Ruth Dugdall's "The Sacrificial Man"

Ruth Dugdall is a British crime writer. She has a degree in English and Theatre Studies from Warwick University and an MA is Social Work at University of East Anglia, and has worked as a probation officer dealing with high-risk criminals for almost a decade. She is the author of The James Version and The Sacrificial Man.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of The Sacrificial Man:

To see one of my novels on the big screen is one of my favourite daydreams. For many writers, especially crime writers like myself, a movie deal is the Holy Grail.

But then the crunch question – who has the icy demeanour to play my uber-controlling, beautiful but brutalised Alice?

Alice is the central character in The Sacrificial Man, and she has agreed to kill a man, and eat him. She does not see herself as a criminal, but as a romantic heroine; she believes she is in a love story, that in helping her lover to die she was performing an act of devotion. Imagine Julie Christie, as she was in Doctor Zhivago, but with a knife.

Julie Christie being a bit too mature now, I think Nicole Kidman has a suitably frosty and fractured demeanour. I’d enjoy watching her reveal Alice’s motivations, but I’m not sure she could motivate the audience to empathise. An actress with a track record in making unpleasant people sympathetic is Charlize Theron. Even her Dior advert brings me out in goose bumps!

My other female lead is Cate Austin, the probation officer with the thankless task of writing a sentencing report on Alice. Cate has to delve into the dark side of life, and she sometimes struggles.

Cate is my everywoman, so I imagine a warmer, girl-next-door actress. My background is as a probation officer, so Cate has inherited some of my traits; she’s a petite redhead, rather serious-minded. I think Carey Mulligan would play her well (though she’d need some henna).

My dream director is Jordan Scott, Ridley Scott’s daughter (I bet she hates that everyone adds that, as if she has no identity in her own right). In fact (confession time) I e-mailed her after I watched Cracks because the themes seemed so close to what I hope to achieve with my writing, and I just thought: “she would get me.”

Learn more about the book and author at Ruth Dugdall's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nancy Bartley's "The Boy Who Shot the Sheriff"

Nancy Bartley is or has been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at American University in Bulgaria, a Seattle Times journalist, a writing teacher, and the author of short fiction as well as the 2013 book, The Boy Who Shot the Sheriff – the Redemption of Herbert Niccolls Jr., a work of narrative nonfiction.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of the book:

First of all, I have to say I am writing a screenplay on The Boy Who Shot the Sheriff, so, of course, casting does come to mind from time to time.

Since the lead would require a very strong child actor who move from 12 to 21, it's a big challenge. Asa Butterfield, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, would be my pick. He can move an audience to tears without over playing the part. The Niccolls role calls for someone who can be vulnerable and willing to please, yet at the same time has a side quite capable to lying, cheating and even killing.

The wonderful Tom Hanks would be my pick for the warden, who turns around the life of the 12-year-old killer. Warden McCauley is a complex man. On one hand, he is known as the liberal warden because he believes in all kinds of prison reforms but on the other, he is still tough and presides over executions. The 1930s was the bloodiest time in the nation's penitentiaries with more people being put to death than at any other time.

There are smaller parts -- Walter Du Buc, the 17-year-old who is executed, I'd use Liam James, the Canadian up-and-coming actor, who does serious and sulky so well. Armene Lamson, the child-welfare crusader, I'd use Meryl Streep (who wouldn't?). No one, could do better when it comes to playing a driven woman who takes on a governor to free a child murderer.

Learn more about the book and author at Nancy Bartley's website, and follow her on Twitter.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kathryn Erskine's "Seeing Red"

Seeing Red, National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine's latest novel, is a story of family, friendship, and race relations in the South.

Life will never be the same for Red Porter. He’s a kid growing up around black car grease, white fence paint, and the backward attitudes of the folks who live in his hometown, Stony Gap, Virginia.

Red’s daddy, his idol, has just died, leaving Red and Mama with some hard decisions and a whole lot of doubt. Should they sell the Porter family business, a gas station, repair shop, and convenience store, rolled into one, where the slogan — “Porter’s: We Fix It Right!” — has been shouting the family’s pride for as long as anyone can remember?

With Daddy gone, everything’s different. Through his friendship with Thomas, Beau, Rosie, and Miss Georgia, Red starts to see there’s a lot more than car motors and rusty fenders that need fixing in his world.

