Jessie Knadler's "Rurally Screwed"

Jessie Knadler is a writer whose articles and stories have appeared in publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Glamour. She is the coauthor of the preserving cookbook Tart and Sweet.Her blog rurallyscrewed.com has been featured in Newsweek and French Elle and on Jezebel.com. She lives with her husband, her daughter, and a bunch of chickens in Lexington, Virginia.Here Knadler dreamcasts an adaptation of her new book, Rurally Screwed: My Life Off the Grid with the Cowboy I Love:My top pick to play the role of Jessie (that would be me) would be Kate Winslet, the pitch perfect blend

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Duncan Barrett & Nuala Calvi's "The Sugar Girls"

Duncan Barrett studied English at Cambridge and now works as writer and editor, specializing in biography and memoir. He most recently edited The Reluctant Tommy (Macmillan, 2010) a First World War memoir. Nuala Calvi also studied English and has been a journalist for eight years with a strong interest in community history pieces. She took part in the Streatham Stories project to document the lives and memories of people in South London. They live in South London.Here Barrett shares some ideas for director and part of the cast if their new book, The Sugar Girls: Tales of Hardship, Love and

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Erika Marks's "Little Gale Gumbo"

Erika Marks is a native New Englander who was raised in Maine and has worked as an illustrator, cake decorator, and carpenter. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and their two daughters.Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her novel, Little Gale Gumbo:I have to believe there isn’t a writer out there who hasn’t cast her or his novel at some point along the way—whether in the earliest draft or in the final product. Although my story takes place over 30-plus years, I’ve only cast the adult roles (but would love to hear if anyone has any suggestions for the younger versions

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Jennifer duBois's "A Partial History of Lost Causes"

Jennifer duBois was born in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1983. She earned a B.A. in political science and philosophy from Tufts University and an M.F.A. in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She recently completed a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University, where she is currently the Nancy Packer Lecturer in Continuing Studies. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Playboy, The Missouri Review, The Kenyon Review, The Florida Review, The Northwest Review, Narrative, ZYZZYVA, FiveChapters and elsewhere.Here she shares some suggestions for casting an adaptation of her new no

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S.G. Browne's "Lucky Bastard"

S.G. Browne worked in Hollywood for several years before moving to Santa Cruz to be a writer. He currently lives and writes in San Francisco. His novels include Breathers: A Zombie's Lament.Here Browne dreamcasts an adaptation of his latest novel, Lucky Bastard:While I see my books visually as I’m writing them and have been told that my short chapters and style of writing lends my novels to film adaptation, I didn’t have any actors or actresses in mind when I wrote Lucky Bastard.Although I have a short list of actors I’ve come up with for the characters in my first two novels (Breathers

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Ann Pearlman's "A Gift for My Sister"

Ann Pearlman is a writer of both fiction, and non-fiction books and has been passionate about writing since eighth grade. Getting Free: Women and Psychotherapy was written with two colleagues and used as both a consciousness-raising book in the woman’s movement as well as college textbook.  Keep the Home Fires Burning: How to Have an Affair With Your Spouse, garnered the attention of the Oprah Winfrey Show and many other TV talk shows. Her memoir, Infidelity, was nominated for National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, and made into a Lifetime movie by Lionsgate. Inside t

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Jon Talton's "Powers of Arrest"

Jon Talton's novels include the thriller, Deadline Man, several David Mapstone mysteries, and The Pain Nurse, the first of The Cincinnati Casebooks series.Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of his latest Cincinnati Casebook, Powers of Arrest:For Powers of Arrest, the most important character is Cincinnati. The film should be shot there, lovingly showing the place that Churchill called America’s most beautiful inland city. From the gritty architectural jewel box of Over-the-Rhine to the Ohio River sweeping past downtown to the hills and valleys of Cincinnati, it is a cinematic paradise.As for ma

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Terra Elan McVoy's "Being Friends with Boys"

Terra Elan McVoy has held a variety of jobs centered around reading and writing, from managing an independent children’s bookstore, to teaching writing classes, and even answering fan mail for Captain Underpants. McVoy lives and works in the same Atlanta neighborhood where her novels After the Kiss, Being Friends with Boys, and Pure are set. She is also the author of The Summer of Firsts and Lasts.Here the author shares some ideas for director and cast of an adaptation of Being Friends with Boys:I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking of my favorite John Hughes films (Pretty in Pink, and Six

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Kate Klise's "In the Bag"

As a correspondent for People magazine, Kate Klise covered everything from celebrity scandals to serial killers. After writing several bestselling children's books, Kate decided to write In the Bag, her first novel for adults, when she found a note from a fellow passenger in her carry-on bag.Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of In the Bag:I wrote In the Bag after watching The Holiday (Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black) and remembering how fun a trading-places story can be.In my book, the characters don’t trade houses. They swap suitcases—by accident. These are the two teenage c

