Perri O'Shaughnessy's "Keeper of the Keys"

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Perri O'Shaughnessy is the pen name for sisters Mary and Pamela O’Shaughnessy, authors of the bestselling Nina Reilly novels.

Here they develop some casting ideas for adaptations of their stand-alone thriller, Keeper of the Keys, and for the main characters in the Nina Reilly novels:

We have sold a few movie options over the years, although none of our books or short stories have ever made it the big screen. However, if we were ever to sell rights to a book that did, we would expect shocks to the concept and the characters. Maybe we would welcome them, since the artist/director/screenwriter should have an opportunity to re-conceive for a different medium.

So here we go with our own dream casting notions for our latest novel, Keeper of the Keys. Ray Jackson, the main character, a troubled architect would benefit from the dimples of Matthew McConaughey. Cute and accessible, we think this actor's got potential as a guy with dark secrets. His missing wife, Leigh, might take good advantage of the talents of Claire Danes. As an artistic furniture designer who has plenty of action scenes, she's also got plenty of drama happening, and Danes seems to be able to bring out the intelligence this character requires. Her pregnant sister Jackie could be Ginnifer Goodwin, the dark-haired sweetie and youngest polygamist wife on HBO's Big Love. For Ray's mom, last but not least, we'd be thrilled to see the Glenn Close of Dangerous Liaisons, complex and unpredictable.

Our next novel, Show No Fear, will come out in early December. It's a prequel to our Nina Reilly series, featuring our series character as a young woman in law school facing the crime that shaped everything she became.

When Nina first appeared, in 1995, we imagined Holly Hunter playing her and her detective/lover Paul van Wagoner played by Nick Nolte. Isn't it funny to think how as time passes, actors get gray just like real people? Midway through the series, we re-cast Nina with Ashley Judd. Now, restarting the series with a woman in her twenties, we're thinking perhaps Julia Stiles. She's got an adorable smashed up face. Put her in big, blowy dark hair and make her a bit more voluptuous, and you would have our character with all her glory, wit, and vulnerabilities intact. Her co-worker and later spouse, Jack, could be Ben Affleck, a man with some humor, attitude, and ideals. As for Paul, well, how about Daniel Craig or Clive Owen (with an American accent, of course)? He should be tall, blond, fearless and muscular without being Tom Cruise handsome. He's a guy that shows some hard knocks in his face.

Read an excerpt from Keeper of the Keys, and learn more about the authors and their work--and about Nina Reilly--at Perri O'Shaughnessy's website.

--Marshal Zeringue