Meredith Goldstein's "The Singles"

Meredith Goldstein is an advice columnist and entertainment reporter for The Boston Globe. Her column Love Letters is a daily dispatch of wisdom for the lovelorn that gets about 1 million page views every month on Boston.com. Love Letters appears in the Globe’s print edition every Saturday. Goldstein also writes about fake rock stars, former boy banders, female werewolves, self-help books, last picture shows, and how to sound like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of The Singles, her debut novel:

Dreaming of my book as a movie is tricky because The Singles has been optioned for film by the folks at Lime Orchard Productions (they made the beautiful movie A Better Life). I’m sure they have their own dream cast.

That said, I do have my own ideas for a magic movie.

The Singles is about the only five dateless guests a memorable wedding in scenic Annapolis. If it were up to me and the movie was being made today, here’s who would play the book’s VIPs:

The character Hannah Martin is a casting director from New York City who’s stressed about being a bridesmaid -- and about seeing her ex for the first time in years. I’ve always had a tough time casting her, but I always go back to Emma Stone. I know she’s an obvious choice, but she’s always a good one.

Rob is the heartthrob of the book. He’s also the friend who doesn’t bother to show up to the wedding. He’s emotionally unavailable and loves his dog more than he loves people. I have to admit that I named him after Robert Pattinson, so I could see Robert Pattinson in the role. I’d also love to see Boston guy Chris Evans as Rob. I live in Boston, so I always root for the locals.

Vicki is Hannah’s best friend. She’s a bit depressed and addicted to romance novels. Vicki could be played by my actress crush of the moment, Felicity Jones. If you haven’t seen her in the movie Like Crazy, please do.

Phil is a ballpark security guard who doesn’t know anyone at the wedding. A friend once told me that they could see Jason Segel playing him in a movie. That would work. I’d also love to see someone like Corey Stoll as Phil. Stoll played Hemingway in Midnight in Paris and I think he’s brilliant.

Joe is the inappropriate uncle of the bride who’d rather hang out with the twenty-something guests than people his own age. I always pictured him as John Slattery from Mad Men.

Dawn, the matron of honor, is a professional beauty pageant coach who’s a bit younger than the other characters. Many people who read the The Singles tell me that she’s the best part of the book. I’d love her to be played by Miley Cyrus. I know that sounds crazy, but I know she’d nail it.

Bee is my bride. She’s sweet and insecure, although she’s smarter than she seems. Her single guests wreak havoc on her wedding but she takes it all in stride. Staying loyal to Boston, Bee would either be Eliza Coupe from Happy Endings (she’s from New Hampshire) or Boston actress Julia Jones.

Jimmy Fee is the very attractive brother of the groom who causes the best kind of trouble. He’s Ian Somerhalder in my fantasy movie. Without a doubt.

Learn more about the book and author at Meredith Goldstein's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Singles.

--Marshal Zeringue

Cathi Hanauer's "Gone"

Cathi Hanauer is the author of the novels My Sister’s Bones and Sweet Ruin and the editor of the New York Times bestselling essay anthology The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth About Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage. Her articles, essays, and/or criticism have appeared in the New York Times, Elle, O, The Oprah Magazine, Glamour, Self, Parenting, Whole Living, and other magazines. She lives with her family in western Massachusetts.

Here she shares some ideas for casting the leads in an adaptation of her new novel, Gone:

I love Michelle Pfeiffer as an actress--she's so incredibly talented, and she's smart and sultry in almost every role--and she's about the right age to play the leads in my books, but especially in Gone, my new one. That said, someone like Reese Witherspoon or Michelle Williams--someone shorter, curvier, perkier--would be more true to my description of Eve, the main character, at least in terms of looks and personality. (Though I'd still pick Pfeiffer in the end, I think.)

For the male lead--hmm, that's hard. I love Jeff Bridges (especially with Pfeiffer--hello The Fabulous Baker Boys?), but not sure he could pass for 46 anymore, which is how old the other main character in Gone, Eric, is. But if he got in shape, that could work; Eric is a sculptor, very quiet, slightly tortured… I think Bridges could pull that off. If not, Liam Neeson. Yes. He could be perfect.

