010 Barbara Heldt Book Prize, the 2011 John D. Bell Book Prize, the 2011 Harvard Davis Center Book Prize, and the 2011 William Douglass Prize for Best Book in Europeanist Anthropology.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest book, The Left Side of History: World War II and the Unfulfilled Promise of Communism in Eastern Europe:

The Left Side of History has all of the ingredients for a big screen World War II political thriller. But it would be an unconventional film since all of the protagonists are left-wing guerillas fighting against the Nazi-allied Bulgarian monarchy in the Balkan theater of the War. The actors would have to work hard to challenge the pervasive cultural stereotypes of communists as deluded revolutionaries. The book revolves around two sets of leftist dreamers: one British and one Bulgarian.

On the British side, the hero is Major Frank Thompson, a British Special Operations Executive officer who parachuted deep behind enemy lines in January 1944 to organize and support the Bulgarian partisans. Frank Thompson was a young idealist who joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1938 at the urging of his Oxford classmate, the writer Iris Murdoch. He enlisted to fight against the Axis powers two days before the official British declaration of war, and spent 1939-1943 in North Africa, the Middle East, and Italy before his final mission in the Balkans. Frank Thompson was the older brother of the famous labor historian, E.P. Thompson, and the Winchester schoolmate of the mathematician Freeman Dyson, both who also fought in WWII (E.P. Thompson in Italy and Dyson at British Bomber Command in London). I’d feel compelled to cast British actors, and I’d want some Himalayan acting talent.

My first thought for the role of Major Frank Thompson was Benedict Cumberbatch, but as Frank Thompson smoked a pipe I think it would be impossible for audiences to look at Cumberbatch with a pipe in his mouth and not think “Sherlock.” So my second choice is Tom Hiddleston because Frank Thompson was also a poet and a polyglot (he spoke nine languages), and I think Hiddleston could play the perfect sensitive action hero. David Tenant could play Frank’s younger brother, Edward Palmer Thompson, and Eddie Redmayne would be a perfect young Freeman Dyson. Kate Winslet could reprise her role as young Iris Murdoch.

On the Bulgarian side is a family of partisans. The story revolves around Elena Lagadinova, who became the youngest female partisan at the age of 14. Her three older brothers (Kostadin, Assen, and Boris Lagadinov) were fighting in the mountains from 1941, and she was already risking her life to help them when she was 11. Finding a good child actor to play the role of an idealistic girl communist guerilla would present a challenge, but perhaps Isabelle Allen (who played the young Cosette in Les Miserables) could handle the role. For her older brothers, I could not resist the possibility of casting the real-life-brothers acting trio of Liam, Chris, and Luke Hemsworth. Liam would play Kostadin, the eldest brother, and Luke would play Boris, the youngest. Chris Hemsworth would shine in the role of Assen, the hot-tempered middle brother who was ambushed and decapitated by the Bulgarian gendarmerie in the summer of 1944.

The book also contains scenes from the present day based on interviews that I conducted with the now octogenarian Elena Lagadinova. I’m not sure that the film version of the book would include these scenes, but if they did Dame Judi Dench would make an excellent older Elena.

As far as directors go, Oliver Stone is my first choice. He’s the only director I trust to accurately convey the book’s central message: that those who fought on the left side of history were not all unthinking Marxist zealots. They were motivated by the dream that a more just and equitable world would emerge from the ashes of World War II.

Learn more about The Left Side of History at the Duke University Press website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Victoria Scott's "The Collector"

Victoria Scott is a teen fiction writer represented by Sara Crowe of the Harvey-Klinger Literary Agency. She’s the author of the Fire & Flood series published by Scholastic, and the Dante Walker trilogy published by Entangled Teen. Her first stand-alone young adult title, Titans, will be published by Scholastic in spring 2016.

About The Collector, the first book in the Dante Walker trilogy:

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of Hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn’t want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:

Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.

Dante doesn’t know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of Hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.

Here Scott dreamcasts the lead for The Collector:

Out of all the books I've written, I most often imagine The Collector on the big screen. I think Zac Efron could do an outstanding job as the egotistical and sexy Dante Walker. Anybody playing Dante would need to pull off swagger in spades, and have more than a touch of darkness to him, and I really think Efron could really nail the role.

Visit Victoria Scott's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mark Wisniewski's "Watch Me Go"

Mark Wisniewski's new novel, Watch Me Go, has already earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, made the Most Anticipated Books List for 2015 by The Millions, and received advance praise from Salman Rushdie, Daniel Woodrell, Ben Fountain, Rebecca Makkai, Dan Chaon, Christine Sneed, Tim Johnston, and Ru Freeman.

Here Wisniewski dreamcasts an adaptation of Watch Me Go:

Watch Me Go is the candid and insightful storytelling of two love stories turned tragic by racism, sexism, and economic injustice. Two narrators, black and white, male and female, risk their lives by admitting how their pursuits of the American Dream soon fated their futures to betrayal, double-dealing, and proximity to horrific death. But as these narrators, Deesh and Jan, come to trust each other enough to admit rather personal secrets and regrets, they sense their two stories have always been one — and that, by speaking up and listening, they've woven a new, realistic, and far stronger hope.

