Allison Leotta's "Law of Attraction"

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Allison Leotta is a federal sex-crimes prosecutor in Washington, D.C. She has been a federal prosecutor for ten years. Like the heroine in Law of Attraction, her debut legal thriller, Leotta started out in the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuting misdemeanor domestic violence cases. She now handles the most serious sex crimes in D.C. Leotta is a graduate of Michigan State University and Harvard Law School.

Here she shares some ideas for casting an adaptation of Law of Attraction:

This is a great exercise! Your blog spurred a very fun weekend for my mom and me, sitting down with stacks of Us and Star magazines and poring over glossy pictures of actors.

When I wrote my novel, Law of Attraction, I didn’t have actors in mind. I’m a sex-crimes prosecutor in D.C., so my story was inspired by details from real people I work with and real cases I’ve handled.

My protagonist, Anna Curtis, holds the same job I do, prosecuting sex crimes and domestic violence in D.C. She’s smart and sexy, but very young and naive. Have you seen the movie Juno? I like the actress Ellen Page from that film. She has a charming earnestness that would work for Anna. My mom likes Amanda Seyfried, Amy Adams or Rachel McAdams for the role.

At the beginning of Law of Attraction, Anna starts to fall in love with Nick Wagner, a charming but bad-boy public defender. They share an electric attraction, which Anna suppresses when they end up on opposite sides of a domestic-violence homicide case. Anna feels guilty about her role in the murder and her own dark past, and sees this case as her shot at redemption. Nick tries to win back Anna, while beating her in court. For Nick, I picture a cross between a young John Cusack and Jimmy Stewart, with a hint of James Franco to give him some edge. My mom votes for Jake Gyllenhaal.

Investigating the murder, Anna works with the Homicide Chief, a handsome but intimidating prosecutor named Jack Bailey. He’s in his mid-thirties, African-American, with a clean-shaven head and green eyes. Anna learns some valuable lessons from Jack – but they may be too late for the mess she lands herself in with Nick. For Jack, I’m thinking Idris Elba, the actor who played Stringer Bell on The Wire and who’s now on The Office. Or maybe the Old Spice guy – he’s pretty dreamy. My mom gives the nod to Denzel Washington.

Okay, now that’s we’ve nailed down our cast, I can’t wait to see Law of Attraction on the big screen!

Learn more about the book and author at Allison Leotta's website and blog.

Writers Read: Allison Leotta.

--Marshal Zeringue