Learn more about the book and author at Cathi Hanauer's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Esri Allbritten's "Chihuahua of the Baskervilles"

Esri Allbritten is the author of Chihuahua of the Baskervilles and The Portrait of Doreene Gray, the first two books in a mystery series that features the staff of Tripping Magazine, a low-budget travel rag that covers destinations of paranormal interest. The thing is, every time they cover a story, there’s a crime behind the supposedly supernatural event — kind of like Scooby Doo for grown-ups.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of Chihuahua of the Baskervilles:

The big casting challenge is Suki Oota, Tripping's photographer. Suki is very talented with a camera, but was fired from National Geographic for "fraternizing" with the natives. It's a good thing this California girl has a trust fund and doesn't actually have to work. Here's the problem -- how many half-Japanese, half-American actresses do you know? "Find me the Japanese-American version of Cameron Diaz!" roars my film's producer. "We want someone who is highly sexed and drolly comedic. She should also be willing to cut her hair short." Good luck with that.

Angus MacGregor is Tripping's co-founder and editor. Casting Angus isn't hard, assuming Billy Connolly is up for the role. Craig Ferguson could also do it. Usually dressed in tweed or corduroy jackets, Angus is warm and fuzzy on the outside, driven and a bit insecure on the inside. He's a recovering alcoholic who grew up in very rough part of Scotland and has no college education. Angus is a nice guy who also happens to be an opportunist.

Michael Abernathy is a literary novelist, or will be when he gets published. His work in progress is Don Juan Conejo, the story of an abused wife who develops an intense relationship with her pet rabbit. Michael (never Mike) is a skeptic who works at Tripping for the paltry paycheck and the résumé credit. There are gobs of intense-eyed actors with dark shaggy hair who look like Michael, but Mark Ruffalo has the personality. Plus, Michael tends toward assholiness, so he has to be played by an actor who is inherently likable.

As for Chihuahuas, we're spoiled for choice. Pick a couple and let's greenlight this project.

Learn more about the book and author at Esri Allbritten's website.

The Page 69 Test: Chihuahua of the Baskervilles.

Writers Read: Esri Allbritten.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kitty Pilgrim's "The Stolen Chalice"

Kitty Pilgrim worked as a CNN correspondent and news anchor for 24 years. As a New York-based reporter her normal beat included politics and economics but her assignments also have taken her around the world – Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba, the Middle East, Korea and South Africa. Pilgrim anchored her own CNN morning show, Early Edition in 1998-1999 and was anchor for prime time broadcasts at CNN from 2001-2010. Pilgrim is the recipient of an Overseas Press Club Award, a Peabody Award, an Emmy, and New York Society of Black Journalists Award. She is a member of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations and the Explorer’s Club of New York.

Here she shares some suggestions for casting the lead in an adaptation of her John Sinclair novels:

The one question I am asked is who would I like to play my character John Sinclair in a film. Sinclair is the hero of both The Explorer's Code and the recently released The Stolen Chalice.

I thought about Sinclair a lot before I wrote the book(s). Someone told me to write an entire biography of the character before starting the novel and I found that served me very well. I went through a whole checklist of questions ranging from “what was Sinclair’s most tragic moment?” to “what is Sinclair’s favorite cocktail?”.

In brief Sinclair is a tall, dark handsome archaeologist who made a fortune in the tech industry and then went on to pursue his passion – digging in ancient ruins in Ephesus, Turkey.

The actor that plays John Sinclair has to be a rugged archaeologist type who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty – but who can also be a man about town in London and a seductive charmer on the Cote d’Azur. Sinclair has a lot of baggage – plenty of past girlfriends, the tragic loss of his wife, a moody streak that makes him aloof and remote. I picture a modern  Cary Grant with moody overtones of someone like Clive Owen, George Clooney, or maybe a younger man like Michael Fassbender or Eric Bana. The actor would have to be very sophisticated – because the way I wrote Sinclair, every woman who reads my books always asks me “Where can I find this guy?” He is every woman’s dream.

Learn more about the book and author at Kitty Pilgrim's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mark de Castrique's "The 13th Target"

A native of North Carolina, Mark de Castrique writes mysteries primarily set in the Appalachian mountains. He is an award-winning film and video producer whose work has been broadcast on PBS, HBO, and network-affiliate stations as well as the author of the Sam Blackman mystery series, the Buryin’ Barry series, and two mysteries for young adults.

If he could bankroll the production of the movie of his latest thriller, The 13th Target, here are the actors he'd select for key character roles:

Rusty Mullins is a retired secret service agent who stumbles across a plot to destroy the Federal Reserve. The main problem - the major evidence points to him as the prime suspect. George Clooney would be perfect for creating sympathy for a man caught up in a web not of his own making while trying to protect others.

Amanda Church is a former colleague of Rusty Mullins who now works for the Federal Reserve. She believes someone on the inside is setting Rusty up and tells him they can trust no one. I'd like to see Jennifer Westfeldt in the role as a savvy, seasoned agent who knows her way around Washington politics.

