Allan Woodrow's "Unschooled"

Allan Woodrow is the author of Unschooled, Class Dismissed, The Pet War and numerous other books for middle grade readers, some under secret names.

Woodrow’s latest book, Unschooled, is set in the same world as Class Dismissed.

Unschooled is narrated by two rotating 5th grade characters, George and his best friend Lilly. They are excited to compete together during their school’s Spirit Week competition, until they are named captains for the two opposing teams. The principal announces the winning team gets a special mystery prize. Soon, cheating, sliming and sabotaging threaten to ruin the week, and George and Lilly’s long-time friendship is threatened.

Here Woodrow dreamcasts an adaptation of Unschooled:

When thinking about creating a ‘dream cast’ I had a significant obstacle—all the main characters are in 5th grade. It’s no fun to limit your cast to 10-year olds—there just aren’t many famous ones to choose from. So I’m going to assume that my actors are so awesome, and our make-up specialist is going to be so talented, that I can pick any actor or actress, regardless of age, and the audience will completely buy they are in elementary school.

Sure, that’s a leap, but this is my imaginary casting list, so I can do whatever I want.

The two main characters are George and Lilly. George is buttoned-up, great at organizing and a little neurotic. I need a great comedic actor, who can play neurotic. I’m going with Steve Carell here, mostly because I’m a big fan, but also because he excels in that sort of nerdy-but-likeable role. Opposite him, is Lilly. She’s everything George is not – carefree, disorganized. I’m going with Cameron Diaz. Yes, nailed it! Now, where’s that make up specialist? Steve and Cameron, Trailer 1, pronto!

There are a number of secondary players, most notably Sarah and Grace, the terrible twosome that are the source of many of the worst pranks. Mean girls. Evil in a ponytail, times two.

Do you watch Game of Thrones? Is there anyone who is more evil than Cersei Lannister? Lena Headey, the actress who plays her, step on up. She could win an Oscar. For evil plotter number two, I’ll go with the almost equally as horrifying Helena Bonham Carter, who is a genius at playing evil, such as in her role as Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter series. Another benefit: since my book is a middle grade novel, Harry Potter fans will recognize her.

Come to think of it, Harry Potter movies did pretty well. I should find a role for Daniel Radcliffe, too. It will help our marketing campaign. Hmmm. He can play George’s second best friend Luke. It’s not a major part, but we’ll add a few scenes and give him a few more lines. And for the role of Principal Klein, our only real meaty adult character, we’ll add Michael Gambon, who of course played Dumbledore in the same movie series (after Richard Harris passed away). Perfect.

So we have talented actors, box office appeal, and ideal casting. Now we just need to find that magical make up artist.

Visit Allan Woodrow's website.

The Page 69 Test: Class Dismissed.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ronlyn Domingue's "The Plague Diaries"

Ronlyn Domingue is the internationally published author of The Mercy of Thin Air and the Keeper of Tales Trilogy—The Mapmaker’s War, The Chronicle of Secret Riven, and The Plague Diaries. Her essays and short stories have appeared in New England Review, Clackamas Literary Review, and Shambhala Sun as well as on mindful.org, The Nervous Breakdown, and Salon.com.

Here Domingue shares some suggestions for casting a big screen adaptation of her fourth novel—The Plague Diaries, the last book of the Keeper of Tales Trilogy, which can be read in any order.

In The Plague Diaries, Secret Riven’s fate is to release a plague to end an ancient pestilence. Her mythic call involves an arcane manuscript, a strange symbol, and a 1,000-year-old family legacy. The trilogy’s last book is a whopper, and I can’t imagine anyone trying to adapt for a movie. For a series, oh most definitely.

Secret Riven—Our heroine with black hair, tawny skin, and eyes the colors of night and day. She’s smart, introverted, curious—and strong in ways she doesn’t realize. Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark on Game of Thrones, could handle Secret’s complexity.

