Sharon Potts' "In Their Blood"

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Sharon Potts is a former business executive, entrepreneur, CPA, and soccer mom. She is a former officer of Mystery Writers of America and served as co-chair of SleuthFest, its annual writers conference. In Their Blood is her debut novel.

Publishers Weekly called In Their Blood a “red-hot suspense novel” and gave it a starred review.

New York Times best-selling author Michael Connelly said, “In Their Blood starts with a bang and never lets up. This is thriller writing the way it is supposed to be.”

Here is Potts’ unusual take on the casting an adaptation of In Their Blood:

An Interview with Alfred Hitchcock

I: Mr. Hitchcock, welcome. I understand you have agreed to produce and direct In Their Blood, based on the novel by the same name by Sharon Potts. After your long absence from the movie industry, what made you decide to return, and why did you choose In Their Blood for your long awaited reprise?

AH: Good evening. It feels like decades since a psychological suspense thriller has come to my attention, knocking on heaven’s gate, so to speak. I was intrigued by In Their Blood because it captured so many elements that I consider hallmarks of my own work—a seemingly ordinary family that, without warning, is swept into a nightmare, the psychological battle between perception and reality, and a relentless sense of impending doom.

I: Can you give us a thumbnail sketch of the plot?

AH: Certainly. Set in steamy, seductive, scam-ridden Miami, In Their Blood is the story of a brother and sister who are determined to find their parents’ murderer. In the process, they discover their mother and father are not the people they had believed them to be.

I: I realize that the parents don’t actually have a lot of screen time, but Rachel and D.C. Stroeb represent an important presence throughout the story. Who are you considering for their roles?

AH: Coming as I do from a place that knows no boundaries, I have the luxury of working with actors who transcend the inconvenience of the here and now. For the ill-fated Rachel and D.C. Stroeb, I am considering James Stewart and Grace Kelly. Jimmy has the boyish, all-American bearing of Professor Stroeb. I believe with direction, Jimmy can show a bit of the self-centered arrogance that made D.C. a possible murder target. And the lovely, cool Grace Kelly should do well with the Rachel character, a successful, respected CPA-firm partner who appears incapable of compromise.

I: And have you cast the young protagonist, Jeremy Stroeb, and his kid sister Elise?

AH: Jeremy is a restless, irresponsible twenty-two year old, who’s dropped out of college to backpack around Europe. He’s forced to grow up fast when he assumes guardianship for his sister and makes the decision to find his parents’ murderer. I’ve come under pressure to consider Shia LaBeouf or Zac Efron, but I’m afraid I’m leaning toward Leonardo DiCaprio from around the time of his role in Titanic. And for sixteen-year old Elise, so fragile and yet determined—it will have to be the young Elizabeth Taylor as she appeared in Little Women.

I: Jeremy has liaisons with two young women, each claiming she can help him find his parents’ murderer.

AH: Ahhh, yes. Professor Stroeb’s sensuous French-Peruvian graduate assistant, Marina, must be played by Penélope Cruz. And Alexis Bledel is under consideration for the smart, analytical Robbie Ivy.

I: What’s next for you, Mr. Hitchcock?

AH: I have acquired the rights to the sequel to In Their Blood, yet another psychological thriller. Author Potts returns to the dark glitter of South Beach, a city filled with angels and devils. Coming from where I am, that should be far easier for me to cast.

Read the prologue to In Their Blood, and learn more about the book and author at Sharon Potts' website.

--Marshal Zeringue