Jenny Milchman's "The Second Mother"

Jenny Milchman is the USA Today bestselling Mary Higgins Clark award winning author of five psychological thrillers, including Wicked River and The Second Mother.

Here Milchman shares her choice for the director of an adaptation of The Second Mother:

I’m going to try to set aside the experience I’m having now with my third novel, which is currently in development as a film—all the real world constraints of an industry as nuts as Hollywood—to focus on my fifth novel, which by the time you’re reading this will have just come out. If we’re not weighed down by reality, we can bring someone out of retirement.

If The Second Mother were being made into a movie, I would want Rob Reiner to direct it.

Rob (if I may call him that, and I think I can, because I worship the guy as a creative) has directed two of my all-time favorite movies, both based on works by Stephen King.

The Second Mother needs Rob’s ability to set an ominous scene with slowly mounting tension, an ooze of suspense. It’s about a woman who moves to a tiny island off the coast of Maine to get a fresh start. She accepts a post as teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. The island is quaint, idyllic, washed with sun and salt.

But once Julie gets there, things start to go very, very bad. One of her students is a boy named Peter, who likes to defy adults, climb unstable structures, and lord his rarefied place on the island over all the other children. At the same time, Peter loves to sing and dance, spend time with animals, and show Julie the secrets of island life. He’s a study in contradictions. And—he’s in desperate need of a mother.

Who is this child really, and is there something wrong with him? Or with the people who surround him?

That tension and question last until the final page of The Second Mother. Translating it to film will take a deft eye and hand.

Rob Reiner knows how to take a situation that appears innocent at first—a nurse with a savior complex and an intense love of reading, a group of tween boys out for an adventure on the railroad tracks—and dig beneath its unblemished skin for the creepy, crawly all too human horrors beneath.

In The Second Mother, the horror concerns the bitter legacy of privilege and wealth, and a doyenne, a grandmother. It’s not easy to expose a sweet old lady for the danger she wields.

But Rob Reiner is the director who could do it.

Learn more about the book and author at Jenny Milchman's website.

My Book, The Movie: Cover of Snow.

My Book, The Movie: Ruin Falls.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sarah Warburton's "Once Two Sisters"

Sarah Warburton is the oldest of four sisters, raised in Virginia, and an avid reader and knitter. She has a B.A. in Latin from the College of William and Mary, an M.A. in classics from the University of Georgia and another from Brown. Warburton has worked at independent bookstores--Page One Books in Albuquerque and Books on the Square in Providence--and spent ten years as a writer, which led her to become lead editor for UpClose Magazine. Her short story "Margaret's Magnolia" appeared in Southern Arts Journal, and her Pushcart prize nominated story "Survival English" appeared in Oyster River Page. Now she lives with her family--husband, son, daughter, and hound dog--in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia.

Here Warburton dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Once Two Sisters:

I wrote Once Two Sisters with a very clear sense of setting in mind, but the two main characters, older sister Ava and younger sister Zoe, were always standing right behind me, directing my gaze. Because the novel is alternating first person, it’s almost like they are the camera and we experience the story through them. Stepping back to include Ava and Zoe in the frame was a lot of fun.

Ava is cerebral, successful and driven. Although she’s very much in control, once she’s in physical danger, she discovers she can be just as much of a fighter as her younger sister. I think Shailene Woodley would be great in this role. She’s got a great way of playing a character with secrets. She can be reserved, and yet hint at the passion underneath. And Ava is the character who’s literally in a life or death situation, and Shailene Woodley has also nailed action roles. She combines controlled strength with the capacity for great emotion.

Zoe is the rebel, the younger sister who burns her old identity and starts a new life under an assumed name. She’s angry, resentful, impulsive, and yet longs for a loving family. I would love to see Chloë Grace Moretz in this role, delivering a strong, sarcastic performance. Especially interesting would be the moment when Zoe realizes that this isn’t some kind of publicity stunt. I think Moretz could do a great job transitioning from defensive anger to guilt-driven fear for her sister’s life.

For their brilliant, yet cold parents, maybe Laura Linney and John Slattery. I think they would play the “worst family dinner ever” scene brilliantly, yet somehow we’d root for this terrible dysfunctional family to come together.

And thinking about a director who could interweave two different narratives, keep the focus on character and family front and center, while still making what is, after all, a thriller, I kept coming back to Susanne Bier, director of In a Better World and Bird Box. Once Two Sisters would be a film where the family dynamics make the audience squirm just as much as the scenes in the missile silo.