Robert Sullivan, a veteran Arlington, VA detective crosses paths with Rusty Mullins when he investigates the apparent suicide of Federal Reserve executive Paul Luguire, a man Mullins was safeguarding. He is first and foremost a good cop, but his suspicions about Mullins are tempered by the ex-Secret Service agent's insights and insistence that a conspiracy of enormous consequences lies at the core of the case. Glenn Morshower is my choice for Sullivan. Who? you might ask. Morshower just casts a cop aura in his tone and manner. He played Secret Service agent Aaron Pierce in 24 and Landry Clark's father in Friday Night Lights. I think he could bring an extra dimension to his TV roles as someone willing to bend the rules to get to the truth.

Sidney Levine is a former Washington Times reporter whose objectivity was questioned because of a book he wrote against the Federal Reserve. Now a blogger catering to the conspiracy theorists, Levine sees the suicide of Luguire as proof something major is going down. He locks onto Mullins and Sullivan in an attempt to rejuvenate his journalistic career with the story of a lifetime. Jonah Hill could pull off this role as a reporter who lives in the netherlands of the Internet.

Rusty Mullins has a vulnerability - his daughter Kayli Woodward and grandson Josh. As the tensions mount, their safety becomes a major concern. Rose Byrne of Damages fame would be perfect as Mullins' daughter.

Curtis Jordan is a successful thriller writer and husband of Amanda Church. She confides in him and he uses his imaginative talents to help steer her course of action. Suave and sophisticated, Jordan works on his new book from Paris while trying to help Amanda cope with the twists and turns she and Mullins encounter. Since Jennifer Westfeldt is the long-time girlfriend of Jon Hamm, I hope she would entice him to round out the cast of these key characters.

As for director, I'd want someone who can handle big canvas and intimate canvas cinematic scale. Someone who always shows respect for the story and the audience is Ron Howard. He won't let plot overshadow character, but he also keeps action and conflict moving forward.

So, I've done the hard part with these wonderful selections. Who out there wants to raise the money to make it happen?

Learn more about the book and author at Mark de Castrique's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Mark de Castrique & Gracie.

The Page 69 Test: The 13th Target.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sarah Terez Rosenblum's "Herself When She's Missing"

Sarah Terez Rosenblum has an MFA in Creative Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her fiction has appeared in literary magazines such as kill author and Underground Voices, and she was a 2011 recipient of Carve Magazine's Esoteric Fiction Award.

She forwarded an invitation to dreamcast an adaptation of her debut novel, Herself When She's Missing, to the book's protagonist, Andrea Wynn. The character's response:

Dear "My Book, The Movie"-

Whenever I asked too many questions (which was always) Jordan would tell me to write a book. No way. I’m a list maker, not a writer, so I’m not sure how you caught wind of my story, though I appreciate your interest.

I want to tell you I’ve never considered your question, but whenever I lie I touch my face or provide too much information or screw up some small detail. And anyway, why should I feel embarrassed? Culturally speaking, movies are like rain gods, things requiring worship and sacrificial offerings; naturally I’ve pondered who might play me in a movie version of my life.

Reasons I’ve imaged my life as a film:

-I’m a former film major

-Jordan’s obsession with every new release

-How else could I get through?

I had to dig around a bit to find this; all of my stuff got jumbled when I moved. It was in a box with this newsboy cap I rarely wear and a video tape that’s not even mine. Looking at it now, I’m uncertain about some choices, but I’ve annotated and updated. I hope it lives up to any expectations you might have.

Note: Where more than one actor is listed, I’ve underlined my first choice (If I have one).

Scott: Mekhi Phifer (I can’t think too much about Scott right now.)

Linda: Alison Pill

Roslyn: Lizzy Caplan or Krysten Ritter (I sort of see Ellen Page but logically she wouldn’t take on a comparatively minor role. Plus she’d have to use stilts; Roslyn has to be tall.)

Peter Anderson: John Cameron Mitchell; or Josh Groban (Too young but just treacly enough.)

Adrienne Anderson: Katherine Moennig (Again, too young, but perfect, knobby spine); Melissa Ferrick (Probably can’t act); or Anne Ramsay (Though hot, flat affect)...none is quite right....

Jordan: Ally Sheedy? (No wonder actors are reluctant to play gay; one amazing lesbian role* and she springs immediately to mind); Helen Hunt (There’s something shrunken/exhausted about her lately. And what was up with that movie where Bette Midler played her mom?)