Fewmany, the magnate—The villain you love to hate and hate to love. For me, only Alan Rickman possessed the gravitas, and the voice, to embody this character. Rest in peace, good sir. But a friend suggested Timothy Omundson, known for his parts in Galavant and several other series, would be a compelling choice. From the photos I’ve seen of Omundson and some of his work I’ve watched, yes, I agree.

Nikolas, the prince of Ailliath—A young man of integrity and compassion who leads with a balance of mind and heart. For this role, I’d pick Dylan Minnette because of his portrayal of Clay in the series 13 Reasons Why.

Bren Riven, Secret’s father—Bren is calculating and manipulative, but also vulnerable and endearing. Whoever portrays him needs to have serious range. I’ve been a longtime fan of Kenneth Branagh, and he’d be terrific in this part.

Harmyn—A magical child with a voice that brings people to tears. There’s a great deal of mystery about Harmyn, and who might step into this character continues to elude me. As it probably should. Readers who finish Book 3 will understand why.

Margana, a seamstress—A minor character with major significance. She has a small shop where she makes inventive costumes and clothing. Christina Ricci would wear this role well.

The Misses Acutt, Secret’s neighbors—Three spinster sisters who live together in an apartment with their fluffy gray cat. They’re a little comic and a little tragic. What about Blythe Danner, Betty White, and Helen Mirren?

Naughton, Fewmany’s manservant—An unassuming, quiet man who keeps a secret about himself. Ewan McGregor, please.

William “Quire” Remarque, a book dealer—Remarque and Fewmany have been friends for ages. Secret endures his boisterous, lewd, and hard-drinking company at several dinners. I adore this character, and if Peter Dinklage played him, I might fall into a dead faint from excitement.

Learn more about the book and author at Ronlyn Domingue's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: The Mapmaker's War.

My Book, The Movie: The Mapmaker's War.

The Page 69 Test: The Chronicle of Secret Riven.

--Marshal Zeringue

Michael Poore's "Reincarnation Blues"

Michael Poore’s short fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train, Southern Review, Agni, Fiction, and Asimov’s. His story “The Street of the House of the Sun” was selected for The Year’s Best Nonrequired Reading 2012. His first novel, Up Jumps the Devil, was hailed by The New York Review of Books as “an elegiac masterpiece.” Poore lives in Highland, Indiana, with his wife, poet and activist Janine Harrison, and their daughter, Jianna.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, Reincarnation Blues:

Reincarnation Blues is the story of Milo, a man (sometimes a woman, or cricket, or turtle, or…) who has lived almost 10,000 lives. This makes him the oldest soul in the galaxy, and the wisest. But now he has been given five more lives to achieve some kind of perfection, or face oblivion. The movie version of the book would take those lives in turn, with Will Smith as my ancient, soulful hero.

Milo has to be extraordinary…smart and groovy, full of snappy understandings and deep wisdom, but he also needs to be someone we like and identify with. That’s Will Smith! I’m thinking of Hancock, here, where he’s a superhero, but a cool, kinda scruffy superhero. That’s Milo, in many of his lives (including one where he’s an actual superhero, Captain Gworkon). Smith would need to be able to play Milo as everything from a highway sniper to a student of the Buddha.

In between lives, we’d accompany Milo into the afterlife, and meet Suzie, his girlfriend of eight thousand years. Suzie also happens to be Death. “Earthly” souls aren’t supposed to get romantic with divine incarnations, but the two of them have been cozy for some time now. I would cast Maggie Gyllenhaal in this role, which calls for an actor who can be fun and girlfriend-y, while also having a slight vampire thing going on. Suzie is a gentle, sympathetic Death (she really wants to open a candle shop), but she is Death. She tends to bite during sex. She also tends to almost shred and absorb Milo’s whole existence, if she’s not careful.

Suzie isn’t the only divine superbeing in Milo’s life. He has two teachers (gods? angels? We don’t really know), in the afterlife: Mama, an earth-mother type is generally supportive, and Nan, a crazy cat-lady type who is more critical, and who has a lot of cats and television sets and smokes Pall Malls. For Mama, I can’t see anyone but Queen Latifah. She is everything her name implies. In my movie, she could be earthy and divine…a goddess you can hang out with, a goddess who will lend a kind ear when you’ve just died of decapitation in medieval Scotland.