Here Erskine dreamcasts an adaptation of her novel:

There are a few characters who pop into mind immediately:

Miss Georgia:  Cicely Tyson

Mr. Walter: Morgan Freeman

Beau: Matt Damon

Mama: Julia Stiles

Red: Griffin Gluck

Thomas: Jaden Smith

Rosie: Madison Pettis

The other characters I can picture in my mind but don't know an actor to fit with them. I know who'd be a great director, though -- Ron Howard. Red, the main character, is a 12-year-old redhead in the early 1970's and even compares himself at one point to Opie, the character Ron Howard played on TV in The Andy Griffith Show. Also, it's definitely a Ron Howard kind of movie: thoughtful, serious, unflinching, but with charm and humor.

Learn more about the book and author at Kathryn Erskine's website.

Check out Erskine's top 10 first person narratives.

--Marshal Zeringue

David Bruce's "The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton"

David Bruce is an assistant professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of his new book, The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton: Extraordinary Perseverance:

The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton: Extraordinary Perseverance is a biography of one of Great Britain’s most prominent nineteenth-century social activists. Unfortunately, that just doesn’t scream box-office bonanza, so I can’t imagine anyone pursuing this as a cinematic project. On the other hand, I honestly think it would make a nice independent art-house film.

Although surrounded by many other reform-minded people, I consider Thomas Fowell Buxton to be the first true social reformer – that rare breed that is concerned with all of humanity, not just one or two select causes. An acolyte of William Wilberforce, Buxton is best known for his efforts to end British slavery in 1834. In truth, he was a man of many interests and focused much of his life on punishment and prison reform, providing charity and support for the poor, ending the centuries-old restrictions placed on Great Britain’s Catholics, and furthering education and religious training overseas. Along the way, he and his family experienced tremendous losses, personal and professional, and it is amazing that he never lost his focus or faith. For the most part, Buxton has been forgotten by mainstream historians; nowadays, he tends to stand in Wilberforce’s shadow. It’s really tragic – he literally went from being very well-known and respected, to being reimagined as a “minor supporting character” in less than a half-century. What better way, therefore, to reacquaint people with one of the more important activists in history than with his own movie?

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton was an energetic social activist who was well-known for his meticulous research and long speeches. Personally, I like either Paul Bettany or Daniel Day-Lewis, as both are outstanding actors who have had much success with characters that are at once intelligent, determined, sincere, and a tad socially awkward. Additionally, both men bear a slight facial resemblance to Buxton and look good in period set pieces. It’d be a hard choice, to be honest – although if I were aiming for complete accuracy, then Bettany gets the nod, as he shares Buxton’s 6’4” frame.

Hannah Gurney Buxton was usually characterized as a dutiful, supporting wife, who also happened to be an exceptional, natural beauty. She was also an extremely resilient woman who experienced more than her fair share of tragedy and pain. I have long been a fan of Amy Adams and think that she’d make an excellent Hannah, although I think Winona Ryder might be a good choice, as well.

Buxton’s mother, Anna Hanbury Buxton, bore six children, lost one, and was widowed, before she reached the age of thirty. She had no problem in allowing her surviving children the freedom they’d wanted, but was also quick to command respect when necessary. Buxton suggested that his mother may have suffered from some mental health issues (which are understandable, considering some of the things her family experienced).  Emma Thompson, who I think would be perfect in the role.

Gabriel Byrne would make an interesting William Wilberforce, a man who recognized that his increasing physical limitations would prevent him from realizing his life’s goal of abolishing slavery. Stephen Dillane was excellent as Thomas Jefferson in HBO’s John Adams, and I think he would be equally as intriguing as Hannah’s brother, the evangelist Joseph John Gurney. Finally, I would cast Kate Winslet as Hannah’s older sister, the noted prison reformer Elizabeth Fry.

Learn more about the book and author at the Extraordinary Perseverance website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Rebecca Cantrell’s "The World Beneath"

Rebecca Cantrell’s Hannah Vogel mystery/thriller novels have won the Bruce Alexander and Macavity awards and been nominated for the Barry and RT Reviewers Choice awards; her critically-acclaimed cell phone novel, iDrakula, was nominated for the APPY award and listed on Booklist’s Top 10 Horror Fiction for Youth.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The World Beneath:

The World Beneath is set in the tunnels underneath New York City and follows Joe Tesla, a direct descendant of famous scientist Nikola Tesla, after he is struck by agoraphobia and can no longer go outside.

Who would want to come down and play in Joe Tesla’s world? Let’s run through the top characters.

Joe Tesla. First off, there’s Joe himself. Joe made his millions creating facial-recognition software, so he’s smart, and he didn’t spend a lot of time outside before this happened to him so he’s pale. But he spent his childhood working in a circus, so he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve. He’s also funny. Smart, funny, intense, quirky? How about Joseph Gordon-Levitt?

