Max Gladstone's "Two Serpents Rise"

Max Gladstone has been thrown from a horse in Mongolia and nominated for the John W Campbell Best New Writer Award. Two Serpents Rise, his second novel, is about water rights, human sacrifice, dead gods, and poker.

Here Gladstone dreamcasts adaptations of the Craft Sequence novels, Three Parts Dead and Two Serpents Rise:

The question of who would play whom in movies of my books is tough, since many of my central characters aren't white. Due to a combination of the relative pastiness of many Hollywood headliners and my own failure to dig beyond headline movies as often as I should (I read more than I watch), I don't know as many actors who'd fit for these parts, which is both an institutional problem and a personal one.

Most characters in Two Serpents Rise would read as various extractions of Central American Indian to a modern observer. There's no shortage of actors of that extraction, but not a ton of top-billing names. I could see Q'orianka Kilcher in one of the central female roles, maybe as Mal—she was great in The New World, and by the time this movie gets made she'll be almost old enough for the character. My first step in casting this project would be to secure a casting director who has a good relationship with Native American actors and a history of respectful casting—someone like Rene Haynes, who worked on The New World, Into the West, Dances with Wolves, and the Twilight movies. And then to trust her judgment.

Casting my first book, Three Parts Dead, is a bit easier since many of the secondary characters read as European of some form in our world, but Tara, my lead, is black—not as difficult as casting for Two Serpents Rise, but still harder than it should be due to overall Hollywood whiteness. Meagan Good might fit; she got the intensity right in Brick. If I had a time machine, a young Penny Johnson Jerald would be awesome. I haven't seen Precious yet (I know, I know, I know) but Chyna Layne might also work great.

By comparison, it's embarrassing how breezy it feels to cast whiter roles. Just off the top of my head, from Three Parts Dead:

Ms. Kevarian: Helen Mirren. Obviously.

Professor Denovo: Harder, but the keys here are the beard, and the ability to play both bastard and kind country lawyer: Jack Nicholson might work, or maybe Evil Robin Williams, or Paul Giamatti.

Cat: Possibly  Katee Sackhoff? The role needs acting chops, action physicality, and physical attractiveness. Tricia Helfer might also work well. Jennifer Lawrence is a bit young but also might work?

Abelard: I'd love to see what Joseph Gordon-Levitt would do with the role. Matt Smith might also work, though he's a bit tall. Ooh! Can I have Daniel Radcliffe?

Cardinal Gustave: James Cromwell, Rene Auberjonois.

Sundry zombies, skeletons, and gargoyles: WETA workshop or the Jim Henson Company.

And from Two Serpents Rise:

Sam: Tricky! Maybe Kristin Bell? (It's a minor part, sadly, so we probably couldn't get her.)

The King in Red: Since this guy's a giant animated skeleton I feel almost comfortable wanting James Earl Jones or Benedict Cumberbatch or Evil Martin Sheen for the voice. But I'm sure there's a racially appropriate actor out there with an equally awesome voice.

Casting white and PoC roles shouldn't feel this different. I shouldn't be able to rattle off the names of white actors and actresses and stretch for anything else. But that's where we are, and it sucks—I should work harder to see more movies outside my comfort zone, and we as a society should work collectively to close that gap.

Learn more about the book and author at Max Gladstone's website and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: Two Serpents Rise.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jason Vanhee's "Engines of the Broken World"

Jason Vanhee lives in Seattle, Washington.

Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of Engines of the Broken World, his first novel:

This is probably a topic I’ve spent too much time thinking about: not in the particulars really, just in the imagining what it would look like. Engines of the Broken World has a very small scope. There’s just a few locations, just a few characters, a very short time span, and a reasonably well defined sense of place. So I can picture the book as a movie in my head already, and I do. But who’s in that movie? Well, that’s one of the odd things, mostly the characters when I picture them are just blanks, snatches of clothes, and hints of faces. That may have something to do with my tendency to be light on description, or it may just be that I don’t want to fit anyone into my characters.