Visit Sarah Warburton's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Celia Rees's "Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook"

Celia Rees is an award-winning YA novelist who is one of Britain's foremost writers for teenagers. Her novel Witch Child has been published in 28 languages and is required reading in secondary schools in the UK. Rees’s books are published in the US by Candlewick and Scholastic. Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook is her first adult novel. A native of the West Midlands of England, she lives with her family in Leamington Spa.

Here Rees dreamcasts an adaptation of Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook:

Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook is set in 1946. The story moves from an exhausted, bombed out London to the devastation of post war Germany. Main character, Edith Graham, is late thirties, an unmarried teacher who has spent the war looking after her mother and teaching school. Desperate for change and to make a contribution, she volunteers to go to Germany to help with re-construction. While in London, she stays with her friend, the exotic, exciting ex SOE agent Dori. At Dori’s house she meets and is immediately attracted to Latvian Jewish Brigade Officer, Harry Hirsch, who is also going to Germany.

Edith’s cousin, Leo, works for MI6 and recruits Edith to help search for fugitive Nazi War Criminals. One in particular, Dr Kurt von Stavenow, with whom Edith had a passionate affair before the war. Von Stavenow was involved in the Euthanasia Project: the elimination of the mentally unfit and precursor to the Holocaust. What Edith doesn’t know is that her cousin wants to use von Stavenow, not punish him. She is also tasked with finding his wife, Elisabeth von Stavenow.

Adeline Parnell, an American journalist and photographer, tells Edith about Operation Paperclip, run by the American Secret Service to find ‘useful’ Nazi scientists and give them new identities. She knows about this from Tom McHale, ex OSS, now CIA. Dori suspects that the British are doing the same thing and Edith agrees to send back information coded into recipes to escape the attention of censors.

Casting

Edith Graham – Olivia Colman

Very English, not conventionally beautiful but her expressive eyes command attention. She can play surface prim and proper but with the potential to surprise. She has tremendous emotional range from doubt and vulnerability to steely resolve and would be a very good Edith.

Dori – Rachel Weiss

Her dark, exotic good looks would make a great Dori and she bears quite a resemblance to Christine Granville, SOE spy and my inspiration for the character.

Adeline – Reese Witherspoon

American, tiny, blonde, very expressive face and looks good in anything - khakis or evening gown. She also resembles American war correspondent, Dickey Chapelle, one of my models for Adeline. My other choice would be Scarlett Johansson, who looks a bit like American photographer, Lee Miller.

Elisabeth von Stavenow – Cate Blanchett

Has to be blonde and very beautiful. I had Greta Garbo in mind when I was writing but, sadly, she’s not available. If Alexander Skarsgård plays Kurt von Stavenow (see below), then Nicole Kidman should be Elisabeth.

Tom McHale – Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis was on my noticeboard for Tom McHale. I was watching Homeland and re-watched Band of Brothers when I began writing and saw Damian Lewis as Tom McHale.

Harry Hirsch - Ben Wishaw

I always saw British actor, Ben Wishaw as Harry. I had him on my noticeboard from the start. Not just as inspiration, I actually used it to describe Harry. His dark, sensitive good looks were perfect.

Kurt von Stavenow - Michael Fassbinder

He has to be blond, Nordic, so handsome that Edith falls in love at first sight. Michael Fassbinder played excellent Nazi in Inglourious Basterds and bears an uncanny resemblance to real life extremely handsome Nazi war criminal, Joachim Peiper. If Michael is unavailable, then Alexander Skarsgård from Big Little Lies.

Directed by Katherine Bigelow

This isn’t a women’s story, but it is a story about women in a man’s world, so I’d like a woman director. She’s a superb film maker and can handle big, powerful issues with ease but she treats her characters with great understanding and compassion and never loses sight of the human cost of war.

Visit Celia Rees's website.

Q&A with Celia Rees.

--Marshal Zeringue

C.M. McGuire's "Ironspark"

When C.M. McGuire was a child, she drove her family crazy with her nonstop stories. Lucky for them, she eventually learned to write and gave their ears a rest. This love of stories led her to college where she pursued history (semi-nonfictional storytelling), anthropology (where stories come from) and theater (attention-seeking storytelling). When she isn't writing, she's painting, crocheting, gardening, baking, and teaching the next generation to love stories as much as she does.

Here McGuire dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Ironspark:

I think everyone, at some point or another, winds up dreamcasting their novel. It’s fun to look at actors and go “Hm, could you be/fight a creepy fairy?” My problem is that I keep finding new actors that I think, on some level, resemble the characters! So here are the main four characters and the key antagonist.

