Mark Pryor's "The Dark Edge of Night"

Mark Pryor is a former newspaper reporter and felony prosecutor, originally from England but now living in Austin, Texas. He is the author of the Hugo Marston mystery series, set in Paris, London, and Barcelona. Pryor is also the author of the psychological thrillers, Hollow Man, and its sequel, Dominic. As a prosecutor, he appeared on CBS News's 48 Hours and Discovery Channel's Discovery ID: Cold Blood.

Last year Pryor introduced Detective Henri Lefort in his first World War II mystery, Die Around Sundown.

Here Pryor dreamcasts an adaptation of the second book in the series, The Dark Edge of Night:

Detective Henri Lefort - Misha Collins. He's a brilliant actor, and I think would convey Henri's quirky and disrespectful sense of humor really well. But he also has kind of a brooding aura, so I could see him holding Henri's secrets behind his eyes.

Nicola Prehn - Bel Powley. I saw her in A Small Light and she made me cry half a dozen times. Incredible performances, episode after episode. Obviously she's beautiful, and she has a European look, so I would love to see her play Nicola.

Princess Marie Bonaparte - Kate Winslet. This character needs to be strong, regal, and confident. Kate Winslet has the range to pull this real-life character off, and the charisma to make an ongoing character fascinating for the viewer.

Police officer Daniel Moulin - Nicholas Hoult. I think he's been great in everything he's been in, and would be a great foil for both Nicola and Henri, which is a large part of Moulin's character.

Visit Mark Pryor's website.

My Book, The Movie: Dominic.

My Book, The Movie: Die Around Sundown.

Q&A with Mark Pryor.

--Marshal Zeringue

James Byrne's "Deadlock"

James Byrne is the pseudonym for an author who has worked for more than twenty years as a journalist and in politics. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

Here Byrne dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, Deadlock:

This challenge is really fun for me. I teach mystery writing occasionally, and I often tell new writers to “cast” their books. I always do. Not only do I cast the major parts, but I create a PowerPoint with images of the actors, and keep it up, visible, next to my Word document, as I write first drafts.

The reason: It helps tremendously with dialogue. I don’t want any character to sound like, well, me.

Your readers should take this test: Imagine a quick scene of heated dialogue in your head. Anything at all. Got it? Good.

Now imagine that the female protagonist is played by Dame Judi Dench. OK, write it in your head (or write it for real, it’s a good test). Sound pretty good? Sure.

Now imagine that the female protagonist is played by Margot Robbie. Write the exact same scene of heated dialogue.

Did the dialogue change? Of course it did. You’d never write the exact same words for Dench and Robbie. So by writing for a specific voice, you differentiate your dialogue.

Neat trick, yeah?

You can use actors from the past (I recently cast David Niven in a manuscript; his death in 1976 didn’t hinder me much) and people who aren’t actors (I once cast my high school principal in a book).

As for a director, how about Mimi Leder (The Morning Show, On the Basis of Sex)? She’s not as well-known as a lot of hot thriller directors, but her work on the 1997 movie The Peacemaker with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman (written by, with others, Michael Schiffer) was terrific.

Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) can knock an action sequence outta the park.

And both know how to get the most out of strong female characters. Plenty of them in my books.

Now to the jackpot question: Who would play Dez?

In case you haven’t read The Gatekeeper and Deadlock, Desmond Aloysius Limerick is a former soldier who grew up in the United Kingdom. At 35, he’s touring the United States with a guitar and a collection of scars from battles in the world’s hot spots. He thinks he’s the luckiest bloke in the world, he’s very good in a fight, loyal to friends, loquacious and funny.

I would cast for three things: A sturdily put together guy who knows how to fight; somebody who can deliver the comedy elements; and somebody who can carry off the working-class British accent.

Dez himself is 5-8, sandy haired, pinkish complexion, bowlegged and “built like a Buick,” as I describe him.

