Minerva Koenig's "Nine Days"

Minerva Koenig is a licensed architect running her own one-woman practice. When not architecting or writing, she likes to sew, read, play chess, do yoga, dance, wrangle cats, and fight the patriarchy. Koenig lives in Austin, Texas.

The publisher's description of her new novel, Nine Days, begins:

She's short, round, and pushing forty, but Julia Kalas is a damned good criminal. For 17 years she renovated historic California buildings as a laundry front for her husband's illegal arms business. Then the Aryan Brotherhood made her a widow, and witness protection shipped her off to the tiny town of Azula, Texas....[read on]

Here Koenig dreamcasts an adaptation of the novel:

I didn't really plan it this way, but when I've thought about actors who could play my characters, the best fits always seem to be the lesser-known and local. This pleases me no end. I'm a sucker for the undiscovered underdogs of the world, having been one myself for so long.

When I learned that I would be doing readings in front of large groups of people -- something that scares the bejesus out of me -- I considered hiring someone to read in character as Julia Kalas (my protagonist). That's how I found local Austin actor Cyndi Williams, whom I think would do really interesting things with the role.

The other day someone mentioned Camryn Manheim in a totally unrelated conversation, and I immediately knew she's who'd I'd cast as Teresa Hallstedt. She's got it all: the height, the size, the gravitas.

Hector Guerra, in my imagination, has always looked like a beefier Rob Trujillo (bass player for Metallica). I doubt Rob would consider changing careers and putting on a couple of pounds, and who knows if he can act, so for Hector I'd go with Vincent McClean. He'd have to rough up a bit for it, but I've seen him do it and know that he can.

John Maines would be played by Ed Hattaway. This is partly nepotism -- I've known Ed since I was in my 20s and love him like a brother -- but he's also a hell of an actor. He'd knock it out of the park.

Visit Minerva Koenig's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Catherine Gildiner's "Coming Ashore"

Catherine Gildiner’s childhood memoir Too Close to the Falls (1999) was a New York Times bestseller and on the Globe and Mail’s bestseller list for over a year. In 2010, she published a sequel, After the Falls, also a bestseller.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of Coming Ashore, her latest memoir:

My new book, Coming Ashore, is not a movie yet. It is the 3rd in my memoir series. The book takes place in three different places. The first third takes place in Oxford, England. It is about the American out of place in British culture. Because I am a vintage movie fan I often think of old stars and directors. However, since this is fantasy I will feel free to jump back and forth in time. First of all I will tackle the English third. The main character, who is me, will be played by Goldie Hawn when she was 21. She has remarkable comic timing. The male romantic lead would be played by Jude Law. I need someone who can be warm but then switch to ice cold. The second third of the book takes place while Cleveland Burns in 1968 and I am a teacher in the burning ghetto who is escorted to class by the police. Almost everyone in this section is black and I would borrow many of the great actors from the TV show The Wire. I would need teenagers and those kids would be perfect. I would also include Idris Elba as a 16 year old. The last third is about coming to Canada during the time of the FLQ ( Quebec uprising) and meeting the love of my life. I would have that love be Adrien Brody. I need a Jewish character actor and he fits the bill as a character actor who is handsome in his own way but not in that boring 'leading man' kind of way. I would have Jane Campion direct because I think she can do period pieces and after all this is 50 years ago and I think she captures the female voice.

Visit Catherine Gildiner's website and blog.

The Page 99 Test: After the Falls.

Writers Read: Catherine Gildiner (December 2010).

--Marshal Zeringue

Jana Bommersbach's "Cattle Kate"

Jana Bommersbach is an acclaimed and respected journalist whose work has encompassed every facet of the profession: she's been a reporter and editor for both weekly and daily newspapers; she's written books and is a major contributor to an anthology; she's written columns and investigative stories for magazines; she's appeared on television with both political commentaries and investigative stories.

Here Bommersbach dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Cattle Kate:

If my historical novel, Cattle Kate, became a movie, I'd hope that Jodie Foster would be the producer, because I think she'd love Ella Watson, the real woman behind this notorious western legend.

I wish it were filmed in Wyoming, where this real story occurred, because I like to see Hollywood spread its money out among the rest of us.

For the really bad guy, A.J. Bothwell, I'd cast Powers Boothe, an actor I'm secretly in love with. (OK, not so much a secret.) But love his work and his "man's man persona" and although he's older than Bothwell was, he's got the kind of grit that would bring that evil man to life!