Updated: Before sending this off, I figured I’d sleep on it. Good thing I did because I dreamed Holly Hunter** lived in an underwater cave during the zombie apocalypse. Strong-jawed and shotgun toting, she rescued me from teeth-gnashing undead. Jordan, I thought, as I jolted awake.

Andrea (me): Natalie Portman (Too beautiful?); Anne Hathaway** (Doing her pre-Prada/Princess “my hair is curly and I wear glasses but underneath I’m a catch” schtick. (See The Princess Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada)

I’m truncating the list here, though it actually continues. (Example: Miley Cyrus as Hanna/Tanner). I figure no one would be interested in the bit players besides me.

*Specifically: the 1998 film, High Art, a luminous beacon of optimism in a dark land ravaged by the likes of Go Fish and Bar Girls. The film is visually riveting and gives hope for lesbian movies (although pigeonholing High Art as lesbian diminishes its scope and reach).

** Perhaps too old, but does age even matter? Time makes no sense anyway.

Best,
Andrea Wynn

Learn more about the book and author at Sarah Terez Rosenblum's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Frances Osborne's "Park Lane"

Frances Osborne was born in London and studied philosophy and modern languages at Oxford University. She is the author of Lilla’s Feast and The Bolter, a San Francisco Chronicle's Book of the Year and No.1 bestseller in the UK. Her articles have appeared in The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Independent, the Daily Mail, and Vogue. She lives in London with her husband, George Osborne, and their two children.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Park Lane:

If Park Lane is made into a movie, I'd love to see strong, almost dark characters. Gemma Arterton would be great as Grace, the maid new to the job and trying her best as she is forced to weave an ever thicker web of lies around her. Natalie Portman could portray beautifully the complexities of disillusioned debutante Beatrice as she comprises her principles and is drawn into the violent world of militant suffragettes. As for Michael, brooding and magnetic, James Purefoy would absolutely do the trick.

Learn more about the book and author at Frances Osborne's website.

Osborne was born in London and studied philosophy and modern languages at Oxford University. Her other books include Lilla’s Feast and The Bolter, a San Francisco Chronicle's Book of the Year and No.1 bestseller in the UK.

The Page 99 Test: The Bolter.

The Page 69 Test: Park Lane.

--Marshal Zeringue

Beth McMullen's "Spy Mom"

Beth McMullen graduated from Boston University with a degree in English Literature and received an MLS from Long Island University. After landing a gig with Reader’s Digest, she eventually realized she’d rather write books than condense them.

Here she shares some ideas for casting an adaptation of her latest book, Spy Mom:

I love this question because it’s so fun to play with! Readers email me all the time with suggestions and so many of them are great possibilities I never even thought of.

I have an image of Sally Sin, the main character of the Sin series, in my head but it doesn’t line up nicely with any current Hollywood actors of the appropriate age. And my primary bad guy, Ian Blackford, is a mishmash of all my favorite movie villains over the years with a layer of Pierce Brosnan as Remington Steele thrown in for good measure.

But Simon Still, Sally’s boss and handler at The Agency, has been Kevin Spacey since his moment of his creation. Whenever I write Simon Still scenes, I hear Kevin Spacey’s voice in my head and see him walking across my pages. Recently, I watched Margin Call and kept thinking, “Wait a minute! What is Simon Still doing on Wall Street? This doesn’t make any sense.”

I hope these books haven’t ruined Kevin Spacey for me forever but who knows?

Learn more about the book and author at Beth McMullen's website and Facebook page.

The Page 69 Test: Original Sin.

Writers Read: Beth McMullen (July 2011).

The Page 69 Test: Spy Mom.

--Marshal Zeringue

Elizabeth Crane's "We Only Know So Much"

Elizabeth Crane is the author of the story collections When the Messenger Is Hot, All This Heavenly Glory, and You Must Be This Happy to Enter.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, We Only Know So Much:

Fantasy casting for the movie of my book? Why yes, I’d love to!

The challenge of casting the four generations of the Copeland family, I think, is finding actors who can show us exactly what they’re thinking without doing much ‘acting’ at all. In many ways, though each of the characters has their own issue that they’re dealing with, their conflicts are very much internal, and often this is dealt with in the narrative. So in a perfect world, the actors in the movie of my book will be so brilliant that when they turn their heads a sixteenth of an inch, or blink their eyes almost imperceptibly, the viewer will intuit my exact words from the novel without need of a voice over or any other explanation. I think it could happen.

