Diane Janes's "Why Didn't You Come for Me?"

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Diane Janes is a full time author, who lives and writes in the English Lake District. Prior to be accepted for publication she was shortlisted twice for the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger and her first novel The Pull of the Moon was a finalist for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger in 2010.

Here she shares some ideas for casting a big screen adaptation of her latest novel, Why Didn't You Come for Me?:

Why Didn’t You Come For Me? is set mainly in the English Lake District which contains some of Britain’s most beautiful scenery (remember Miss Potter?) so in theory it should be a movie maker’s dream. Other scenes include a real life castle in Scotland and a west country seaside village. All these locations are well off the beaten track, thereby avoiding problems with crowds and extraneous noise – just in case any movie maker out there happens to be thinking about picking up the option…

An ideal cast? Ralph Fiennes would make a good Marcus, I think and Aidan Turner would do a good cameo as Jo’s first husband Dominic. (Aidan Turner would also do a fantastic job with Danny, one of the leading characters in my first novel The Pull of the Moon.)

For Jo, we would need someone still beautiful, but past the first flush of youth – I hate the way women looking far too young, too glamorous and with never a hair out of place are cast in leading roles which require an older, more careworn face. Aside from these reservations, I don’t have a particular actress in mind – let it just be someone who is capable of conveying the full emotional range required by the part – and not Renée Zellweger – who does a good English accent, but is too robust to play Jo.

Supporting roles? Although she looks nothing like Maisie Perry as I envisage her, Alison Steadman is such a great actress that she would do a superb job with Maisie Perry. The same applies to Philip Glenister and the part of Brian, the artist and gallery owner. Sean would need to be played by an up and coming teenage actor, still in drama school, who would obviously go on to win some kind of Most Promising Newcomer award before conquering Hollywood – his presence alone ensuring that the film attained ‘classic’ status….

Learn more about the book and author at Diane Janes's website.

The Page 69 Test: Why Didn't You Come for Me?.

--Marshal Zeringue