For the first three characteristics, I might pick an actor who looks nothing like my Dez. Jason Statham (The Fast and the Furious franchise, The Meg) clearly can lead an action film. He can fight, and he’s funny. The accent: no prob.

Another interesting choice: Brett Goldstein (Roy F****** Kent of Ted Lasso). Insanely funny and muscular build. Doesn’t look like Dez, but I bet he’d make me laugh while speaking these lines out loud.

Who did I cast? I don’t usually tell anyone, because I fear readers will be disappointed if my Dez doesn’t look like the one in my head. For physical characteristics, he’s Warren Brown (Justin Ripley in Luther with Idris Elba; Thomas McAllister in Strike Back.) Baby-faced but powerfully built (a two-time world Thai boxing champion, I’ve been told). And his accent’s spot-on.

If you have read my books, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the casting of Dez and other major characters.

Visit James Byrne's website.

Q&A with James Byrne.

The Page 69 Test: Deadlock.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jennifer Cody Epstein's "The Madwomen of Paris"

Jennifer Cody Epstein is the author of four novels that have been published in a total of twenty-one countries around the world: The Madwomen of Paris (2023), Wunderland (2019), The Gods of Heavenly Punishment (2012), and The Painter from Shanghai (2007).

She is the recipient of the 2014 Asia Pacific American Librarians Association Honor Award for fiction, and was longlisted for the 2020 Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize.

Here Epstein dreamcasts an adaptation of The Madwomen of Paris:

The Madwomen of Paris is a Gothic tale of hysteria, hypnosis, and theatrical spectacle set at the 19th century Salpêtrière asylum. Drawn from real—if often unbelievable—events, it follows two young women who must solve a murder mystery and escape a powerful (and possibly evil) doctor. The novel features scenes in which towering male medical figures (think Jean-Martin Charcot, Georges Gilles de la Tourette and Sigmund Freud) hypnotize female “hysterics” in front of rapt Parisian audiences, and would make for a pretty wild movie; not only in the challenging roles it would offer actors, but in the jarring relevance of its themes. To be honest, though, my first thought in sitting down to write this was not about actors I’d cast in the movie version. It was about who I’d cast as director.

And that—unquestionably—would be Greta Gerwig.

Ok, yeah. I did just see Barbie last weekend (along with the rest of the world), and left pretty much thinking Gerwig should direct every movie, ever made, about anything, from hereon in. But I was also—and completely unexpectedly—struck by just how much Barbie had in common with my book. Sure, one is about a busty doll in heels fighting to dismantle the patriarchy, and the other about traumatized young women in petticoats turning the tables on men who’ve dismissed them as hysterical, hypnotized them without consent and paraded them before a leering public. But in the end, both Barbie and Madwomen speak to the same, painfully enduring issues: the way women’s health is simultaneously ignored and fetishized. And the way society still uses terms like “hysteria” to demean and dismiss us. And, most of all, the ways in which men exert control over our bodies and behavior to achieve their own ends. Gerwig has already masterfully displayed her historical fiction creds in her brilliant 2019 reimagination of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, which also had some pointedly feminist undertones. But the fact that she turned Barbie into a feminist magnum opus for me makes her a shoo-in to adapt and direct The Madwomen of Paris, perhaps while also signing off on a line of fetchingly Hysterical Barbies. I’d trust her with the casting as well. As I think I’ve made clear, I’d trust her with anything. But if she were looking for suggestions here are a few:

Laure Bissonnet: As the novel’s (mostly) reliable narrator, a woman who has essentially cured herself of the “malady of the age” (hysteria), Laure is slowly awakening to the injustices and outright horrors of the male medical establishment. She should be played by someone with a strong, nurturing and thoughtful vibe; someone who could believably see through the medical machismo of Charcot, champion the vulnerable Josephine once she falls under his care, and form a plan to help her escape him. Annalise Basso would be a strong option; she’s got experience in horror movies (Slender Man, Bloodhound). But I could also see Mallori Johnson. She wowed me in the series Kindred (based on Octavia Butler’s seminal 1979 time-travel novel) playing Dana, a woman tasked with comprehending a surreal and terrifying reality, plotting to escape it, and loving and losing people in the process. She definitely has the kind of clear-eyed strength and eloquence that I think Laure needs to have.