For Ella's husband, James Averell, I'd cast Matthew McConaughey, because I think this actor could play almost anyone and make you believe it.

And for Ella, I'm torn. Not every actress could play the only woman ever lynched in the nation was a cattle rustler. Not everyone could capture the real female homesteader whose identity was buried to create the phony legend of Cattle Kate.

If this were a few years back, I'd have said Glenn Close, but the 29 year-old Ella needs a younger actress-but a mature one, because 29 back in 1889 could be as much as 40 today. Perhaps Charlize Theron, who can mask her beauty for any role. Or a Jennifer Lawrence-type.

Whoever played the parts, I would hope that they were true to the real people who lived these incredible lives and left their mark on western history!

Visit Jana Bommersbach's website.

Writers Read: Jana Bommersbach.

The Page 69 Test: Cattle Kate.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tina Connolly's "Silverblind"

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 Silverblind, the latest book in the historical fantasy series that began with the Nebula finalist Ironskin:

I said when I did this for Copperhead that it was challenging, but I dunno, I'm starting to get into it!

For Dorie, the shapeshifting Indiana Jones-type who spends much of the book transformed into a boy – My mind jumped immediately to Imogen Stubbs in the delightful 1996 production of Twelfth Night. I loved her as Viola. Now Dorie is not just cross-dressing, she is actually shapeshifting. So I could cast two actors. But I would hate to take half the role away from my female lead, and I think it would be more compelling to see the same actor play both parts. I'm going to go with Mia Wasikowska. She has the fey look of Dorie, and I think she could pull off the boy half—and of course, I think she's quite talented.

Tam, the young adventurer with a dark past. I first thought that Chris Evans might be interesting in this role—I’ve really been enjoying his work lately. But he would be too old for Tam, and he's apparently planning to retire from acting. So then I thought of Sam Claflin and now I’m sold on him. He was so interesting as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games, and I think he'd bring a good mix of brains + brawn to the part.

Jack, Dorie's best friend, a single-minded, driven artist – I’d love to see Nicole Beharie from Sleepy Hollow in the role. I admit I’d imagined Jack as tall (contrasting with slight Dorie and tiny Stella), but I think Beharie would really bring on the obsession.

Stella, a half-dwarvven friend – she's exceptionally hard-working and not fussy or precious, but can also transform to a glamour girl at the drop of a hat. Melissa Rauch from The Big Bang Theory would be pretty spot on.

Jane & Helen - I cast these two in Copperhead as Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan, respectively. Now that they're 18 years older, I get to recast them! Well, I’ve been busy with book deadlines and a baby all year, but we did just binge watch Sherlock, so I’m going to pluck Amanda Abbington (who has been so awesome this season as Mary Morstan) for Helen and Lara Pulver (who was fantastic as Irene Adler) for Jane. (No, Jane is no dominatrix, but she is smart, feminist, and long past caring whether people like her, and I think Pulver would be excellent at all those things.)

Visit Tina Connolly's website, blog, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: Copperhead.

The Page 69 Test: Copperhead.

Writers Read: Tina Connolly.

The Page 69 Test: Silverblind.

--Marshal Zeringue

Yona Zeldis McDonough's "You Were Meant for Me"

Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of the novels Two of a Kind, A Wedding in Great Neck, Breaking the Bank, In Dahlia's Wake, and The Four Temperaments, as well as many books for children.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, You Were Meant For Me:

Writers always think about who might play the leads in the movie version of their books; it’s a fun game we play, and we often discuss it at great length. If You Were Meant for Me were to be made into a movie, I’d love to see Anne Hathaway in the lead role as Miranda Berenzweig. There is something both vibrant and yet deeply sensitive about Hathaway and she has a great range of emotion. For Evan Zuckerbrot, I am imagining Adam Driver, both because like Evan, he is very tall, and also because he is not just another pretty face. Morris Chestnut has the smoldering good looks that would make him a great candidate to play Jared Masters. But I did not think of any of these actors before or while I was writing; that kind of speculation only came later.

Learn more about the author and her work at Yona Zeldis McDonough's website.

The Page 69 Test: You Were Meant For Me.

Writers Read: Yona Zeldis McDonough.