But if we’re talking casting, I do have one notion that I adore. The two main characters are Merciful, who’s 12, and her brother Gospel, who’s not quite 15. And at least at this moment, there’s a pair of acting siblings who match up with those ages and that gap very well. I’m thinking of Willow and Jaden Smith, neither of whom has really done a lot of acting, but who I’d love to see in the roles. Not that the characters in the book are African-American; they’re white, in so far as they’re described as anything. But the first time someone asked me who I’d like to see in the movie, that was what flew into my mind immediately. I think that the dynamic of real siblings playing the siblings in the book would work very well. I can’t imagine it could ever happen, but the idea alone intrigues me incredibly.

As far as directors, I’m not nearly so informed. The mysteries of direction always elude me. But if I were to pick someone, it might be Debra Granik, who directed the grim, horrifying, small scale, rural Winter’s Bone, which strikes me as surprisingly analogous to what I’d want my book’s movie to end up feeling like. It’s a dark movie she made, with a great performance from a young actress, and I think that would matter a lot.

Learn more about the book and author at Jason Vanhee's blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: Engines of the Broken World.

--Marshal Zeringue

Diane Hammond's "Friday's Harbor"

Diane Hammond is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Seeing Stars, Hannah's Dream, Going to Bend, and Homesick Creek. She served as a spokesperson for the Free Willy Keiko Foundation and the Oregon Coast Aquarium and currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband and their corgis.

Here Hammond dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Friday's Harbor:

I love playing this game! Truman Levy, the business manager-turned-director of the Max L. Biedelman Zoo, was Jason Bateman from the time moment he appeared in my imagination. The actor has that sweet, boyish, clear-eyed face that, for me, characterizes Truman—not a showy look, but one you could look at fondly for a lifetime. My agents are sick of hearing about what a great Truman he’d make. They put it down to a crush. So be it.

Ivy Levy would definitely be played Kathy Bates—a woman with a strong presence. Not a pleaser; a person of very strong opinions, who doesn’t mind sharing them with the people around her, even those who don’t necessarily want to hear them.

I find it odd that I don’t have an actor in mind to play Libertine or Gabriel, though both are key characters in Friday’s Harbor. It’s not that I can’t see both characters very clearly; it’s just that I haven’t met the actors who might embody them. I find this especially odd, since Gabriel is partly based on my husband; yet, he doesn’t look anything like my husband. He reminds me of a Chilean friend with whom I shared a house decades ago. Libertine is mousey-headed, as I described her in Friday’s Harbor, pale and grey-haired and pink-nosed and self deprecating.

And then there’s Friday himself, the killer whale at the heart of Friday’s Harbor. In almost every way, he is Keiko, the star of the movie Free Willy.

As for other characters: Sam Brown is and always has been Morgan Freeman; Neva used to be a younger Julianne Moore but now she’s Amy Adams; Winslow is a younger Angus T. Jones.

See? Fun!

Learn more about the book and author at Diane Hammond's website and follow her on Facebook.

The Page 69 Test:  Hannah’s Dream.

The Page 69 Test: Seeing Stars.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Diane Hammond & Petey and Haagen.

The Page 69 Test: Friday's Harbor.

--Marshal Zeringue

G. R. Mannering's "Roses"

G. R. Mannering is an English writer and international author. She signed up with literary agency Creative Authors when she was eighteen and secured her first UK publishing deal when she was nineteen.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her first fantasy novel Roses, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast:

I think choosing someone to play my main character, Beauty, is the most difficult. Whoever they are, they would have to be happy to go through a few hours of make-up (Beauty has silver skin and white hair). She ages over the course of the book too so there would have to be a younger version and an older version. But I guess that right now, I get to choose, so I think that I would go for someone ethereal-looking like Saoirse Ronan or maybe Dakota Fanning.

The Beast would spend most of the movie as... a beast, so I think that I would have to focus on his voice and in an ideal world I'd go for someone like Richard Armitage for the deep tone and the fact that he's slightly older. The kindly stable manager, Owaine, would be someone like  Brian Blessed, while the creepy, handsome character of Eli could be Ed Westwick (because, why not).

