Trish J. MacGregor's "Esperanza"

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Trish J. MacGregor was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She has always been interested in the hidden, the mysterious, the unseen, and in her latest novel, Esperanza, was able to combine this interest with her love of Ecuador.

Here is MacGregor's take on the cast and director for the picture should Esperanza be adapted for the big screen:

What a cool thing to write about! Good visualization, too.

Okay, since Ian Ritter looks like George Clooney, he’s the ideal for that role. For Tess Livingston, an FBI agent whose near-death experience turns her life inside out, Scarlett Johansson is my pick. Dominica, the bruja whose tribe in Esperanza now numbers 60,000, the largest anywhere in the world – I think Alice Braga, from I Am Legend and City of God, would be close to perfect. But hey, if she’s busy, Penélope Cruz would be great and then her hubby, Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) could play Dominica’s brujo lover, Ben.

For the shape shifter, dog/human – Nomad/Wayra – Johnny Depp, please. For Charlie, Tess’s dead father, now a light chaser (the good guys), Richard Gere. Then there’s Tess’s mother, a former hippie, psychiatric ER nurse, now 63, cool lady: Susan Sarandon. For Tess’s niece, 19-year-old computer geek, Maddie, well, I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask my daughter, who is Maddie’s age!

Director? I don’t know. This book touches on questions about life after death. Clint Eastwood is doing Hereafter, so he probably wouldn’t be interested something that’s so close in theme. Vincent Ward, who directed What Dreams May Come, based on Richard Matheson’s wonderful book, would be my next choice.

Of course, the movie would end up costing what has been spent on the war in Iraq, so… It’s fun to dream, though.

Visit Trish J. MacGregor's website and blog.

Writers Read: Trish J. MacGregor.

The Page 69 Test: Esperanza.

--Marshal Zeringue