Bryn: For Bryn, I would definitely cast Arryn Zech or Hailee Steinfeld. Brigette Lundy-Paine was on that list, but since seeing them in the Bill and Ted trailer, I struggle to imagine them as this angsty Welsh girl.

Jasika: My dreamcast of Jasika changed during revisions. I would love to see Lovie Simone or Kiki Layne in this role!

Dom: I would think a younger, more gawky Martin Sensmeier. Like Martin Seinsmeier with Jared Padalecki height and Wyatt Oleff gawkiness.

Gwen: I’d go with Anna Murphy (the Irish actress), Samantha Isler, or Alona Tal.

Mab: Mab would probably be Amy Gumenick, Annie Wersching, or Danneel Ackles

As for directors, I’m a huge fan of everything Jon Favreau does. At the same time, I’d love to imagine it directed by Jonathan Entwistle or April Mullen. I think the best thing for a great show or movie would be to have a good balance between the drama, action, and comedy. After all, they’re still teenagers. Even at our darkest, we all still like to laugh, and I remember that being especially true as a teen.

Of course, the dream with something like this would be to see people you’ve never seen before bringing something new and awesome to the story!

Follow C.M. McGuire on Twitter.

The Page 69 Test: Ironspark.

--Marshal Zeringue

Alex Landragin's "Crossings"

Alex Landragin is a writer whose fiction explores place, migration and literature's formal potential. He has also worked as a copywriter, travel writer, journalist, librarian, indigenous community worker, wine merchant and musician.

Landragin was born in France and migrated to Australia as a child. He has previously resided in Marseille, Alice Springs, Paris, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Washington DC. He currently lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Landragin's debut novel, Crossings, has three narratives:

The first story in Crossings is a never-before-seen ghost story by the poet Charles Baudelaire, penned for an illiterate girl. Next is a noir romance about an exiled man, modeled on Walter Benjamin, whose recurring nightmares are cured when he falls in love with a storyteller who draws him into a dangerous intrigue of rare manuscripts, police corruption, and literary societies. Finally, there are the fantastical memoirs of a woman-turned-monarch whose singular life has spanned seven generations.

Here Landragin dreamacasts an adaptation of the novel:

Most of the characters in Crossings appear more than once at different stages of their lives, so until they perfect the technology the movie - or better yet the series - probably can't be made.

But a dream cast would go something like this:

Alula - Auli'i Cravalho

Koahu - James Rolleston

Joubert - Willem Dafoe

Roblet - Sam Neill

Feuille - Philip Seymour Hoffman

Jeanne - Thandie Newton

Baudelaire - Steve Buscemi

Edmonde - anyone, as a mask is required

Mehevi - Temuera Morrison

Mathilde - Olivia Colman

Balthazar - Adrien Brody

Artopoulos - Stephen Fry

Madeleine - Maggie Cheung

Walter - Ed Norton

Chanel - Eva Green

Massu - Ben Whishaw

Visit Alex Landragin's website.

The Page 69 Test: Crossings.

Q&A with Alex Landragin.

--Marshal Zeringue

Patty Dann's "The Wright Sister"

Patty Dann's novels include Mermaids, Starfish and Sweet & Crazy. The books have been translated into French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Mermaids was made into a movie starring Cher, Winona Ryder, and Christina Ricci. Dann is also the author of The Butterfly Hours: Transforming Memories into Memoir, The Goldfish Went on Vacation: A Memoir of Loss, and The Baby Boat: A Memoir of Adoption. Dann's articles have appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, O, The Oprah Magazine, and numerous other publications. She teaches writing workshops at the West Side YMCA in New York. Dann is married to journalist Michael Hill and has one son and two stepsons.

Her new book is The Wright Sister, an epistolary novel of historical fiction that imagines the life of Katharine Wright and her relationship with her famous brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Here Dann dreamcasts an adaptation of the novel:

I have imagined The Wright Sister as a movie.

I think Reese Witherspoon would be a great Katharine.

I also think Laura Linney would be wonderful.

Perhaps Jeff Daniels as her husband, Harry Haskell.

I definitely think a woman director is required.

Visit Patty Dann's website.

Q&A with Patty Dann.

The Page 69 Test: The Wright Sister.

--Marshal Zeringue

Darin Strauss's "The Queen of Tuesday"

Darin Strauss is the bestselling author of several books. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction writing and numerous other awards, Strauss has seen his work translated into fourteen languages and published in more than twenty countries.

