Mariah Fredericks's "The Girl in the Park"

{[['']]}

Mariah Fredericks is the author of the bestselling novel The True Meaning of Cleavage, which Meg Cabot called "laugh-out-loud funny and way twisted!" She is also the author of Head Games, Crunch Time, and the In the Cards series.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Girl in the Park:

I'm a frustrated casting director. I love picking actors for roles in books or thinking about who should play what historical figure. (Why has no one cast Tommy Lee Jones as LBJ—why, why?) I don't generally imagine real actors playing the parts in my books. But once I started researching, it was huge fun to think about what certain performers would bring to the roles. If I'm going for box office, Robert Pattinson could make a terrific Nico, as he is so skilled at playing attractive but deadly. And actually, Kristen Stewart could play Rain. Not only is she a great actress, she has a shyness and discomfort with public speaking that make her right for the part. I'd also love to see Mia Wasikowska play Rain, she does smart and awkward so well. Or Saoirse Ronan, who was knockout in Hanna and The Lovely Bones.

Mark Salling is another thought for Nico. He's got the bad boy thing down. Blake Lively could play regal, intimidating Sasha in her sleep; I'd love to see Yaya DaCosta in the part. She did play a bona fide adult in The Kids Are All Right, but I still think she'd be great as that lofty, superior girl whose friendship and approval you yearned for at school. When I thought of Wendy, my mind went immediately to Amanda Seyfried. She doesn't physically match the description of Wendy. But her drifty blond locks and huge eyes evoke both likability and the capacity to make really bad decisions. She would be vivid enough for a character who appears only in flashbacks. You would care who killed Amanda Seyfried.

Learn more about the book and author at Mariah Fredericks's website.

--Marshal Zeringue