Helen Benedict's "Sand Queen"

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Helen Benedict is the author of six novels and five books of nonfiction. Her latest novel, Sand Queen, set in the Iraq War, was published in August 2011 by Soho Press. Culled from real life stories of female soldiers and Iraqis, Sand Queen offers a story of love, courage and struggle from the rare perspective of two young women on opposite sides of a war.

Benedict's take on the challenge of casting an adaptation of Sand Queen:

When I write a novel, I think of readers more than movies, but that said, I do try to write as vividly as possible, so the reader can see the characters, the action and the setting. I’m not enough of a movie buff to know the names of specific actors, but I can say that Sand Queen would need four main young and brilliant talents: one to play a 19-year-old female soldier; one to play a 20-year-old Iraqi woman; one to play a male soldier of about the same age who is kind and in love; and one to play a sergeant in his 30s who is handsome but cruel. Suggestions welcome!

Learn more about Helen Benedict and her work at her official website.

Writers Read: Helen Benedict (July 2009).

--Marshal Zeringue