Here he dreamacasts an adaptation of his new book, The Queen of Tuesday:

The Queen of Tuesday would be fun to cast: it's a woman in love, it has celebrity, media, glamor, and it’s set in a period we can't turn from. The glitzy 50s, New York and LA, dream-towns at their dreaming best.

It's half-fiction/half nonfiction. It tells the story of the famous Lucille Ball -- and she's named. It tells the story, too, of my unfamous grandparents -- and they're also named. And it tells the story of the affair between my grandfather and Lucille -- and that's invented. Usually, when I write novels, I have to work out, in my head, what the main characters look like. This time, actual faces of actual people stayed in my head.

So, who would play them now? Well....

Isidore Strauss: I think of him as handsome -- but not in a way you’d notice if you saw him in line at Whole Foods. I'd say there's a range from Chris O’Dowd to Tom Hiddleston. But I think the best bet would be James McAvoy. Like my grandfather., there's something in him that reads as wicked and serious at once. Someone whose charisma you might miss, but -- if you paid attention -- you'd realize he's the sort of man who licks the cream off everything. You may not notice him at first, but if you do, you might fall in love with him.

Lucille Ball: Who could play Lucille Ball when Lucille Ball herself inhabited the role so brilliantly? I think Emma Stone. She contained famous multitudes: Quirky and sexy, hilarious and loving and hard-edged, goofy and serious. Emma Stone has that. Maybe Amy Adams too? But I think Stone--among modern superstar redheads -- contains that rare has-it-allness.

Harriet Strauss: Grandma was a complex person. She had been a social creature—parties, music, laughter--and steeply intelligent. But she spent the last 30 or so years of her life as an alcoholic and--after my grandfather left -- as a hermit. I said in a recent interview that there was scorn in her, a kind of lostness. Olivia Colman could be good: That sadness behind the smile, the sense of discomfort she shows with herself, as if her bones are maybe the wrong size under her skin.

I'd be lucky to get any of these brilliant people, of course.

Follow Darin Strauss on Twitter.

Q&A with Darin Strauss.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kylie Schachte's "You're Next"

Kylie Schachte is a graduate from Sarah Lawrence College and an active member of the Pitch Wars online community as both an alum & mentor. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, cat, and giant dog.

Here Schachte dreamcasts an adaptation of You're Next, her first novel:

You’re Next is about sixteen-year-old detective Flora Calhoun. When she was a freshman, Flora went out for a run one morning and found the beaten, mutilated body of a classmate. Ever since, she’s been working as a private investigator for the kids at school--solving every kind of case from stolen laptops to cheating significant others. She’s thrown herself into her work as a way to escape those demons of her past, so when her ex-girlfriend Ava McQueen is murdered, Flora knows she must solve the case. But her obsession spirals out of control, and soon Flora & everyone she loves are in danger of becoming next on the killer’s list.

This story is told from Flora’s perspective, so that actor really has to carry the whole movie. Flora is prickly, clever, obsessive, and paranoid. For a while, I couldn’t imagine anyone pulling it off--and then I watched Season 2 of Stranger Things. When I saw Sadie Sink as Max--the skater girl from California--I knew she was the one. She’s young, but she has a lot of gravitas, and I think she could effortlessly slip into Flora’s specific combination of vulnerability, fury, and frantic kinetic energy. I once told a friend, “Flora looks like Sadie Sink if she hadn’t slept in about two weeks, and was running purely on rage & Diet Dr. Pepper.”

Ava McQueen is Flora’s ex-girlfriend and the girl who is murdered at the start of the story. I could totally see Skai Jackson in that role. Ava is a really complicated character--she’s beautiful, popular, and well-known in school for her passionate activism. But as Flora digs deeper into her investigation, she uncovers a more complicated and mysterious version of the girl she thought she knew so well. Skai Jackson has the bubbly confidence to pull off the first part, and that would make for a really interesting, unsettling contrast once the darker secrets begin to emerge.

Cass, Flora’s best friend, has an effortless cool to her, and I think Madison Hu might fit that bill. Flora is a social outcast, but Cass didn’t have to be. She’s well-liked and a talented musician, but she stood by Flora when everyone else abandoned her because she truly believes in the work they do together. Plus I think Madison can sing and play guitar, which is perfect!