Josephine Garrau: The fiery-haired ingénue at the heart of The Madwomen of Paris who wins Laure’s heart needs to be something of a paradox: outwardly delicate, but fiercely independent. Mesmerizingly charismatic, but uninterested in physical appeal. Achingly vulnerable, but also capable—just maybe—of murder. Rose Leslie, who played Ygritt in Game of Thrones, has the right vibe for me. But I could also see Bailee Madison, who like Basso has helpful horror film experience (she starred in Guillermo del Torro’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark).

Rosalie Chardon: Charcot’s reigning hysterical “queen”—the woman whose blonde beauty and sensual, hypnotic hallucinations make her a Parisian celebrity—needs to be played by someone with complexity, lightening-quick mood switches, an outsized stage presence and more than a hint of the diva. Maybe I’m still just under Barbie’s spell, but Margot Robbie seems born for this. But I could also see Florence Pugh knocking it out of the park. (Yes, I saw Oppenheimer last weekend too).

Babette: The Hysteria Ward’s long-serving head nurse needs to be serious Nurse Ratched material: ice cold, imperious and pitiless when it comes to everyone but her secret celebrity crush, asylum director Jean-Martin Charcot. I think Kathy Bates could kill in this role, though I’m also thinking Michelle Feiffer—who does ice like it’s no one’s business—could be great.

Jean-Martin Charcot: The legendary father of modern-day neurology—a man who begins his illustrious career solving Parkinson’s and ALS, and ends it entrancing young women into hysterical fits—needs to be played by someone with a ponderous, commanding presence and a piercing dark gaze. Two thoughts: Clive Owen, who brilliantly played a misguided and narcissistic medical genius in The Knick, though he’d have to wear brown contact lenses. Or Javiar Bardem, who wouldn’t have to change a thing. He has just the right level of “tortured soul” in his vibe, and can easily play a character who might maybe be a villain, but is so complex and charismatic that you’re never quite sure. (There’s also the fact that he’s my secret celebrity crush, though that probably shouldn’t play a role in casting a film about exploitatively showcasing people based on sex appeal.)

Sigmund Freud: Hopkins is the latest actor to play the father of modern psychiatry, in the upcoming Freud’s Last Session. But we need a young and highly-impressionable Freud for this film; a man whose life will be so transformed by working with Charcot and hysteria that he will not only go on to found psychoanalysis as a result, but will name his first child after Charcot. Timothée Chalamet would certainly be interesting in this role (let’s face it: he’s interesting in pretty much every role). But I think Tye Sheridan also has the right kind of sober intensity to pull it off.

The Marquis: The book’s true villain: an elderly, scheming, and inarguably sleazy nobleman who is disturbingly fixated on attractive young hysterics. No question on this one: Willem Dafoe.

Learn more about the novel and author at Jennifer Cody Epstein's website.

Q&A with Jennifer Cody Epstein.

The Page 69 Test: The Madwomen of Paris.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ann Garvin's "There's No Coming Back from This"

Ann Garvin, Ph.D. is the USA Today bestselling author of five funny and sad novels. She writes about people who do too much in a world that asks too much from them.

Garvin worked as an RN and after receiving her Ph.D. taught Exercise Physiology, Sport Psychology Nutrition, Stress Management, and Global Health for thirty years in the University of Wisconsin system. She currently teaches creative writing at Drexel University in their low residency Masters of Fine Arts program and has held positions at Miami University and Southern New Hampshire in their Masters of Fine Arts Creative Writing programs.