Vivian Torres. If Joe’s the brains, she’s the brawn. She is also very smart in her own right, luckily for Joe. She grew up on the mean streets of New York, went into the Army, and was recently released from on a dishonorable discharge. She’s been hired as Joe’s bodyguard, and in future books she’ll be his eyes and ears aboveground. Who is beautiful, a step ahead strategically, and can kick your butt? Michelle Rodriguez.

Celeste Gallo. Not so long ago, she stole Joe’s heart. But she wasn’t ready to settle down. She’s a carefree artist from a wealthy family—funny, charming, and talented. Unfortunately, she is struck by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and is gradually becoming paralyzed. She can’t leave her house, and Joe can’t leave his. This might solve some of their commitment problems, even if it creates others. The actress playing her must be expressive, brilliant, and a force to be reckoned with even if she can’t move a muscle. For me, that’s Bryce Dallas Howard.

Ozan Saddiq. He’s a bad guy, but he’s very good at it. Like Vivian, he served in the US military. Unlike Vivian, he got an honorable discharge. He likes killing, and he’s well paid for it. His only close friend is his brother Erol, who has Downs Syndrome, for whom Ozan has assumed all expenses since their parents died. Unlike most killers, he’s not a giant bruiser. He’s deceptively slight and polite—until he’s close enough to slip the knife between your ribs. Who could get anyone to lower their guard? Omid Abtahi.

Edison. Edison is Joe’s best friend. He’s a psychiatric service dog. He’s part yellow Lab, part golden retriever, and part furry ball of wonder. Of all the characters, he’s the one I’d want to take home with me.

I’d love to hear your casting suggestions! (maybe for a psychiatric service cat for the next book?)

Learn more about the book and author at Rebecca Cantrell's website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

Writers Read: Rebecca Cantrell (July 2012).

--Marshal Zeringue

Gail Oust's "Rosemary and Crime"

The author of the Bunco Babes mystery series, Gail Oust is often accused of flunking retirement. Hearing the words "maybe it's a dead body" while golfing fired her imagination for writing a cozy. Ever since then, she has spent more time on a computer than at a golf course.

Here Oust dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Rosemary and Crime, the first of her Spice Shop mysteries:

I’ve confided to friends on occasion that if I had a do-over, I’d run off to Hollywood and be a casting director. For some strange reason, the thought of finding just the right person for the right role appeals to me. When I’m in the zone, I can see the scenes in my books playing out on a movie screen inside my head.

Now who would play the lead of Piper Prescott in my little who-dun-it?

In my own private Fantasy Land, I possess a time machine. I’d turn back the years just a bit and make a younger Reba McEntire my leading lady. Like Piper, she is red-haired, sassy, and, in spite of adverse circumstances, determined to make her mark on the world.

Her ex-husband, CJ, who dumped her in favor of chasing ambulances and a bimbo in a short-skirt, would be played by a fortyish Alec Baldwin. Alec possesses CJ’s good looks and charm, but can also portray a jerk when a script calls for it.

Jim Caviezel is a shoo-in for the part of Police Chief Wyatt McBride. Add a hint of Georgia to his baritone, and he’s good to go. Height, weight, age, and build, he’s perfect for the former Miami-Dade detective returned to his boyhood home for a quieter life. Sorry, but with Piper finding dead bodies, he’s in for a rude awakening.

The part of Melly Prescott, Piper’s former mother-in-law, goes to Mary Beth Peil. For those not familiar with the name, Ms. Pell ably plays Alicia Florrick’s mother-in-law in the CBS drama, The Good Wife. Mary Beth is a dead ringer for Melly. She can be bit of a meddler at times but is still likeable.

I still haven’t found the perfect actress to cast as Reba Mae Johnson, Piper’s best friend forever, but I’ll know her when I see her.

Learn more about the book and author at Gail Oust's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Billy G. Smith's "Ship of Death"

Billy G. Smith is Distinguished Professor of Letters and Science in the History Department of Montana State University, where he has won every major teaching and research award offered. He is the author or editor of eight books and dozens of articles.

Here Smith dreamcasts an adaptation of his latest book, Ship of Death: A Voyage That Changed the Atlantic World:

The Hankey, a relatively large oceangoing wooden vessel, with square sails on foremast, mainmast and mizzenmast at the back, became the Ship of Death when it spread yellow fever around the Atlantic world in 1793. A replica ship might have a leading role in the film as was portrayed in Master and Commander (2003).

