Doug Magee's "Never Wave Goodbye"

Doug Magee has been a photojournalist, screenplay writer, children’s book author, death penalty activist, film producer and director, war protester, college football player, amateur musician, and the basis of the Aidan Quinn character in Meryl Streep’s Music of the Heart.Here he shares some thoughts about casting an adaptation of Never Wave Goodbye, his first novel:I've been a screenwriter for a number of years and have had my heart broken when actors I had hoped would play roles weren't available, didn't want to do the role, etc. So when I wrote Never Wave Goodbye I didn't have actors

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Robert Dugoni's "Bodily Harm"

Robert Dugoni has practiced as a civil litigator in San Francisco and Seattle for seventeen years. In 1999 he left the full-time practice of law to write, and is a two-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a degree in journalism and worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times before obtaining his doctorate of jurisprudence from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law.Here he shares some thoughts on casting the David Sloane character in an adaptation of his series which includes

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Maya Sloan's "High Before Homeroom"

Maya Sloan has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University, as well as a MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Arkansas. This year her short story about Christian rock groupies was featured in the 25th Anniversary Issue of Boulevard. She has also had stories published in Passages North and Driftwood.Here she shares some ideas about the cast of an adaptation of her first novel, High Before Homeroom, newly published by Simon & Schuster:High Before Homeroom is about a sixteen year-old boy in Oklahoma named Doug. He is in love with a girl named Laurilee, but he’s not cool enou

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Lucy Balch's "Love Trumps Logic"

Lucy Balch loves everything Regency, particularly when it applies to men. From their shining Hessians to their noticeably absent powdered wigs, they are the epitome of style. The ladies’ dresses aren’t bad either.Here she shares some insights about casting an adaptation of her first novel, Love Trumps Logic:The casting game can bring a book to life, sometimes in unintended ways. Imagining this, that or the other actor as my various characters renders giggles, frowns or—finally—a sigh that acknowledges rightness.An interesting thing about favorite actors: They can inspire whole books. Johnny

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Aaron Michael Morales' "Drowning Tucson"

Aaron Michael Morales is an Assistant Professor of English at Indiana State University where he teaches Creative Writing and Contemporary Literature. His fiction has appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, Passages North, and MAKE Magazine, among other places. His first short collection of fiction, titled From Here You Can Almost See the End of the Desert, was published in 2008.Here he shares some ideas for casting a cinematic adaptation of his new novel, Drowning Tucson:Drowning Tucson is set in inner-city Tucson during the late 1980s, which was a turning point for violence and gangs in this p

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Barbara Levenson's "Justice In June"

Barbara Levenson is the author of Fatal February, the first novel in the Mary Magruder Katz mystery series.Here she sketches out some choices for director and cast for a television adaptation of her new novel, Justice in June:I really see these books as a TV series, or a movie of the week on Lifetime.Either way, the producer director must be Tony Sears, who has directed numerous plays and musicals and has that inate sense of humor and timing to set the pace for these fun mysteries.The female lead, Mary Magruder Katz, is a fearless criminal defense attorney in Miami, Florida. Joelle Carte

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Tara Hyland's "Daughters of Fortune"

Tara Hyland was born in Surrey in 1976. She studied History at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, and then worked in the City for several years before leaving to write full time. She currently lives in London with her husband.Here she shares some casting ideas should Daughters of Fortune, her debut novel, be adapted for the big screen:There's quite a big cast of characters in my book, so I'll just go with the three daughters of the title:Elizabeth - I always imagine Katherine Heigl's body, as Elizabeth is meant to be statuesque, with Sarah Michelle Gellar's head (the way she is in Cruel

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Dani and Eytan Kollin's "The Unincorporated War"

Dani Kollin is co-author (with his brother Eytan) of The Unincorporated Man and the recently released The Unincorporated War.Here he shares some ideas for casting the lead in a big screen adaptation of the series:The protagonist of The Unincorporated Man and The Unincorporated War, Justin Cord, must be the living embodiment of a value (freedom) and as such is not granted a wide birth for real pathos (the bad guy on the other hand is wonderfully evil). Who could pull that off and still be captivating? A few actors come to mind: Ulrich Mühe whose work in The Lives of Others was subtle, y

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