Garvin is the founder of the multiple award-winning Tall Poppy Writers where she is committed to helping women writers succeed. She is a sought-after speaker on writing, leadership and health and has taught extensively in NY, San Francisco, LA, Boston, and at festivals across the country and in Europe.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, There's No Coming Back from This:

Writing a novel set on the Backlot of Universal Studios in Los Angeles against the backdrop of the remake of When Harry Met Sally – but with dogs – is the perfect setup for this blog post.

There's No Coming Back From This – the movie – is just waiting to be made.

This is the story of Poppy Lively, who is on the verge of losing everything—think Tina Fey in Date Night. Like everyone, she is a hardworking woman trying to make it without going under.

Her old flame, a now hotshot producer, gives her a costume job on a Hollywood film set. I would want someone you almost trust, an actor who could go either way—good guy/bad guy like Bradley Cooper. A charismatic player who really likes the ladies.

Poppy is a single mother who is out of place in the fast and loose world of movie stars, iconic costumes, and backlot intrigue and runs into a young handsome Timothée Chalamet character who is good friends to the bratty Emilie who seems to be trying to take Poppy down. I love the idea of Millie Bobby Brown as Emilie because you never know what she is hiding behind her smile.

When Poppy stumbles upon corruption, she relies on everyone underestimating her in order to discover who is truly to blame. And that is precisely how Poppy plans to best the divas of TinselTown—if only she can stay employed and keep her plans a secret. One of those divas is a character that Steve Carell would perfectly play.

I may or may not have crushes on most of the movie stars, but it's unlikely I will meet any of them, so I won't make a fool of myself.

Visit Ann Garvin's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Dog Year.

Coffee with a Canine: Ann Garvin & Peanut.

--Marshal Zeringue

John Milas's "The Militia House"

John Milas is the author of the new novel The Militia House. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps at age nineteen and subsequently deployed to the Helmand Province of Afghanistan in support of OEF 10.1. He was honorably discharged from active service in 2012.

After his discharge, Milas earned both his BA and MFA in creative writing. As a student, he studied with writers such as Marianne Boruch, Roxane Gay, Brian Leung, Robert Lopez, Terese Marie Mailhot, Julie Price Pinkerton, Donald Platt, Sharon Solwitz, and others.

Here Milas dreamcasts an adaptation of The Militia House:

My debut novel follows a small team of US Marines deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. The characters are already exhausted by their jobs, weary of each other, and disillusioned by the course of the War in Afghanistan when their routines are interrupted by a haunted house near their current duty station in the Helmand Province. Imagine John Cena acting in The Marine. Now imagine the opposite of that, in addition to ensuring that all of the actors are younger than what we're used to seeing in war films and you're approaching what would be more realistic for an adaptation of my book. We can cast some celebrities, but please no pro wrestlers.

I see a young Peter Sarsgaard as Corporal Loyette after his role in Jarhead, but here he would need to play it cold and bitter and he would need to be younger than he was in Jarhead.

For Blount I envision Dustin Diamond as Screech in a USMC uniform, shaved head and southern accent included.

When I wrote Johnson, I saw Denzel Washington as Peterson from A Soldier's Story, but quiet and seething rather than explosive. However, as Washington was in his late twenties for said role, he would still need to be several years younger for The Militia House.

Jason Isaacs from Black Hawk Down would be perfect for Staff Sergeant Rynker. All he needs to do is take one look at you and you know you're screwed.

I'll finally go with someone current in selecting Erica Hernandez from True Lies (the series) as the lieutenant, but if we stick with fantasy casting then a young Michelle Rodriguez for sure.

I hope these actors don't see this and think I'm implying that they're all old now!

As a bonus, Rob Riggle would obviously have to play the crazed artillery captain as a former Marine Corps officer himself, but with the arrogant, hilarious energy from his role in Step Brothers. I think comedy actors performing in horror films is an interesting way to get viewers off balance from the start.

I'm sure everyone out there wants this guy to direct their horror novel adaptation right now, but I'd go with Ari Aster for sure. His films have been original scripts so far, but I'd be confident in letting him go in his own direction with an adaptation of my book. I know he would at least get the ending right.