For Nan, I see Helen Mirren. I know I could trust her to take the crazy cat thing into that mysterious Helen Mirren-country that only she inhabits. Nan is slightly seedy and not overly-friendly, with overtones of Florida trailer park. Helen Mirren could play that with a streak of bluesy sensuality, like a cat that sometimes bites because it’s trying to quit cigarettes.

And then there’s the Buddha. Milo goes looking for some great, hard-core teaching at one point, and gets himself born into the life of an Indian seeker. He becomes a student of the Buddha just when the Buddha is nearing the end of his long life. Milo discovers, to his anguish, that the Master’s mind is not what it used to be. Some days he’s fine, other days he thinks he’s back in the palace, sixty years ago, getting ready to marry his cousin. I see Irrfan Khan as Buddha. They’d have to age him quite a bit, but he’s got those eyes. Know what I mean? He could drink you like a glass of water just by looking at you.

This cast would be a trip to hang out with, wouldn’t it? Fingers crossed.

Visit Michael Poore's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wendy L. Rouse's "Her Own Hero"

Wendy L. Rouse teaches United States History and social science teacher preparation at San Jose State University. Her research interests include childhood, family, and gender history during the Progressive Era.

Rouse's new book is Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women's Self-Defense Movement.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of the book:

My Book, The Movie is definitely an interesting prompt to think about. The truth is that there are so many women in my book Her Own Hero that it would be impossible to choose a main character or even several main characters. If I had to cast it though, I would no doubt choose from the group of everyday “sheroes” that I have had the privilege of knowing. There are so many amazing female empowerment self-defense instructors out there today teaching women how to be their own heroes that they would be the natural stars of my film. Another advantage of casting them is that we would not have to hire any stunt doubles since they could, obviously, perform their own fight scenes.

Since My Book, The Movie is mostly just a fun intellectual exercise, if we were to make the book into a movie I would want to convert it into some sort of action-hero movie. Then we would need a big name Hollywood star to draw attention to the film. I would have to figure out away to include Kate McKinnon as Holtzmann in Ghostbusters because who doesn’t need a bit of comic relief in a bad-ass, female, superhero, fight film, right?

Learn more about empowerment self-defense.

Learn more about Her Own Hero at the New York University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Her Own Hero.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mary Miley's "Murder in Disguise"

Mary Miley grew up in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and France, and worked her way through the College of William and Mary in Virginia as a costumed tour guide at Colonial Williamsburg. As Mary Miley Theobald, she has published numerous nonfiction books and articles on history, travel and business topics.

Here Miley dreamcasts an adaptation of Murder in Disguise, her fourth Roaring Twenties mystery:

This question, commonly posed to fiction authors and book club readers, is harder for me to answer than it would seem. The main character in Murder in Disguise (and in the entire Roaring Twenties series) is a young woman who has spent her life on the vaudeville stage playing kiddie roles into her mid twenties. Any actress playing Jessie would need to be petite and have a boyish 1920s silhouette—no curves—those traits, along with her acting skills, allow her to continue impersonating teenage girls, which is important to the stories. So the film version requires an actress who can believably become 16 with the right clothes and makeup. Not many fit that description. Drew Barrymore would have been perfect 15 years ago. Keira Knightley and Emma Stone are probably too old.

The main male character, David Carr, was introduced in The Impersonator and continues in the subsequent three mysteries of the series. David is in his late twenties, a tough gangster with a disarming smile—the lovable rogue sort. Ryan Gosling or Nic Bishop are about the right age or could fake it a bit younger. I also like Chris Pine and Ryan Reynolds, but fear that they might be too old for the part.

Should the Roaring Twenties series actually become a movie, I think the wisest course would be to choose unknown actors for the roles.

