Gary Corby's "The Pericles Commission"

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Gary Corby is a first time novelist, former systems programmer at Microsoft, and lives in Australia with his wife and two daughters.

His new book is The Pericles Commission.

Here he sketches out some ideas about the talent who might bring the novel to life in a cinematic adaptation:

My debut novel is The Pericles Commission, a murder mystery set in Classical Athens. Nicolaos, the ambitious son of a minor sculptor, walks the mean streets of Classical Athens as an agent for the promising young politician Pericles. Murder and mayhem don't faze Nico; what's really on his mind is how to get closer (much closer) to Diotima, the intelligent and annoyingly virgin priestess of Artemis, and how to shake off his irritating 12 year old brother Socrates.

The chances of anyone turning an ancient murder mystery into a movie is so low, I can say anything I like without looking foolish...oh, hang on, what about Julius Caesar, by that genre writer...what's his name...oh yeah, Bill Shakespeare. All right, maybe it can happen if you're a literary genius.

I'm at a disadvantage here, because I know pretty much nada about modern movies. I rarely watch them! So this'll be patchy, but here goes...

For my hero Nicolaos, I'll have Thespis, who was an actor back in ancient Greece. Yes, this is the guy from whom we get the word thespian. It seems only fair Thespis should have top billing.

For my heroine Diotima, I'll have Rachel Weisz, because she did a great job in The Mummy.

For Pericles, I'll have Hugh Jackman, because we went to the same high school. He was about 5 years below me, I think, and I can't for the life of me remember him, though one his brothers Ian was in my year. Also, Jackman is on record as having said he'd like to play Socrates some time. My Socrates is 12 years old, so Jackman will have to make do with being a political rather than philosophic genius. Which brings me to...

Socrates will be played by Sophocles. Yes, that's Sophocles the famous tragic playwright. Sophocles played in the chorus when he was a boy, so we know he can act, and the real Sophocles and the real Socrates were drinking buddies. Sophocles would be perfect for the part, if only we had a time machine.

For Pythax, the brutally tough chief of the city guard, I'll have Russell Crowe. Pythax should be played like the ancient equivalent of a hardened New York police captain.

And for Director, I'll have Peter Cornwell, who recently directed The Haunting in Connecticut. Peter, his elder brother and my good friend Richard, and I and a few others spent many happy hours at their house playing D&D when we were kids.

Read more about The Pericles Commission at the publisher's website.

Visit Gary Corby's blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Pericles Commission.

Writers Read: Gary Corby.

--Marshal Zeringue