Visit John Milas's website.

Q&A with John Milas.

--Marshal Zeringue

Lisa Black's "What Harms You"

Lisa Black is the New York Times bestselling author of the Gardiner and Renner Novels and the Locard Institute Thrillers featuring Dr. Ellie Carr and Dr. Rachael Davies. As a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office, she analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now she is a latent print examiner and certified crime analyst for the Cape Coral Police Department in Florida, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes. She is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and has testified in court as an expert witness over 65 times. Her books have been translated into six languages and she was named finalist for the prestigious Sue Grafton Memorial Award for Perish.

Here Black dreamcasts the latest Locard Institute thriller, What Harms You:

Dr. Ellie Carr’s first day at the prestigious Locard forensic institute isn’t going so well. Her keycard won’t let her into the imposing brick building, her snooty predecessor hasn’t bothered to clean out the office Ellie is to occupy, and then the woman turns up dead in a supply closet. Ellie’s new boss Rachael shares her concerns about the death—it doesn’t quite seem like an accident. But the institute, along with research and private cases, conducts training classes on forensic topics for those in the law enforcement community. When there’s another death and it’s clearly not an accident, the women realize their suspect pool consists of cops, death investigators and CSIs. Who else, should they choose to, would make the most successful serial killer?

Former pathologist Dr. Rachael Davies is thirty-eight, divorced, and raising her late sister’s toddler son. She’s given ten years of her life to build the Locard into what she loves it has become. My choice for her part would be Gabrielle Union—older than the role but looks too young for it, and way more beautiful than one would expect a scientist to be. But I think she’d be perfect for the intriguing and brilliant Rachael.

Ellie Carr, also a doctor (of forensics), left the FBI to follow her passion for CSI work. Orphaned at four, she grew up in a succession of relatives’ homes among her large, extremely loving extended family. It left her by turns securely happy but at the same time, searching for her place. She really wants the Locard to be her forever home, but that might be difficult when her arrival seems to kick off a murder spree. Casting her is a tough choice…smart and beautiful, but emotionally a bit clueless, lighthearted without being fluffy. I would love Tatiana Maslany.

As for my FBI agents, Michael Tyler would ideally be filled by the man I’ve pictured every time I’ve turned him into a character for the past thirty years: Michael Ironside. We’d have to turn the clock back thirty years to make him right for the role, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.

As long as I’m reaching for the stars, I’d love John Leguizamo for agent Luis Alvarez. He has the right combination of strength and humor needed to balance Michael’s seriousness.

And as for the genius, intimidating, icy-cool digital forensics whiz Agnes, let’s get Anya Taylor-Joy. No one can do that preternaturally still, scarily piercing, ‘cut right through you and you can’t even guess why’ stare.

The most fun character in the story, the lively, ambitious, ravenous-to-learn Farida is studying with the radical ambition to become a female CSI in her native Saudi Arabia. I’d love the amazing Karen David, born in India, coy about her age, and star of the super-fun, and hilarious series Galavant. And, though the role doesn’t call for it, she can sing! And dance!

With this cast and a murderer who knows exactly how to win this violent battle, What Harms You the movie can’t miss!

Learn more about the book and author at Lisa Black's website.

My Book, The Movie: Unpunished.

My Book, The Movie: Perish.

Q&A with Lisa Black.

--Marshal Zeringue

Bruce Borgos's "The Bitter Past"

Bruce Borgos lives and writes from the Nevada desert where he works hard every day to prove his high school guidance counselor had good instincts when he said “You’ll never be an astronaut.” He has a degree in political science which mostly served to dissuade him from a career in law while at the same time tormenting his wife with endless questions about how telephones work. When not writing, you can usually find him at the local wine store.