Learn more about the book and author at Mary Miley's website, blog, and Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue

Zoë Sharp's "Fox Hunter"

Zoë Sharp is the author of fourteen novels so far, either in the Charlie Fox crime thriller series, standalones or collaborations, as well as moonlighting as an international pet-sitter and yacht crew. When she’s not doing that, she dabbles in self-defence and house renovation. (If she visits don’t tell her to make herself at home or she’s liable to start knocking walls out.)

Here Sharp dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Fox Hunter:

Charlie Fox herself is always hard for me to cast. Because I write in first person I look out through her eyes all the time, not at her from another viewpoint. And anybody who’s familiar with Charlie knows she doesn’t spend much time gazing into mirrors at her own reflection. The TV/film option held by Kathleen Rose Perkins has just expired, so I’m having to wean myself away from visualising her in the part. So, if not her then I’d love to see Gina Carano in the role. She has Charlie’s sheer physicality and I love her fight style. If I was casting a Brit, I’d go for somebody like Natalie Tena of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.

For Sean Meyer, why not Jeremy Renner? I thought he was brilliant in The Bourne Legacy, and The Hurt Locker, with the perfect driven-to-the-edge air I need for Charlie’s former lover at this stage in his storyline. Allison Janney from The West Wing has just the right smoky, cynical edge to play CIA agent Aubrey Hamilton, and for Charlie’s sidekick, injured private military contractor Luisa Dawson, what about Monica Raymund? I first saw her in Lie To Me, but she has more recently been playing another character called Dawson, strangely enough, in Chicago Fire.

For the bad guys, Sean Harris was an incredibly convincing nasty piece of work both in Harry Brown with Michael Caine, and in Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, so he would have to play Hackett. Harrison Ford would be brilliant as Balkan gangster Gregor Venko, and has the acting chops to play a man whose grip on the power he once had is now slipping. And Jamie Bell, once of Billy Elliot, as his son Ivan. I can see it on the big screen now…

Learn more about the author and her work at Zoë Sharp’s website, blog, or find her on Facebook or Twitter.

--Marshal Zeringue

Rachel Kadish's "The Weight of Ink"

Rachel Kadish is the award-winning author of the novels From a Sealed Room and Tolstoy Lied: a Love Story, as well as the novella I Was Here.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, The Weight of Ink:

For Ester Velasquez, who would have to radiate intelligence as well as a mix of passion and wariness, I’m going to go with Natalie Portman.

And Helen Watt? Judi Dench or Emma Thompson, each of whom would play her character quite differently…but either would bring out the intense force of Helen’s personality, her ability to intimidate others even as she isolates herself, and ultimately her vulnerability.

I was trying to think of the right actor for Rabbi ha-Coen Mendes, a beautifully gentle man blinded at the hands of Portuguese Inquisitors but nonetheless committed to a life of study. At first I imagined Ben Kingsley—but there’s something more forceful about Kingsley that makes me put him down instead for the role of Benjamin HaLevy, alone in that grand house on the hill with all his anger and hurt.

I can’t come up with the right actors to play Aaron Levy, or Dror, or Mary or Rivka or the HaLevy brothers or the Patricias, or the trio of Thomas, John, and Bescos…

But Bridgette Easton is an easy one—she’s got to be Gwyneth Paltrow!

Visit Rachel Kadish's official website.

The Page 69 Test: Tolstoy Lied.

--Marshal Zeringue

Erika Gasser's "Vexed with Devils"

Erika Gasser is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new book, Vexed with Devils: Manhood and Witchcraft in Old and New England:

Vexed with Devils is a cultural history of the role that manhood played in early modern instances of demonic possession and witchcraft. Many people know that women were more commonly suspected, prosecuted, and executed for witchcraft in England and New England, and so the book begins with things we do not expect to see—men and manhood in witchcraft and possession—and uses them to analyze the varied ways that gender mattered for early modern people. The book contains a few case studies of particular accused witches or demoniacs (those who appeared to suffer from the symptoms of possession), and one that would suit a film adaptation is the story of Margaret Rule, a seventeen-year-old girl in Cotton Mather’s Boston congregation who appeared to be possessed in 1692-93, just after the conclusion of the famous outbreak of witchcraft at Salem.

For the role of Margaret Rule, I immediately thought of Anya Taylor-Joy, who was so electrifying as a Puritan girl in The Witch (2015). In addition to showing a facility with period language, Taylor-Joy showed vulnerability and glimpses of an undimmed spirit. Taylor-Joy’s other work in Morgan and Split (both 2016) only reinforce this choice; even though Margaret Rule was no action hero, the combination of strength, calculation, and vulnerability in all three roles make her the ideal candidate.

The role of Cotton Mather, the frustratingly complex minister who was thirty years old at the time of Rule’s possession, is tricky to cast. Historians have struggled over the meaning of Mather’s character, alternately placing the blame for the witchcraft outbreak at his feet or wholly exonerating him from the accusations of his detractors. This performance would need to allow for the ambiguity of Mather’s position and would need to capture his overwhelming faith in his family’s view of Puritanism, his inability to shake doubts about his own salvation, his preening self-aggrandizement, and also his painful awareness of the follies of vanity and pride. If age and sex were no object, I’d like Patrick Stewart or Tilda Swinton for it. But perhaps James McAvoy (of many films, including Split) or Shaun Evans (of the PBS Mystery series, Endeavour) would be good choices.

Learn more about Vexed with Devils at the NYU Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Vexed with Devils.

--Marshal Zeringue

James Abel's "Vector"

James Abel is the pseudonym for Bob Reiss, an accomplished author and journalist who has written extensively on the Arctic. He lives and works in New York City.

Here Abel shares some thoughts about adapting his new novel, Vector, for the big screen:

Vector, like the other three books in the Joe Rush series, features two former Marines who have become bio-terror experts and doctors. When I think of actors to play them, I think of their attitudes toward life. One is a loner, stung in the past in relationships, and weighed down by past choices that he would make again the same way, nonetheless. The other is a family person, better able to incorporate the strain of work and an outside life. I could see men or women playing these roles. In a film, I don't think of these two in terms of gender, or age, but of the way they connect (or not) with others. I think many actors with good range could become one of these two.

Visit James Abel's website.

The Page 69 Test: Protocol Zero.

My Book, The Movie: Protocol Zero.

The Page 69 Test: Cold Silence.

My Book, The Movie: Cold Silence.

--Marshal Zeringue

Fiona Davis's "The Address"

Fiona Davis was born in Canada and raised in New Jersey, Utah, and Texas. She began her career in New York City as an actress, where she worked on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theater. After ten years, Davis changed careers, working as an editor and writer, and her historical fiction debut, The Dollhouse, was published in 2016. She's a graduate of the College of William & Mary and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and is based in New York City.

Here Davis dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Address:

Since The Address has two timelines: 1884 and 1985, there are two sets of heroes and heroines to cast. In the Gilded Age era, I’d choose the talented Gal Gadot as Sara Smythe, the protagonist who comes from London to work at the Dakota apartment house in 1884. Why? Because the character has to be able to raise one eyebrow, which Gadot executes with perfect aplomb throughout Wonder Woman. The character of Sara was inspired by a John Singer Sargent portrait of Lady Gertrude Agnew, and the resemblance between the painting and Gadot is uncanny. Gadot has the requisite beauty, skepticism, and strength for the role.

For her love interest, Theo Camden, I’d love to see Ewan McGregor in the part. He’s got the right energy for the role of an ambitious architect in the Gilded Age. His versatility and quick wit work well with the part. Another option, if Ewan is booked, would be Mark Ruffalo. Simply because I love everything he does and would love to say so in person.

In the 1980s story line, I’d have to jump into my time machine and cast 20-something Phoebe Cates as Bailey, the down-on-her-luck interior designer who’s tasked with stripping down an apartment in the Dakota of all its period details. She has to have a close resemblance to Sara Smythe, and be able to raise one eyebrow as well.

Finally, we have Bailey’s love interest, Renzo, who works as a super in the Dakota. Let’s go with Charlie Hunnam. A gorgeous man with serious acting chops.

The only question left is, when do we begin filming?

Visit Fiona Davis's website.

--Marshal Zeringue