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Alex Adams's "White Horse"

Alex Adams was born in New Zealand, raised in Greece and Australia, and currently lives in Oregon–which is a whole lot like New Zealand, minus those freaky-looking wetas.Here she shares some ideas for casting an adaptation of her new novel White Horse, the first volume in a debut trilogy:I don't populate my stories with famous faces. Sometimes my characters don't wear faces at all. They remain hazy, with features that stand out only when they need to.But lately people have been asking questions about who I'd cast in the various roles, should a production company snap up White Horse's film rig

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Anne Berry's "The Water Children"

Anne Berry was born in London and moved to Hong Kong at the age of six, where she was educated. She founded a small drama school, writing and directing more than thirty plays in ten years, and now lives in Surrey with her husband and four children. Her first novel, The Hungry Ghosts, was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest novel, The Water Children:More than any of my novels as I was writing The Water Children I could see it unrolling cinematically. All the ingredients of an excellent film naturally came together, as well as t

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William Dietrich’s "The Emerald Storm"

William (Bill) Dietrich's historical and action thrillers have been translated into 28 languages. Dietrich is also a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, nonfiction author, and college professor of environmental journalism. He has won the Washington Governor Writer's Award and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award.His Ethan Gage Adventures feature an imperfect American adventurer who is not only a protege of the late Benjamin Franklin—but also a gambler, sharpshooter, treasure-hunter and romantic, who manages to get into plenty of trouble with women. Ethan's story entwines with Napoleon Bonap

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Simon Lewis's "Border Run"

Simon Lewis studied Art at Goldmiths College in London, then worked as a travel writer in Asia. He researched the Rough Guides to China, Beijing, and Shanghai as well as writing for newspapers and magazines.His first novel Go (1999), a travel thriller about backpackers, was written in a village in the Himalayas. His second novel, Bad Traffic (2008), is a crime thriller about people smugglers, featuring Chinese policeman Inspector Jian.Here Lewis dreamcasts an adaptation of his latest novel, Border Run:If Border Run was to be filmed, it would be a contained thriller - all the action takes p

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Esther Friesner's "Spirit's Princess"

Nebula Award winner Esther Friesner is the author of more than 30 novels and over 150 short stories, including the story "Thunderbolt" in Random House's Young Warriors anthology, which lead to the creation of Nobody's Princess and Nobody's Prize. She is also the editor of seven popular anthologies. Her works have been published around the world. Educated at Vassar College and Yale University, where she taught for a number of years, Friesner is also a poet, a playwright, and once wrote an advice column, "Ask Auntie Esther."Here she shares some thoughts about adapting her latest novel, Spirit's

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Ceri Radford's "A Surrey State of Affairs"

Ceri Radford grew up in Swansea, studied English literature and French at Cambridge and started her career with Reuters. She has since written about books, TV, culture, society, male strippers and many other things besides for publications including The Daily Telegraph, the Times Literary Supplement, and Red Magazine. She currently lives, confusingly, very close to Geneva, but in France.Here Radford dreamcasts an adaptation of her first novel, A Surrey State of Affairs:Constance Harding: My British heroine is a 53 year-old, biscuit-baking, church-bell-ringing, hopelessly deluded meddling

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Tom Leveen's "Zero"

Tom Leveen is the author of Party and Zero (young adult contemporary, both with Random House). Zero was released on April 24, 2012.Here he shares his preferences for the cast of an adaptation of Zero:It took me a while to come up with a dream cast for Zero, but I think I've settled on one.MIKE: The Basketball Diaries-era Leonardo DiCaprio. Perfect blend of smarm, charm, and intensity. He can pull off the skater cut, and slay women with his smoky gaze, amiright? I've been a nominal fan of his ever since Gilbert Grape, and the truth is, the guy's a hell of an actor. It wouldn't hurt ticket sale

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Kate Quinn's "Empress of the Seven Hills"

Kate Quinn is a native of southern California. She attended Boston University, where she earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Classical Voice. A lifelong history buff, she first got hooked on ancient Rome while watching I, Claudius at the age of seven. She wrote her first book during her freshman year in college, retreating from a Boston winter into ancient Rome, and it was later published as Mistress of Rome. A prequel followed, titled Daughters of Rome, and then a sequel--the newly released Empress of the Seven Hills--written while her husband was deployed to the Middle East.Her

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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

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Kristan Higgins's "Somebody to Love"

Kristan Higgins is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author and two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award.Here she shares some suggestions about the above-the-line talent for an adaptation of her latest novel, Somebody to Love:Parker Welles belongs to the 1%—she lives off the interest from her trust fund, has never had to check a price tag in her life and lives in a Rhode Island mansion with 29 bathrooms. That is, until her father informs her that he’s drained her bank account to cover an insider trading scheme. She’s broke, unemployed, needs to move, and asap. She

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