--Marshal Zeringue

James Ryan Daley's "Jesus Jackson"

James Ryan Daley is a writer, editor, and digital designer. After majoring in English at a strange and wonderful school called Prescott College in northern Arizona, Daley went on the earn his MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2004. Over the years that followed, he worked as an Acquisitions Editor for Dover Publications and an English Teacher at a small Catholic high school (and no, the irony of the latter is not lost on him), before beginning his freelance career in the spring of 2008. Now, he spends most of his time writing fiction for teenagers, creating websites about video games, teaching writing to college students, and editing anthologies of speeches and short stories.

Here Daley dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, Jesus Jackson:

Well first of all, like a lot of authors, I’ve probably spent a thousand hours daydreaming about my work becoming a movie. Red carpet premieres, selfies with celebrities, the terrible, movie-based covers that sell millions of books: I’ve fantasized about it all. So obviously, I got quite excited by the idea of dreaming up a cast for Jesus Jackson.

The only problem, I realized, is that Jesus Jackson is almost entirely populated by teenagers… and all of the “teenaged” actors I thought of would now be better suited to play my characters’ parents (thus dashing my dreams of Molly Ringwald as the cute sophomore…). Luckily, I have a 14 year-old daughter, who (though she had never even heard of Judd Nelson) proved competent at assisting her teen-idol-ignorant father with the particulars of young Hollywood.

So, with a big shout out to Antonia for her help, here we go:

Jesus Jackson: Russell Brand

Although Jesus Jackson may resemble his biblical namesake, his character is a far cry from anyone’s idea of a savior. Somewhere between a new age guru and a car salesman (with a little rockstar thrown into the mix), Jesus Jackson acts as the protagonist’s philosophical sounding board, confidant, and friend. This was easy. I’ve been picturing Russell Brand as Jesus Jackson since I first started writing the book.

Jonathan: Asa Butterfield

Jonathan, the protagonist and narrator, is a smart, sarcastic, 14 year-old atheist, who finds himself investigating his brother’s death at a Catholic high school. The character is a complex one, struggling with grief, family, religion, and romance—all while trying to unravel a mystery that nobody believes in. It would take a certain type of actor to pull him off, but anyone who can play both Ender Wiggin and Mordred would certainly do him justice.

Cassie: Maisie Williams.

Cassie is the quirky, cute, agnostic sophomore who becomes Jonathan’s love-interest, and happens to be the prime suspect’s little sister. In many ways, Cassie is the linchpin of the story, as Jonathan must choose between being honest with her and finding the truth that he seeks. The character is a long way from Arya Stark, but Maisie Williams is so damned cool, I’m pretty sure she could do anything.

Henry: Noah Ringer

Henry is Jonathan’s one and only friend. A fellow non-believer, Henry is a science-minded fan of detective novels who must overcome his social awkwardness (and debilitating fear of girls) to help his friend solve the mystery. Noah Ringer (from The Last Airbender) would be great.

Ryan: Logan Lerman

Technically, Ryan dies at the beginning of the book, but he appears frequently in flashbacks, so it’s certainly worth casting him. More than just Jonathan’s brother, Ryan is his idol, mentor, and the person who first helps him to question his religion. Logan Lerman (from The Perks of Being a Wallflower) has the perfect mix of brainy-charm and hero-cool to nail the part.

Tristan: Dakota Fanning

Tristan is the pretty, popular cheerleader who was Ryan’s girlfriend before he died, and winds up helping out Jonathan with his investigation. She’s probably the character who most outwardly displays her grief, though she seems to have a secret hidden beneath all those tears. Obviously, an actress as talented as Dakota Fanning’s could pull this off magnificently.

Alistair: Alexander Ludwig

Alistair is a brutish jock who becomes the prime suspect in Ryan’s death (and is not too happy about Jonathan dating his sister). He’s the kind of guy who leads the class in prayer and then later threatens to beat you up for your lunch money. Alexander Ludwig played Cato in The Hunger Games. So, you know: perfect.

Visit James Ryan Daley's website.

The Page 69 Test: Jesus Jackson.

--Marshal Zeringue

Barry Lyga's "Blood of My Blood"

Barry Lyga has written — and published! — 14 books in 9 years, as well as three others that aren’t published yet. He would like to take a nap.

Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of his I Hunt Killers series:

My series I Hunt Killers (the final book of which, Blood of My Blood, just came out and why are you wasting time reading this blog — go buy it!) probably won’t be a movie…but it might be a TV show. The fine folks at WBTV snapped it up a few years ago, so there’s a chance my characters might be coming to a small screen near you.

Since word broke of WB’s interest, I’ve been asked repeatedly: Who do you see playing Jazz? And Connie? And Howie? And G. William? And the guy at the coffee shop eating a cruller?

The sad, sad answer is this: Beats me.

I guess I missed the day in Author School when they taught us how to answer these questions because I don’t have the slightest idea who should play anyone in my series. Honestly.

Well, not honestly. There’s one exception.

Billy Dent.

For those of you who haven’t read the series, Billy is the ur-evil, the antagonist from hell. He’s one of the world’s most notorious serial killers, having murdered 123 people in horrible fashion. He’s sort of like a mash-up of Lex Luthor and Ted Bundy — utterly brilliant, completely sociopathic, and charming in that aw-shucks, hey-darlin’ redneck way.

He’s evil incarnate and so he should totally be played by…Brian Van Holt.

That’s right — the good ol’ boy Bobby Cobb from Cougar Town. Kindly and more than a little bit dim. Friendly, lopsided grin, and so on. Guileless eyes.

And I don’t say this because I think Van Holt has the range to switch things up and play Billy cold-blooded. Oh, hell, no! I want him to play Billy exactly like Bobby Cobb, right down to the lazy smile and corn-pone accent.

Because serial killers aren’t like on TV and in the movies. They don’t stride the world wrapped in a fog of menace and threat. In real life, they seem just like us. They blend in. Think about it: Whenever the news breaks in to tell you police have caught some guy who had fourteen girls buried in his basement, what do the neighbors always say?

“I never suspected.” “He was such a nice guy.” “He seemed so normal.”

Bingo. Just like Bobby Cobb.

So, Hollywood can cast whoever it wants in the other roles, but for Billy Dent, please give me everyone’s favorite dimwit, the nicest guy on the block, the last guy in the world you’d ever suspect of murdering 123 people.

‘Cause that’s the one who’ll get getcha in the end.

Visit Barry Lyga's website.

The Page 69 Test: Blood of My Blood.

--Marshal Zeringue

Maggie Anton's "Enchantress"

Maggie Anton is the award-winning author of historical fiction series "Rashi's Daughters" and "Rav Hisda's Daughter." She is a Talmud scholar, with expertise in Jewish women's history.

Here Anton dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, Enchantress:

While writing my Rashi’s Daughters trilogy, I had some specific actors in mind – Katherine Hepburn for Joheved, Fred Astaire for her husband Meir, Olivia de Havilland for Miriam, Timothy Dalton as her husband Judah, and Elizabeth Taylor for Rachel. When I told my daughter, then in her twenties, about my choices, she protested that they were all dead, to which I replied that my characters, who lived in 11th-century France, had been dead even longer.

However for Enchantress, and its prequel Apprentice, I wrote without any preconceived actors in mind. It was only when the novels were done that I started to imagine who might play them in a modern movie. This time I limited myself to living actors, with their being Jewish a bonus. The tricky part was that the story takes place over a 60-year time period in 4th-century Babylonia, so I allowed myself to consider older actors, knowing how they’d looked in their youth.

I had created my heroine, Dodi, as the model for a mosaic portrait known as the “Mona Lisa of the Galilee,” so the actress would need to bear a decent likeness to this. She also would need to play a woman who was not only intelligent and passionate, but a talented sorceress. My choice: Natalie Portman.

For Dodi’s first husband, I needed a sweet, somewhat shy man with a fabulous smile. Noah Wyle fit that bill. I considered Jake Gyllenhaal, having seen him in Prince of Persia, but Noah had the better smile.

Dodi’s second husband, Rava, was trickier. Not particularly handsome, he was rather small and skinny. He was also brilliant, arrogant, charismatic, intense, and so serious that he almost never smiled. Plus a powerful sorcerer. My daughter suggested Jude Law, but he seemed too nice. I concluded that if I ignored his pirate movies, Johnny Depp was the man.

Last but not least, Mandy Patinkin for Rav Hisda: a teacher who was patient, kind and never sarcastic or mean to his students. And Susan Saradon for Haviva, Rav Hisda’s wife: a woman both sensual and possessing a quiet power.

Visit Maggie Anton's website and blog.