Here Borgos dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, The Bitter Past:

I think there are several actors who I think would do a great job in the lead role of Sheriff Porter Beck. I say that because I purposely did not include a description of him in the book that would tell a reader exactly what he looks like. I tried to leave at least a little of that to the imagination. We all know what Jack Reacher or Walt Longmire looks like from reading those wonderful pages by Lee Child and Craig Johnson. The actor I pictured most of the time was Chris Pratt. He's the right age and has the same quick wit as Porter Beck. But there's Ryan Reynolds, too, who would be a good fit. Jeremy Renner could do it. He lives here in Nevada, and he was great in Wind River. He has the grit and the humor. And here's a pick out of left field: Jason Bateman. I don't think he's ever played a rural cop, though he did a terrific job playing an FBI agent in The Kingdom, and he's not a superman. Neither is Porter Beck.

As far as directors go, I would want one that had a great love for the west and who knew how to shoot in the wild. Taylor Sheridan, who directed Wind River, certainly would work. But Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood would be strong candidates (if I were picking. Jason Bateman could do both the lead role and act as director. Ozark was so good!

It's not easy getting your novel on the big screen (or even the small screen), so if it were to happen with The Bitter Past, it would be a real surprise and pleasure to see. I've had lots of early reviews on the book that said it needs to be a movie or TV series, and hopefully the folks we'll get some opportunities to make that kind of deal happen. As the next books in the series hit the shelves, this may become more of a possibility. We'll see!

Visit Bruce Borgos's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Bitter Past.

--Marshal Zeringue

Simon Toyne's "The Clearing"

Simon Toyne is the author of the internationally bestselling Sanctus trilogy (Sanctus, The Key, and The Tower), The Searcher, The Boy Who Saw, and Dark Objects, and has worked in British television for more than twenty years. As a writer, director and producer he’s made several award-winning shows, one of which won a BAFTA. He lives in England with his wife and family, where he is permanently at work on his next novel.

Here Toyne dreamcasts an adaptation of The Clearing, his second suspense novel featuring forensic expert Laughton Rees:

I kind of think of myself as a failed movie director and whenever I write a book I’m always effectively making the movie in my head then transcribing the action into book form.

With The Clearing, I already had some of the cast as it’s a follow up to my last book, Dark Objects, which also features Dr. Laughton Rees, a young, brilliant academic with a teenage daughter and OCD. DCI Tannahill Khan, half-Irish, half-Pakistani, an outsider within the traditionally predominantly white institution of the London Metropolitan.

Laughton is very much in the mould of Clarice Starling, smart, brave, feisty, a small woman but with a big person’s energy. Laughton is also the smartest person in the room but is often underestimated, particularly by men, because she’s young, pretty and small. She’s also based on my oldest daughter Roxy, who is all of these things too, but to play her on screen I always saw her as Vanessa Kirby, who was amazing as the young Princess Margaret in The Crown and heart breaking in Pieces of a Woman. She’s also about to star as Josephine opposite Joaqhin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon.

For Tannahill I would go for Riz Ahmed, who was amazing in Sound of Metal and is great in everything he does. He’s also Anglo-Pakistani so has the right mixed heritage and experience - and he’s really handsome, which is important for all kinds of reasons.

Laughton and Tannahill work together on the central mysteries of each book and are also very attracted to each other, which adds an extra frisson to the regular thrills. So, if it’s a Vanessa Kirby/Riz Ahmed double hander, I’d definitely watch the hell out of that!

Learn more about the book and author at Simon Toyne's website, Facebook page, Twitter perch, and Instagram page.

My Book, The Movie: Sanctus.

My Book, The Movie: The Tower.

My Book, The Movie: The Searcher.

The Page 69 Test: The Clearing.

--Marshal Zeringue

Elizabeth L. Silver's "The Majority"

Elizabeth L Silver is the author of the new novel, The Majority, as well as the memoir, The Tincture of Time: A Memoir of (Medical) Uncertainty, and the novel, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton. Her work has been called “fantastic” by the Washington Post and “masterful” by The Wall Street Journal, has been published in seven languages, and optioned for film. The Execution of Noa P. Singleton was an Amazon Best Book of the Year, the Amazon Best Debut of the Month, a Kirkus Best Book of the Summer, Kansas City Star Best Book of the Year, and selection for the Target Emerging Author Series. The Tincture of Time was featured on PBS and NPR, and was an O Magazine/Oprah’s “Ten Books to Pick up Now."

