Emily St. John Mandel's "The Singer’s Gun"

Emily St. John Mandel's new novel The Singer’s Gun concerns a man named Anton Waker, who’s trying to lead a more honorable life. Everyone he grew up with is corrupt—his parents are dealers in stolen goods, and his first career was a partnership venture with his cousin Aria, selling social security cards and forged passports to illegal aliens in New York.As the novel opens, the tenuous life he’s built for himself in the legitimate world is beginning to come undone. The process begins on the day his secretary Elena disappears. Elena is Canadian by birth, but has lived and worked in the United S

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Ilie Ruby's "The Language of Trees"

Ilie Ruby won the Phi Kappa Phi Award for Fiction, the Eden L. Moses Award, a Kerr Foundation Fiction Scholarship, the Wesleyan Writer’s Conference Scholarship in NonFiction, and the Barbara Kemp Award for Outstanding Teaching and Scholarship. She has published poems and short stories in literary and online magazines, and is the former fiction editor of The Southern California Anthology. A graduate of the Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California, she has worked on PBS documentaries in Honduras, as well as taught elementary school in Los Angeles.Here is the

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Jeremy Robinson's "Instinct"

Jeremy Robinson is a bestselling novelist whose books include The Didymus Contingency, Raising the Past, and Antarktos Rising.Here is his take on casting adaptations of his first two Chess Team novels, which have been praised by Stephen Coonts, David Lynn Golemon, and Thomas Greanias:Pulse and Instinct are both part of the Chess Team series which would make a blockbuster movie franchise similar to G.I. Joe meets Clash of the Titans — lots of action, guns, cool tech and mythical monsters. Here’s who I would cast to play the six man Chess Team:King: Hugh Jackman —I’ve always had Jackman in min

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Grace Coopersmith’s "Nancy’s Theory of Style"

Grace Coopersmith is a San Francisco Bay Area native and still lives there. She went to Stanford, where she studied creative writing, literature, and theatre.Here she shares some insights about casting an adaptation of her new novel, Nancy’s Theory of Style:Some characters come to me whole: I can see them in my mind, hear their voices, and know exactly what they’d say and do. Nancy Carrington-Chambers is one of those characters. She’s the girl you love to hate: she’s richer than you, went to better schools than you, and is invited to swankier parties and clubs than you. As a friend, she’s

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Jennifer Stevenson's "The Brass Bed"

Jennifer Stevenson's Brass Bed series includes The Brass Bed (2008), The Velvet Chair (2008), and The Bearskin Rug (2008). Two more books are being written—The Genie Lamp and Welcome to Hel—both planned for release from bookviewcafe.com in 2010.Here she lays out some casting ideas should the novels be adapted for the movies:The Brass Bed was by far my most “constructed” book, as were the sequels. I knew it would be a series from the git-go, and I knew I wanted known faces and voices to help me solidify the characters as quickly as possible.I picked Drew Barrymore for Jewel Heiss—yes, I kn

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Bill Crider & Clyde Wilson's "Mississippi Vivian"

Bill Crider is the author of more than fifty novels, including the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. He is the winner of the Anthony Award and has been nominated for both the Shamus and Edgar Awards. Clyde Wilson was a legendary Texas private eye. He worked with the famous and the infamous. One of his cases was the basis for two true-crime books and a made-for-TV movie. He died in October 2008.Here Crider shares his thinking on the cast for an adaptation of their recently released novel, Mississippi Vivian:Mississippi Vivian is set in 1970, and if the movie could be made in that year, there’s no dou

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Sarah Quigley's "TMI"

Sarah Quigley is the author of TMI, her first YA novel.Here she shares her casting preferences for a big screen adaptation of the novel:Most of these actors are much older than the characters in my book, but Stockard Channing played Rizzo in Grease when she was 33. If Paramount Pictures can take that much chronological liberty, so can I.Becca: Jena Malone (Mary from Saved! and Lydia from Pride & Prejudice)Katie: Martha MacIsaac (Becca from Superbad)Jai: Lucas Grabeel (Ryan from High School Musical)Evan: Paul Dano (Dwayne from Little Miss Sunshine)Matt: Jonathan Bennett (Aaron from Mean Gi

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