Writers Read: Maggie Anton (December 2009).

--Marshal Zeringue

Elena Mauli Shapiro's "In the Red"

Elena Mauli Shapiro was born in Paris, France, and moved to the United States at the age of 13. She has amassed several degrees in literature and writing around the San Francisco Bay Area (Stanford University, Mills College, UC Davis), where she still lives with one scientist husband and two elderly half-Siamese cats who spend all day following sunbeams around the house. Her novel, 13 rue Thérèse, was released by Little, Brown in February 2011.

Here Shapiro dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, In the Red:

Irina, the protagonist of In the Red, is a young Romanian orphan adoptee raised by American parents. She is complex, vulnerable, and more than a touch amoral. When asked who should play her in a movie, I tried to think of an actress who had her porcelain complexion, her dark hair, and who could convey a fragile person with an undercurrent of danger. The woman I came up with was Winona Ryder, twenty five years ago. I know, I know, I am clearly not up on modern Hollywood!

For her lover Andrei, a half-Gypsy Romanian who happens to be a career criminal, I would need a tawny, good-looking man in his mid-thirties with a fit but delicate appearance. Dark-eyed and definitely dangerous, with something jaggedly broken at his center. The man I came up with was Antonio Banderas, twenty years ago.

Can I think of anyone famous who could play anyone in my book at his current age? Yes, I think Vladimir Putin would be perfect to play Vasilii, the quiet yet powerful evil Russian. He is the right age and even has the right hair color! Heck, if movie stars can be politicians, I don’t see why politicians can’t be movie stars.

Scorsese would direct.

Visit Elena Mauli Shapiro's website.

The Page 69 Test: In the Red.

--Marshal Zeringue

Stephanie Feldman's "The Angel of Losses"

Stephanie Feldman studied writing at the University of Pennsylvania and Barnard College. NPR calls her first novel, The Angel of Losses, "a breathtakingly accomplished debut" and The Washington Post describes it as "a journey of fantastic tales, stormy family ties and a tragic discovery of redemption that will break your heart." Barnes & Noble has named the book a Discover Great New Writers selection for fall 2014. Feldman lives outside Philadelphia with her family and is at work on a new novel.

Here Feldman dreamcasts an adaptation of The Angel of Losses:

I’ve always thought casting sounds like fun job, and what’s more fun than casting your own story? Or, more difficult? It’s tougher than I expected to put aside my mental images of the characters in The Angel of Losses. None of these actors look like the people I imagined as I wrote, but they’re all great, and could do the story justice.

My narrator, Marjorie, is a young graduate student writing a dissertation about a 200-year-old ghost story. She's a workaholic and a loner, but she's also fiercely protective of the people she loves. At the beginning of the story, however, Marjorie’s estranged from her younger sister Holly, who has converted to Orthodox Judaism and married a man her family despises. Holly was once the cheerful, easy-going one, but Holly’s no longer so flexible and forgiving.

They don’t look alike, but I can imagine Anna Kendrick and Tatiana Maslany as the sisters. My first instinct is Tatiana Maslany as Marjorie—she could capture her nuances and strength, and communicate the turbulent feelings that Marjorie’s unable to express in words. On top of that, she has the hair. But then I thought of how Anna Kendrick can throw a great nasty look, and also convey the sweetness that belies Marjorie’s harsher tendencies. I think about Marjorie first only because she’s the narrator. I can see both actresses as Holly, as well.

Then there's Holly's husband, Nathan, a prickly devotee of a mystical sect dedicated to angel-magic. I'm going to give this part to Ben Feldman (no relation), who plays Ginsberg on Mad Men. He doesn't look the way I pictured Nathan, but he can portray an intensity that goes to the edge of sanity. He would also bring some charm and warmth to a challenging man.

One last actor: Early in the story, Marjorie finds that she’s being followed by a mysterious old man who claims to have known her grandfather Eli. The first actor who comes to mind is Ian Holm, mostly because of that one moment in The Fellowship of the Ring when he—as Bilbo Baggins—sees the ring, and transforms from innocent to monstrous and back again in an instant.

Visit Stephanie Feldman's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Angel of Losses made Nicole Hill's list of five of the best new girl-powered sci-fi and fantasy novels.

The Page 69 Test: The Angel of Losses.

Writers Read: Stephanie Feldman.

--Marshal Zeringue