Here Silver dreamcasts an adaptation of The Majority:

If The Majority is adapted, I see it as a series or mini-series because it is a fictional memoir and covers the life of one woman’s rise to power over the 1940s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, as she fights to become the first woman on the United States Supreme Court.

That said, because the book does follow Sylvia from age 12 to 50, with an 80-something-year-old framing the book in retrospect, there could be multiple actresses taking on the role. A young teenager for “Young Sylvia” and then a different actress in her 30s to play Sylvia in her 20s, 30s, and late 40s with the magic of makeup.

My dream Sylvia Olin Bernstein would be Carey Mulligan, who I think not only looks the part, but also sparkles with a sense of quiet intelligence, providence, strength that I respect in literally every project she’s ever done. If they film it as a retrospective with the 80-something year old Sylvia looking back, Queen Jane Fonda is picture perfect for it in every way.

My dream Linda Loving is Kerry Washington. Full stop. No questions asked. She is Linda incarnate. Stunningly gorgeous, brilliant, magnetic perfection.

Mariana Olinovsky is Rachel Weisz in every way. Like Linda’s casting, she is perfect to portray the nuance, influence, and internal turmoil of this Holocaust surviving mother figure.

Joe Bernstein, Sylvia’s husband, could be played by Daniel Radcliffe. I can see him as the loving, bright, and somewhat goofy nice Jewish boy-turned-lawyer, who falls head over heels in love with Sylvia, and tries as he might to be a role model for equity and equality.

James Macklowe could be played by Matt Damon, the “Harvard man” of a certain generation, who believes in his worth, and yet his presumption comes across with a painful sense of entitlement.

Learn more about the book and author at Elizabeth L. Silver's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Execution of Noa P. Singleton.

The Page 69 Test: The Majority.

--Marshal Zeringue

Stephen Kiernan's "The Glass Château"

As a journalist and novelist, Stephen P. Kiernan has published nearly five million words. His newspaper work garnered dozens of awards — including the George Polk Award for medical reporting, the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award, and the Freedom of Information Award from the Joseph Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida.

Stephen’s newest novel is The Glass Chateau. He is also author of the novels Universe of Two, The Curiosity (now in television series development), The Baker's Secret (a regional bestseller), and The Hummingbird. He has also written two nonfiction books, Last Rights and Authentic Patriotism. His work has been translated into many languages.

Here Kiernan dreamcasts an adaptation of The Glass Chateau:

The main character in The Glass Chateau is a broken man with a huge heart and some hidden creative gifts. He saw his family killed by Nazi soldiers. As a result he became an assassin for the French Resistance. So he is both grieving and guilt-ridden, and he keeps those emotions buried -- most of the time.

The right male lead is known for playing a similar character, Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. Kit Harrington would make an excellent Asher Green.

Asher's wife, beautiful and graceful and doomed, simply must be Mila Kunis. When she dies, everyone in the theater must feel it.

The female lead is Marie, who grows flowers and vegetables that she delivers by donkey-drawn cart. But she is also a fighter and a survivor, who cares deeply about the future of her country. She is passionate but reserved, sharing information with her fellow townspeople but guarded when it comes to love. Rooney Mara, who showed such powerful self-possession in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, would be ideal.

I'm only half-joking when I say that the chateau in my novel should be played by the Chateau d'Orquevaux [image. left], home to an artists' colony where I wrote about a third of this book. A gorgeous restored masterpiece, this was the setting I had in mind from the moment I arrived.

Learn more about the book and author at Stephen Kiernan's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Curiosity.

My Book, The Movie: The Baker's Secret.

--Marshal Zeringue