It would be pretty amazing if  Emma Thompson was Asha and then I think that Jamie Foxx would most accurately fit the picture of The Sorcerer that I have in my head.

If only all of that could actually happen!

Learn more about the book and author at G. R. Mannering's website, blog, Facebook page and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

Maria T. Lennon's "Confessions of a So-Called Middle Child"

At fifteen Maria T. Lennon left Santa Barbara to study at The American School in Switzerland. She continued her studies at Brillantmont in Lausanne, got kicked out, then went on to London to complete her A levels. She was accepted to the London School of Economics and studied International Economics and Politics of International Aid. After graduating, she moved to Italy where she ate and drank enormous quantities. She also taught summer school at The American School in Genova, an elementary school. Lennon later moved to Paris and wrote her first novel. When she returned to Los Angeles, she quit all bad habits and continued working on her novel, Making It up as I Go Along, which was published in 2004.

Lennon’s screenplay about the Red Brigade was a third place finalist in Francis Ford Coppola's screenwriter's competition. Today, she lives in Laurel Canyon and has four children and a dog named Frida. Her most recent book, Confessions of a So-called Middle Child, was released by Harper Collins in August 2013 and she is currently working on the series. When not driving one of her four children to school or volunteering at school libraries, Lennon can be found sitting in a parked car, a café or a library writing novels, travel articles or just passed out.

Here the author shares some ideas about an adaptation of Confessions of a So-called Middle Child:

Who Do I Want to Star in my Book?

A Tragic Question.

The movie business is weird. Way weirder than the publishing business that’s for sure. When Harper Collins bought the manuscript, Hollywood agents came calling the same week. They loved Charlie. And what’s not to love?

She’s a major pain in the butt. Got kicked out of school in Malibu. She bullies her way through life to get her way. She’s got a gifted older sister and an angel of a baby brother.

She lives in the Houdini Mansion while her dad rebuilds the original house that burnt down in 1953.

She actually finds the tunnels that go under Laurel Canyon Blvd. and have been rumored to exist for decades.

It would make a great movie right?

Jaden Smith for Bobby.

Hailee Steinfeld for Charlie.

And For Marta… well, by the time I got close to coming up with my dream girl the agents told me they were interested in TV and not film.

What? I cried.

No! I screamed.

And they want others to write it for you!

What? I cried.

No! I screamed.

Visions of Hannah Montanas and I Carlies in my head. What sadness. No, thanks, I said.

Visit the Confessions of a So-called Middle Child website, and follow Maria T. Lennon on Facebook and Twitter.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Maria T. Lennon and Frida.

--Marshal Zeringue

Robert Klara's "The Hidden White House"

Robert Klara is the author of the critically acclaimed 2010 book FDR's Funeral Train, which historian and author Douglas Brinkley called “a major new contribution to U.S. history.” Klara has been a staff editor for several magazines including Adweek, Town & Country and Architecture. His freelance work has appeared in the New York Times, the New York Daily News, American Heritage, and The Christian Science Monitor, among other publications.

Here Klara dreamcasts an adaptation of his new book, The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America's Most Famous Residence:

If they make my book into a film (and if they do, sweethearts, you’ll all be invited aboard my steam yacht), the casting director is in for a monstrous time: It took many, many people to rebuild the White House, and many of them are recurring characters in my book. So we’ll stick with the top few. I won’t let mortality get in my way nor, as you will note, will I let probable lack of financing do the same.

President Harry Truman should be played by the late Harry Morgan. Best known as Col. Potter in the M*A*S*H TV series, Morgan actually did play Truman—with uncanny brilliance—in the 1979 miniseries Backstairs at the White House. So I’d simply like a return engagement.

I would love to see what Meryl Streep could do with the role of First Lady Bess Truman, whose quiet, simple grace served as a counterpoint to her iron resolve. If you saw Streep in The Iron Lady (2011) or you’re old enough to remember how she played Danish plantation owner Karen in Out of Africa (1985), you’ll have an inkling of how well she’d channel this enigmatic, indomitable first lady.

To play the playful and feisty twentysomething Margaret Truman, I nominate Rashida Jones, whose blend of humor and intellect is perfect for the First Daughter.

Sean Connery would be magnificent as the erudite and brilliant chief architect Douglas Orr. I can see Connery in Orr’s round glasses, bow ties, and Yale tweeds, training a practiced eye on mountains of blueprints.

Lorenzo Winslow, the government architect who drew up the plans for the renovated mansion (and spent much of his spare time communicating with ghosts) is a role I would love to see what Donald Sutherland could do with, just for the hell of it.

Remember how incredible Daniel Day Lewis was as the volcanic Daniel Plainview in There Will be Blood? I’d put Lewis in the role of the White House’s tempestuous and powerful builder John McShain—another self-made man presiding over an empire with no heir.

White House maître d'hôtel Alonzo Fields was a quietly influential force in the White House—insightful and articulate, he was the eyes and ears of the domestic staff and an informal confidant of Truman’s. I can’t see anyone other than the late Scatman Crothers in this role with his deep, knowing smile, and a head full of kept secrets.

Resourceful and fussy, Usher J.B. West—a man whose ability to manage the ever-changing stage set that is the modern White House—was an indispensable force in the book’s narrative. Ben Kingsley would bring a kind of quirky magic to that role, which Mr. West has earned.

General Glen Edgerton—who supervised the entire day-to-day mess of the rebuilding effort—was a stark and steely man. Not only could Robert Downey Jr. play him, he looks like him.

Visit Robert Klara's website and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mike Maden's "Drone"

About Drone, the first book in Mike Maden's new thriller series:

Troy Pearce is the CEO of Pearce Systems, a private security firm that is the best in the world at drone technologies. A former CIA SOG operative, Pearce used his intelligence and combat skills to hunt down America’s sworn enemies in the War on Terror. But after a decade of clandestine special ops, Pearce opted out. Too many of his friends had been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. Now Pearce and his team chose which battles he will take on by deploying his land, sea, and air drones with surgical precision.

Pearce thinks he’s done with the U.S. government for good, until a pair of drug cartel hit men assault a group of American students on American soil. New U.S. president Margaret Meyers then secretly authorizes Pearce Systems to locate and destroy the killers sheltered in Mexico. Pearce and his team go to work, and they are soon thrust into a showdown with the hidden powers behind the El Paso attack—unleashing a host of unexpected repercussions.

Here Maden dreamcasts an adaptation of Drone:

This is a tough question. For the series lead, Troy Pearce, I’d cast Gary Sinise. He has the quiet swagger and thoughtful demeanor that Troy possesses. In Mr. Sinise’s private life, he does a lot of great things for the right people and mostly he does it quietly. On his recent television series, you never heard him raise his voice, but would you ever want to get into a knife fight with that guy? I think not. Troy is wicked smart and ruthlessly dangerous when finally provoked into action and I see Gary Sinise all over that.

Read more about Drone, and follow Mike Maden on Facebook and Twitter.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kristan Higgins's "The Perfect Match"

Kristan Higgins is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. Her books have been praised for their "genius level EQ, whippet-fast, funny dialogue and sweet plots with a deliciously tart edge" (USA Today).

Here Higgins dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Perfect Match:

I’m not going to pretend here—Tom Hardy was the inspiration for the hero of The Perfect Match to the point where I now own a Tom Hardy calendar. I even named my hero Tom, which I thought was a solid blue-collar name. Tom Barlow is from Manchester, England, the only son of a butcher, and put himself through school on a boxing scholarship. I have a thing for the movie Warrior, as well as 124 pictures of young Mr. Hardy on my computer. Tom Hardy has such appeal as a romantic lead—when I saw This Means War, I was a little stunned that the heroine goes with the other guy (not that there’s anything wrong with Chris Pine, but please! He’s no Tom Hardy.)

What I love about Tom Hardy is that he can convey both a smokin’ alpha male and a very adorable boy-next-door. In my book, Tom Barlow is some of both—he’s trying very hard to stay close to his “unofficial stepson,” a teenage boy whose late mother was Tom’s fiancée. What woman could resist giving him a green card by way of marriage? But Tom’s got quite an edge, too, which was very fun to write.

For Honor, it was a little harder to choose an actress, but in the end, I went with Laura Linney. She was so magnificent in Love Actually (and everything she does, really), and I like that she’s a bit underappreciated. Honor is the person in her family who gets things done, but she’s got a romantic heart and a whole lot of yearning. Laura Linney is just fantastic at conveying ten emotions at once…to me, she’s second only to Meryl Streep in terms of acting chops. Honor doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and she doesn’t let Tom get away with his usual shtick, so I think Ms. Linney would do a great job portraying her.

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

My Book, The Movie: Somebody to Love.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tina Connolly's "Copperhead"

Tina Connolly lives with her family in Portland, Oregon, in a house that came with a dragon in the basement and blackberry vines in the attic. Her stories have appeared all over, including in Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Here Connolly dreamcasts an adaptation of Copperhead, the sequel to her Nebula-nominated historical fantasy debut, Ironskin:

I always find this a challenging question – I think because I spent so much time in the theatre myself that my first instinct is always: well, I'd like go hold some auditions ... I bet there'd be some good unknowns out there ... also it takes so long to get a movie rolling into production that surely anyone I pick would have aged out by the time we're ready to cast!

Still, here are some random picks for Copperhead:

Helen – Carey Mulligan. I love Mulligan's work, and she brings such complexity to her roles that I think she would be great with Helen, who tries to pass herself off as superficial, but is actually warm-hearted, stubborn, and capable of much change over the course of the book.

Jane – Keira Knightley. I liked Mulligan and Knightley together in Never Let Me Go. The first book in the series, Ironskin, was Jane's journey, and Copperhead is Helen's. But plenty of interesting things happen to Jane in Copperhead. I think Knightley would look the part, and do a good job with angry, cursed Jane.

Rook – Mm, good question. A young Robert Downey Jr. would be a lot of fun for this quirky, funny, passionate young man with a past full of secrets.

Frye – Frye's a tall, flamboyant theatre actress, a bit of an Auntie Mame type. I'd love some great character actor like Allison Janney—someone who'd have fun swanning around a bit.

Alberta – someone with a lot of strength. Gina Torres would be nice here. And I believe she's a musician, which would be perfect for the character.

Grimsby – I'll go for a classic and say Alan Rickman for the biting, cold-hearted leader of the Copperhead party. Grimsby's got tragedy in his past, so Rickman would have some interesting levels to play.

Learn more about the book and author at Tina Connolly's website, blog, and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

Gina Linko's "Indigo"

Gina Linko has a graduate degree in creative writing from DePaul University and lives outside Chicago with her husband and three children. Linko teaches college English part-time, but her real passion is sitting down at a blank computer screen and asking herself the question, "What if...?"

Here Linko dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Indigo:

It is so difficult for me to picture my book as a movie. I know that usually is not the case for authors, but for some reason, I don't think that way. I create the main characters in my head and so they kind of seem like real people to me. So for me to place that entire personality and history onto an actor, well, I don't know. I take my characters way too seriously, as you can see. Anyway, here goes.

The main character in Indigo is Corrine Harlowe. She is broken in a very big way at the beginning of this book, but she has a quiet strength. Dark haired, serious, and formidable. I think I could see Hailee Steinfeld as Corrine. She has that steely kind of resolve to her. She could take on Corrine's curse/power and do what she has to do.

Rennick Lane is Corrine's love interest in Indigo, and he is not your typical hero. He's kind of your nerdy/artist-type trapped in the body of a rock star. But he doesn't even know it. Plus, his hair. Swoon. So. These are some big shoes to fill. Black converse to be specific. Anyway. I think Logan Lerman could do justice to the part.

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

--Marshal Zeringue