If the current rumors are true that Watch Me Go will be made into a film, here's my wish list regarding who could play whom:

Emma Stone--Jan
Jamie Foxx--Deesh
Zac Efron--Tug
Sam Shepard--Tom
Mary-Louise Parker--Colleen
Naomi Watts--Cindy
John Goodman--Gabe

And, yes, I realize that would be a lot of power on the screen--but, hey, when you get down to it, Watch Me Go is all about power.

Visit Mark Wisniewski's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wendy Lee's "Across a Green Ocean"

Wendy Lee is the author of the novels Across a Green Ocean (Kensington) and Happy Family (Black Cat/Grove Atlantic). Happy Family was named one of the top ten debut novels of 2008 by Booklist and awarded an honorable mention from the Association of Asian American Studies.

Here Lee dreamcasts an adaptation of Across a Green Ocean:

In Across a Green Ocean, there are three main characters in the Tang family: the mother, Ling; the daughter, Emily; and the son, Michael.

There are a number of Asian American actresses that could play Emily, but I really like Constance Wu, who plays Eddie Huang’s mother in the new ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. Constance puts on an accent in the TV show, but in reality she was born in the U.S. She doesn’t look quite like the way Emily is described in the book, as having inherited “her father’s dusky complexion, his wide-set eyes and generous mouth,” but she displays a distinct inner strength.

I’m picturing a younger Wang Leehom, who was in Ang Lee’s film Lust, Caution and more recently in Michael Mann’s Blackhat, as the character of Michael. While Wang rose to stardom as a pop singer in Taiwan, he actually grew up in the U.S. He’s now in his late thirties, but he still looks young enough to play Michael, who’s twenty-six in the book and is described as being “tall and thin and pale, with delicate features.”

Ling is the hardest character for me to cast, because I’m having a hard time picturing Asian or Asian American actresses who are in their late fifties. Joan Chen is in her early fifties, but she will forever remain the glamorous empress from The Last Emperor and the mysterious Josie Packard from Twin Peaks. She did, however, play the mother of a grown-up daughter in the 2004 romantic comedy Saving Face, so maybe she’d work after all.

For the supporting characters, I’m envisioning Jason Segel as Emily’s ineffectual husband Julian, Chris Messina as her coworker/crush Rick, and Dan Stevens as Michael’s boyfriend David. Okay, maybe Dan Stevens is a bit of a stretch, but he has to do something after Downton Abbey.

Visit Wendy Lee's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

Brenda Chapman's "Butterfly Kills"

Brenda Chapman began her writing career in children’s fiction. Her YA novel Hiding in Hawk's Creek was shortlisted for the CLA Book of the Year for Children. Her first adult mystery, In Winter's Grip, was published in 2010. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

Here Chapman dreamcasts an adaptation of Butterfly Kills, the latest novel in her Stonechild and Rouleau mystery series, and reported the following:

I was intrigued but somewhat stymied by the idea of casting the lead characters in Butterfly Kills for a movie. I've had little time the past few years to watch movies, and besides that, I'm terrible at remembering names of friends let alone actors on a screen. To add to the challenge, I'd not written the novel with specific actors in mind. Luckily, I had a big ace up my sleeve.

One December afternoon, I enlisted the help of my good friend and movie aficionado Susan Rothery to help as my casting agent. Sue attends the Toronto International Film Festival every year and waits in line to take photos of up-and-coming and established stars. Movies are her passion and she has a memory for movie trivia for which I can only marvel. She'd also read my first Stonechild and Rouleau novel Cold Mourning and had a feel for my characters. She jumped at the task and over the course of the afternoon, narrowed down lists with several strong suggestions for each actor. My job was to check them out on Google and YouTube and weed down the list until I arrived at an award-winning cast of characters.

Selecting the director was easy. Sue and I immediately agreed on David Fincher, who created three spooky and suspenseful movies that I'd actually seen: Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (American version) and Zodiac. Movies, like books, are all about the setting and feel, so he was the natural choice to bring the dark suspense to life in Butterfly Kills.

We then set about choosing actors to play the three lead cops.

Jacques Rouleau is the staff sergeant and described as a man in his early fifties, bald, lean and green-eyed with the trace of a French accent. Vincent Cassel who played in Black Swan wins the role of Rouleau and hopefully won't balk at shaving his head. Cassel has the interesting, craggy face that I envisioned and the French heritage intrinsic to the character.

Kala Stonechild is in her early thirties, of Aboriginal descent, high cheekbones, five foot seven, attractive but not beautiful. After finding a trailer of Annie Galipeau playing the lead opposite Pierce Brosnan in Grey Owl, Annie brings the same quiet intensity and intangible mesmerizing quality as Stonechild.

Stonechild's partner Paul Gundersund is described in the book as a six foot two cop of Swedish descent who wears his blond hair too long and has a scar on his cheek. He's in his mid-thirties and slightly out of shape, but has the look of a Viking warrior. Alexander Skarsgard gets the nod for this role, currently playing a Viking vampire on the television series True Blood. He'll need to roughen up his handsome looks a bit and add that scar to his face and maybe put on a few pounds, but judging from his acting credits, this shouldn't be a problem.

So now, the hard work has been done. The winning team has been assembled. The champagne corks are popping.

Over to you, Hollywood.

Visit Brenda Chapman's website.

The Page 69 Test: Butterfly Kills.

--Marshal Zeringue