Craig McDonald's "One True Sentence"

Craig McDonald is the Edgar®/Anthony nominated author of Head Games, Toros & Torsos, and Print the Legend.Here he shares some ideas for cast, director, and music composer for an adaptation of his latest Hector Lassiter novel, One True Sentence:There will come a time when George Lucas will deliver on his alleged promise (threat?) to cast movies using digitally resurrected, long dead actors. When that moment arrives, it would finally be feasible to cast the movie I see in my head when I think about One True Sentence, the fourth Hector Lassiter historical literary thriller — one peopled by p

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Thelma Adams's "Playdate"

Thelma Adams has been Us Weekly’s film critic since 2000, after six years reviewing at the New York Post. She has written for Marie Claire, the New York Times, Cosmopolitan and Self.Here she shares some casting ideas for an adaptation of her new novel, Playdate:Inspired by the upcoming Academy Awards, I’m casting my book from current Oscar nominees. Playdate began with a simple movie pitch: Shampoo meets Mr. Mom. Clearly, Warren Beatty and Michael Keaton have aged out of playing my stay-at-home-dad (SAHD) protagonist. And the book has grown well beyond its one-sentence premise, so that each c

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Kelli Stanley's "The Curse-Maker"

Kelli Stanley is the author of last year's acclaimed City of Dragons.Her debut book, Nox Dormienda (2008), was a Writer’s Digest Notable Debut, won the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award, and was a Macavity Award finalist.Here she plays casting director for an adaptation of her new novel, The Curse-Maker, the sequel to Nox Dormienda:I’d love to see my books made into film … what author (except maybe J.D. Salinger) wouldn’t?For The Curse-Maker, I’d stick to the idea that Romans are voiced by Americans and native Britons by, of course, the British. This turns the mid-Atlantic a

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Ellen Byerrum's "Shot Through Velvet"

Ellen Byerrum writes the Crime of Fashion mysteries, which are set in Washington DC, The City Fashion Forgot, and feature reporter Lacey Smithsonian. Shot Through Velvet, the just-published seventh book in the series, takes Lacey on assignment to a velvet factory in southern Virginia on its last day of operation.Here Byerrum shares her experience with casting adaptations of the Crime of Fashion mysteries:The dream cast for the movie? Ahhh. Contemplating the possibility of having our books made for the silver screen is something writers love to indulge in, if only in our daydreams. But I don’t

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T. J. Forrester's "Miracles, Inc."

T. J. Forrester has been a fisherman, a subsistence farmer, a bouncer, a window washer, and a miner. He is one of the few hikers in the world to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. He has written fiction since 2001, and his stories have appeared in numerous literary journals. Forrester also edits Five Star Literary Stories, an online site that brings the best fiction published on the web to a new audience for both reading and review.Here he shares his choices for principal cast and director of an adaptation of his new novel

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Rachel Brady's "Dead Lift"

Rachel Brady is the author of the Emily Locke mysteries, Final Approach and Dead Lift.Here she shares some ideas for casting a cinematic adaptation of Dead Lift:If Dead Lift were developed into a film, I’d cast Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet from Lost) as the main character, Emily Locke. When I picture Emily in my mind, she’s a lot like Mitchell. Kim Catrell would be a shoe-in for Emily’s best friend, Jeannie. The role of Richard Cole, Emily’s private investigator boss, would go to Tom Selleck. He has the perfect look and all the right mannerisms. Her boyfriend Vince, would have to be played by a

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Matt Haig's "The Radleys"

Matt Haig is the author of The Labrador Pact, a UK bestseller narrated by a Labrador; The Dead Fathers Club, a widely acclaimed update of Hamlet featuring an eleven-year-old boy; and The Possession of Mr. Cave, a horror story about an overprotective father Here he shares some thoughts on casting the big screen adaptation of his new novel, The Radleys:This is interesting because I have actually written a screenplay of The Radleys, which is now in the hands of Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) who has acquired the rights. So, inevitably, I have thought and talked a little about how it could look

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Trent Jamieson's "Death Most Definite"

Trent Jamieson lives in Brisbane, Australia. A multiple Aurealis Award winner for short fiction, he has taught short story writing at the Queensland University of Technology, and Clarion South Writer's Workshop. Death Most Definite, Book One of the Death Works Series, was published by Orbit Books in September 2010. Book Two, Managing Death, was released in January 2011, and Book Three, The Business of Death, is due for publication in September 2011. He has just sold a two book series of Steampunkish novels to Angry Robot Books, the first of which, Roil, is due for publication in S

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Sofie Kelly's "Curiosity Thrilled the Cat"

Sofie Kelly is an author and mixed-media artist who lives on the east coast with her husband and daughter. In her spare time she practices Wu style tai chi and likes to prowl around thrift stores.Here she explains her choice of actors for a television movie adaptation of her new novel, Curiosity Thrilled the Cat:When I start a book, I do have an idea of what the characters look like, but not specific faces. I tend to think in terms of hair like the woman at the bagel place, or a tattoo like my dentist’s, as I imagine the characters.But it is fun to “cast” a book with help from a couple

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Kevin Fenton's "Merit Badges"

Kevin Fenton lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota and works as an advertising writer and creative director. His fiction has appeared in the Northwest Review, the Laurel Review, and the Emprise Review. His writing on graphic design has been anthologized in Looking Closer 2 and Emigre No. 70: The Look Back Issue.He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.Here he shares his thinking on adapting his new novel Merit Badges for the big screen:A screen writer has already started thinking about what the movie might look

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Sharon Potts's "Someone’s Watching"

Sharon Potts worked as a CPA, business executive, and entrepreneur before turning to a career of murder and becoming a crime fiction writer. Potts’s Miami-based thrillers are about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Her debut novel, In Their Blood, won top honors in the Mystery/Suspense category of the 2010 Benjamin Franklin Awards. Her latest thriller, Someone's Watching was called "shiver-rich" by Publishers Weekly, and “stunningly well-handled” by Booklist.Following the success of In Their Blood, here is Potts’s unusual take on the casting of Someone’s Watching:Alfred Hitchcock R

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