The character I struggled the most to cast is Valentine, an underground streetfighter with a complicated past. He’s way too old for the role now, but a young Timothée Chalamet would be the right direction here. Like many of the characters in the book, Valentine is all about duality and contrasts. He fights for a living, but he has a ... let’s just say nontraditional ... background, and his attitude swings from abrasive bravado to a more fragile tenderness. Chalamet has that feral, hungry look that suits Valentine’s character, but he also has a more vulnerable facet that would fit the quieter moments between Valentine and Flora. Valentine has been a fan favorite so far, so if You’re Next is adapted for film, they’ll have to discover someone really wonderful & brand new for that role.

And finally, Flora’s grandfather. He’s ex-CIA, so he needs to have that kind of seriousness to him. But at the same time, he loves to bake and he’s raising Flora and her sister as best as he can in their mother’s absence, so I’d like to see a wry or playful side to him too. It would be fun to see a real heavyweight in the role--maybe Jeremy Irons or Daniel Day Lewis with an American accent?

Visit Kylie Schachte's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jennifer Greer's "A Desperate Place"

Jennifer Greer began her writing career as a journalist. She graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in journalism and worked as a crime reporter for the Fresno Bee. Interested in foreign affairs, she traveled to Russia in the late 80s and lived in London studying art and literature. While abroad she traveled into the war regions of Croatia and wrote an award winning article on the women and children refugees. She lives on the Oregon Coast.

Here Greer dreamcasts an adaptation of A Desperate Place, her first novel:

When I wrote A Desperate Place, I pictured each scene in my head as if I were watching a movie. It’s all very visual for me. Not only do I want to see and feel the scene I want my readers to be with me one hundred percent. The experience is what it’s all about. Walking around in someone else’s life for a time. Gaining new understanding of the world and the people in it.

With my lead character, journalist Whit McKenna, I envisioned Julianne Moore playing her part. I think she has a strength of character that suits McKenna, who is also a red head. I could picture Ms. Moore in a war zone and also as a mother. There is a grace about her and yet a hint of playfulness also surfaces when she lets down that hard guard.

My never flinching Medical Examiner Detective, Katie Riggs transferred from the murder squad to the M.E.’s office after experiencing a life-threatening skin cancer. She has a quiet strength and a strong faith in God. A natural beauty in her character that you wouldn’t expect from someone who does autopsies. I picture Emily Ratajkowski as Katie Riggs. Her blond pixie is perfect!

I’d be thrilled to see Keanu Reeves play Jacob Panetta. He’s an ex-navy seal so he’s an adventurer, but also a deep thinker. A man’s man, but a ladies man too. Introspective and a bit brooding. Good looking, but approachable.

As a movie, I think A Desperate Place would be thrilling. It has murder, dark science, gritty secrets and hero’s to champion, so what’s not to love?

Visit Jennifer Greer's website.

Q&A with Jennifer Greer.

--Marshal Zeringue

Iris Martin Cohen's "Last Call on Decatur Street"

Iris Martin Cohen grew up in the French Quarter of New Orleans. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and studied Creative Nonfiction at the Graduate Center, CUNY. She is the author of The Little Clan (2018).

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Last Call on Decatur Street:

I always think about movies when writing my books, I’m a pretty visual writer so that kind of daydreaming usually follows. My book takes place in the early 2000’s but is totally informed by my time as a young adult in the nineties so I think as a movie it would be a total nostalgia trip.

Last Call on Decatur Street The Movie is definitely directed by Jim Jarmusch, Down by Law meets Mystery Train.

My book follows a sad burlesque dancer named Rosemary over one long night as she moves through the streets and dive bars of New Orleans. Along the way she encounters a whole series of characters – bartenders, strippers, rockabillys, teenage punks – people on the margins, who are wry and funny and kind of sad and who love to hold forth on barstools.

The soundtrack is all Tom Waits songs and rare fifties R&B.

Since I am casting the 90’s indie movie of my dreams, Rosemary, the burlesque dancer hiding her sorrows in booze and men and bad choices, is played by Winona Ryder, trying to be cool but breaking at the seams with desperate vulnerability.

Christopher, the angry, but romantic and lost young punk she befriends is clearly Basketball Diaries–era Leonardo DiCaprio.

Her more straight-living best friend, Gaby, is Gabrielle Union. Steve Buscemi obviously makes an appearance, John Doe, Rosie Perez, Marisa Tomei, Heather Graham, maybe some real bonkers cameo by Johnny Depp.

It is definitely a small budget movie, full of style and great music, a slice of southern life, darkly funny, atmospheric, that slowly leads its way to something unexpected and profound.

Visit Iris Martin Cohen's website.

Q&A with Iris Martin Cohen.

The Page 69 Test: Last Call on Decatur Street.

--Marshal Zeringue