Thusly, my dream cast:

Philip Seymour Hoffman or Robert Sean Leonard in the role of Gordon, the middle-aged father. Gordon is physically, kind of a stiff, described in the book as attractive in a “small market weatherman” kind of way. He’s also a bit of a know-it-all and at the moment he’s worried that he’s losing his mind.

Catherine Keener or Lili Taylor would be perfect for Jean, Gordon’s wife. Jean is silently suffering the loss of a lover her husband had not known about. There’s also an actress named Amy Landecker who would be fantastic.

Priscilla, their ‘bitchy’ nineteen-year-old fashionista daughter, and her thoughtful little brother Otis, are a tougher ones for me – there aren’t that many younger actors that are on my radar, and since in this universe I’m casting this, I feel like I’d like to discover these two. Physically, Heather Morris from Glee is almost exactly how I see Priscilla in my head (yes, she still plays high school on TV, but we all know that on TV high school it’s almost a requirement that in real life, the actors playing teens are twenty-five). Priscilla goes through a transition as well, though, so the actress playing her needs to play bitchy but also in a sort of quiet way – she’s not so much a tantrum thrower as she is silently hostile. Saiorse Ronan might also be a good choice for Priscilla.

For nine-year-old Otis, a kind of brainy, soulful boy falling in love for the first time, well, I have no idea. So I’m thinking, if he were an actor, I’d cast Caine from the short documentary Caine’s Arcade. He has the kind of creative spirit that Otis needs.

For Vivian, the 98-year-old matriarch and social butterfly, Angela Lansbury would be brilliant. She has the sort of elegance Vivian has, but can also bring the necessary edge to the character. Vivian is not always super nice.

For Theodore, Gordon’s father (Vivian’s son), who’s suffering from Parkinson’s, I would be beside myself if Anthony Hopkins were available. Theodore’s face has stiffened with his illness, but he still has a twinkle in his eyes and a sense of humor, and he has some important scenes and needs the depth of an Anthony Hopkins.

Learn more about We Only Know So Much and its author at Elizabeth Crane's website.

Writers Read: Elizabeth Crane (April 2008).

The Page 69 Test: We Only Know So Much.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kim Barnes's "In the Kingdom of Men"

Kim Barnes's books include two memoirs, In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country—a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize—Hungry for the World, and the novels Finding Caruso and A Country Called Home.

Here she shares some ideas for the actors, director, and screenwriter to bring her new novel, In the Kingdom of Men, to the big screen:

If they make my book into a film, here's who I'd like to play the lead role(s):

Virginia (Gin) McPhee (main character—an adventuress young wife from Oklahoma who doesn’t like to obey): Saoirse Ronan.

Mason McPhee (Gin’s handsome, idealistic husband—an oilfield roughneck rising through the ranks): Armie Hammer.

Ruthie Doucet (Gin’s best friend—a woman who has been around and knows the ropes): Tina Fey.

Lucky Doucet (Ruthie’s Cajun husband—a rough veteran of the oilfields): a beefy George Clooney, sporting a sun-bleached crew-cut (maybe because I want to see him canoodling with Tina Fey).

Linda Dalton (Gin and Ruthie’s single friend—a voluptuous platinum-haired nurse): Can we see Christina Hendricks as anything other than a red-head?

Yash Sharma (Gin’s Punjabi houseboy—a middle-aged, educated military man who has self-exiled to Arabia): an older Roger Narayan.

Abdullah (Mason’s driver and translator—a young Arab man, educated in the U.S.): Ben Youcef in a ghutra and plaited hair.

Ross Fullerton (Mason’s district manager—an ambitious and dangerous Texas oil man): A bald, pot-bellied Leonardo DiCaprio with sparse eyebrows, sweating in a Stetson.

Candy Fullerton (Ross’s wife—Houston debutante; never satisfied): I’ve always envisioned my close friend, Kelly Eviston (Mozart and the Whale, The Basket) in this role. She’s from Kentucky, and, as an actor, she’s got that Southern belle ability to turn from saccharin sweet to viperous in the blink of an eye.

Carlo Leoni (Italian expatriate, photographer, lothario, and self-proclaimed pirate): Johnny Depp. Oh, wait. Hasn’t he already played a pirate?

Director: Present tense, Clint Eastwood. Future tense, my twenty-two-year-old son, Jace Wrigley, who’s got the chops.

And should we bring in Tom Perrotta to do the adaptation?

Learn more about the book and author at Kim Barnes's website.

The Page 69 Test: A Country Called Home.

The Page 69 Test: In the Kingdom of Men.

Writers Read: Kim Barnes.

--Marshal Zeringue