I would cast Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) as Philip Beaver, the British naval officer and idealist who was one of the organizers of the short-lived attempt to found a West-African colony on land purchased from Africans and using hired rather than enslaved African labor. As conditions worsened at the colony, he took control of the venture and was the last person to abandon the colony. Cranston would be able to perform both aspects of Beaver’s personality, the visionary, self-righteous abolitionist and the ruthless, paranoid leader of a dwindling number of white and black workers.

Djimon Hounsou  (Amistad) would be cast as Jalorem, Bijago leader of Canabac Island, who both sold land to Beaver for the ill-fated colony and who held the British would-be settlers to behavior that would benefit local Africans. The role of Jalorem requires an actor to portray an extremely able warrior as well as a canny leader.

One of the few English women and men who survived the entire 1792-3 voyage of the Ship of Death was Elizabeth Rowe, widow of the physician who joined the colonizing venture. I’d cast  Robin Wright (House of Cards) for this role.

Learn more about Ship of Death at the Yale University Press website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Stephen V. Ash's "A Massacre in Memphis"

Stephen V. Ash is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Tennessee. He is the author of Firebrand of Liberty, A Year in the South, and other books on the Civil War era.

Here Ash dreamcasts an adaptation of his latest book, A Massacre in Memphis: The Race Riot That Shook the Nation One Year After the Civil War:

A lot of actors would no doubt welcome a movie version of A Massacre in Memphis, for it features a large cast of interesting characters---black and white, male and female, old and young---and many dramatic episodes and gripping action sequences.

The setting is interesting, too: a Southern city one year after the Civil War, crowded with black people reveling in their new-found freedom, former Rebels resentful of defeat and emancipation, Irish immigrants struggling to survive and be accepted in America, and Yankee newcomers endeavoring to assert federal authority, help the freed people, or just make a buck.

In May 1866, long-simmering racial tensions in Memphis boiled over, resulting in a three-day race riot in which white mobs rampaged through black neighborhoods, shooting, beating, robbing, raping, and burning. Forty-six black people were murdered and every black church and school in the city was destroyed, along with many black homes.

One of the victims was fourteen-year-old Rachel Hatcher, a talented student in one of the freed people’s schools who dreamed of becoming a teacher. During the last hours of the riot, as she was trying to rescue a neighbor from his burning house, a white man put a bullet through her head. Her mother found her body moments later, but was unable to retrieve it before flames consumed it. A good choice to portray Rachel might be Quvenzhané Wallis.

One of the most colorful characters in the book is the city’s affable, alcoholic, Irish-American mayor, John Park. Quite drunk throughout the riot, he made a great show of trying to stop the violence while secretly sympathizing with the rioters. I can see Denis O’Hare playing him to perfection.

The commander of the U.S. army garrison in the city, General George Stoneman, likewise failed to distinguish himself during the riot. Having attained fame during the war as a dashing Union cavalry officer, Stoneman found his postwar assignment in Memphis boring and wished he was somewhere else. When the riot broke out he declined to get involved; only grudgingly and after much bloodshed and destruction did he deploy his troops and restore order. Sam Elliott, who did a fine job portraying a Union cavalry general in the film Gettysburg, might be a good pick for this role.

One of the bloodthirstiest rioters was a city policeman named David Roach. (Policemen in fact made up a large portion of the rioters.) Armed with pistol, club, and matches, he roamed around the city throughout the riot, setting fires and savagely assaulting black people. Although he’s really too old for the role, I’d love to see Jack Nicholson in it, reprising the demonic visage we all remember from The Shining.

These are only a few of the many good parts available in A Massacre in Memphis, should the casting call ever go out.

Learn more about A Massacre in Memphis at the publisher's website.

The Page 99 Test: Firebrand of Liberty.

Writers Read: Stephen V. Ash.

The Page 99 Test: A Massacre in Memphis.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jordan Dane's "Crystal Fire"

Jordan Dane makes up stuff for a living. She hears voices in her head and considers that to be a good thing.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest YA novels, Indigo Awakening & Crystal Fire:

It’s always fun to imagine your book on the big screen. The Hunted series (Indigo Awakening & Crystal Fire) had me searching the Internet for faces to inspire me. Here are a few:

Gabriel Stewart – is eighteen and has a faint British accent. He’s tall and well-built, with long hair and intense eyes. He looks like a rocker and wears T-shirts from local rock bands in LA. Gabriel is the most powerful Crystal child. In Crystal Fire, he’ll face horrific moral challenges as the young rebel leader in charge of training teens to fight.

Actor Landon Liboiron has been an inspiration to me for a long time. I love this guy.

Rayne Darby – is a spunky, emancipated minor at seventeen. Her parents died and left her older sister Mia to deal with the family money, trust funds, and the aftermath of caring for their mentally troubled brother, Lucas. She and Lucas are very close. She rides a vintage Harley motorcycle and cares for her ‘roommate,’ her pet Iguana Floyd Zilla. In Crystal Fire, she will face her worst fears and not have psychic powers to help her.

Actor Nicola Peltz – I love the vulnerability in her eyes, yet I can see where she could show strength.

Lucas Darby is fifteen, tall and lanky, with long hair and beautiful gray eyes that match his sister Rayne’s. He’s an evolving Crystal child who has been stunted by his time locked up in a mental hospital. At his young age, he’s manifested his Crystal child abilities early and becomes a target for the Believers. Crystal children tend to be peace loving. He’s at odds with Kendra’s warrior nature. Once he sees how far the Believers go to destroy innocent lives, Lucas will be forced to take a stand he’s not prepared for.

Actor William Moseley is how I envisioned Lucas. He looks like the boy next door and could play the part of naïve Luke.

Kendra Walker is a modern day Joan of Arc at seventeen. She’s strong and rebellious, driven to protect the Indigos right to live. She connects with other indigos, draws them to her and tracks them, with a limited range. She’s a healer and uses herbs and her garden to not only feed her street family, but she also hears the voices of “the others” through her plants. Kendra believes Lucas is the next coming of Christ and would die to protect him. In Crystal Fire, she’ll face down her past to find a future worth living.

Actor Emma Watson is always amazing in anything she plays. The strength in her eyes, coupled with the compassion I imagine she has, became a big draw for me.

Rafael Santana is a street kid who communes with the dead and connects with the spirit world. After years of abuse at the hands of his father, when he left home after his old man nearly killed him, he’s lived on the streets of LA and learned harder lessons. Once he met Kendra, he found a new kind of home. At eighteen, he’s the heart and soul of Kendra’s Indigo family, but in Crystal Fire, Raphael has lost everything. Not even his beloved Kendra and her Indigo rebellion can get him to care about his own life.

Actor Diego Luna captured the defiance and vulnerability of Rafael. He looks believable as a street kid who’d die for those he loves, yet carry deep emotional scars.

Learn more about the book and author at Jordan Dane's website and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

John C. Wright's "The Hermetic Millennia"

John C. Wright is an attorney turned SF and fantasy writer. He has published short fiction in Asimov’s SF and elsewhere, and wrote the Chronicles of Chaos, The Golden Age, and The War of Dreaming series. His novel Orphans of Chaos was a finalist for the Nebula Award in 2005.

Here Wright dreamcasts an adaptation of his 2012 novel, The Hermetic Millennia:

Here below are my choices for the casting of the characters in The Hermetic Millennia. Unfortunately, the cast list is rather long, so we will not be able to match all the names to faces. I took the liberty of selecting actors and actresses regardless of their age, or whether they were still living and working. Hence my first choice is for Menelaus Montrose to be played by Raymond Massey. He is not as homely as I describe Montrose to be, but then again, few actors are.

Next is Ximen del Azarchel, the Master of the World, to be played by Roger Delgado, the Master. There are several other Hermeticists in the story, of course, but he overshadows them.

Rania should be played by Rania. I realize Her Highness Rania of Jordan is not an actress, but then again she has the correct look and poise.

Let us do the rest in chronological order, starting with Trey Soaring Azurine, the Sylph, played by Ksenia Solo from Canada's Lost Girl.

Ben Kingsley as Sir Guy the Hospitalier.

Mickey the Witch played by Fiazon Love from Elf.

Irene Ryan, by herself, can play the other Witches from his era.

Jet Li as Yuen, the younger Chimera Alpha.

The older Chimera, Daae, to be played by Clint Eastwood after his hair went gray.

Lady Invinia is particularly hard to cast, but I will go with Eva Green.

Oenoe the Nymph is again difficult to cast. I select Tiffany Tang, who appeared in Chinese Paladin 3, which is perhaps my favorite television series to date. I saw it when I was in China. I am not sure where it is available here in the West.

For the other nymphs, nearly any Bollywood actresses or Japanese Gravure idols will do.

The Hormagaunt Soorm will have to be played by a special effect. I recommend Liam Neeson as the voice actor, only because I adored him in Rob Roy, a movie which I think I am the only person who saw.

Mentor Ull can be played, with some heavy makeup and trick photography, by Leo McKern, the British actor.

The Preceptor Illiance can be played by veteran character actor Lionel Jeffries.

Visit John C. Wright's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue