Joyce and Jim Lavene's "A Spirited Gift"

Joyce and Jim Lavene are a married writing couple who live in North Carolina with their family. They get help from their cat, Quincy, and their big puppy, Rudi, who they rescued in 2010. They have been writing together since 1994 and published since 1999. Last year marked their 52nd book in print. They enjoy writing mysteries but are at home with fantasy, romance and non-fiction. The couple both work for their small, hometown newspaper, The Weekly Post.

Here Joyce Lavene reports on the film adaptation of A Spirited Gift, their latest Missing Pieces Mystery:

I can see the cast and crew walking up the red carpet now with dozens of reporters asking questions. It was tough choosing who would be in the movie since dozens of really famous movie stars were begging to be a part of the production. Fortunately, the producers let me make that decision since I know best.

For the lead role of psychic mayor Dae O’Donnell, Natalie Portman was my top choice. She’s a little thinner than Dae but she gained a few pounds for the role and she was fine.

For her love interest and psychic handler, ex-FBI agent Kevin Brickman could only be played by Robert Downey, Jr. He may not be a perfect match for Kevin, but I don’t care because I get to meet him and stare at him while he’s working. Love that man! He loves A Spirited Gift and makes room in his busy schedule to play the part.

I see Jennifer Hudson playing Shayla Lily, Dae’s friend and psychic cohort from New Orleans. She’d be perfect advising Dae and helping her try to talk to her dead mother.

Ed Asner is the only one who could play Dae’s grandfather, the retired sheriff of Dare County. He’s tough but kind. He knows what should be done and makes excuses for Dae not doing it. Plus I hear he makes some mean flapjacks in real life, which he does a lot in the Missing Pieces Mysteries.

And who’s that getting out of the limo to make his way up the red carpet? The only person who could possibly play the ghost of pirate Rafe Masterson, scourge of Duck – Johnny Depp. We had to add a few extra scars to that handsome face but he loved playing the part. He has such a large – cutlass. I think he liked peeking in at Dae when he was invisible. And he did that last parting scene so well, it made me cry.

I’ve heard that the movie has pre-sold a million tickets for the opening weekend. It’s very exciting. It was actually filmed in Duck, North Carolina where the book is set. We had a great time down there with everyone at Duck’s Cottage (they provided great coffee for the whole production every day). I’ve heard they plan to make movies of the first two books, A Timely Vision and A Touch of Gold too.

Hope Robert Downey, Jr. can clear some space for those too!

Learn more about the authors and their work at Joyce and Jim Lavene's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

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Michael Broyles's "Beethoven in America"

Michael Broyles is Professor of Music at Florida State University and former Distinguished Professor of Music and Professor of American History at Pennsylvania State University. His book, Leo Ornstein: Modernist Dilemmas, Personal Choices, written with Denise Von Glahn, won the Irving Lowens Prize in 2007.

He here shares some ideas about adapting--and casting the adaptation of-- his new book, Beethoven in America:

How do you make a movie about story that spans two-hundred years of American history, about an icon who was long dead, and when alive never set foot on America? It’s not easy, but Hollywood has always relished challenges. Some possibilities:

In a recent Broadway play, 33 Variations, Beethoven bridged time and space to appear to Jane Fonda. He also visited a dysfunctional twentieth-century family in Beethoven’s Tenth. Why not again? The Transcendentalist writer Margaret Fuller wrote passionate letters to Beethoven as if he were there. In the film he could actually respond. Think of the cinematic fantasies that could unleash, think what a director could do with that.

Theosophy, which made great use of Beethoven, grew out of the nineteenth-century Spiritualist movement, of the world of séances. Much more exciting than a few random ghostly raps on the kitchen table, Beethoven could announce himself, tap-tap-tap-taaaaaaaaaap.

Katherine Thomas, The Great Kat of the heavy metal world, claims to be Beethoven reincarnated. There could be a complete transformation here.

“Beethoven was black.” This could be a serious treatment of a hotly debated political and social issue in the 1960s and 70s or Beethoven himself could appear in a completely different guise. The possibilities are endless.

Beethoven could straighten out the musicologists who in the 1970s poured endlessly over all his sketches to glean his intentions. No amount of scholarship could beat a little channeling.

It would be a sprawling film, a postmodern agglomeration of vignettes held together by cascades of heady, powerful music.

We already have two Beethoven’s from recent films, Gary Oldman in Immortal Beloved and Ed Harris in Copying Beethoven. For my money Ed Harris gets the nod. Natalie Portman could play Margaret Fuller, a brilliant, high-spirited feminist of the early nineteenth century who found Beethoven’s music to be, among other qualities, erotic. Katherine Thomas could play Katherine Thomas, although I’m not sure of the transformation. Jamie Foxx, who demonstrated that he could capture Ray Charles, could be the black Beethoven, or he could be Malcolm X, who argued the case for Beethoven’s ethnic identity.

Learn more about Beethoven in America at the Indiana University Press website.

--Marshal Zeringue

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Derek Haas's "Dark Men"

Derek Haas is the author of the bestselling novel The Silver Bear. He also co-wrote the screenplays for 3:10 to Yuma, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, and Wanted, starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, and Angelina Jolie. His forthcoming film, The Double, starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace, is directed by his screenwriting partner Michael Brandt and will be released in 2011.

Here he offers some insights into the casting process, and shares some idea about the look of the actor who might play Columbus, the professional assassin in his latest novel Dark Men, in an adaptation:

I never picture actors when I'm writing my characters or my screenplays… I just see them in my mind's eye, so it's always hard for me when casting begins in earnest on my work. You'll get these actor lists submitted by the talent agencies, and they'll have Eddie Murphy and Daniel Radcliffe on the same list for the same role. Did you even read this screenplay? If I ever had to cast Columbus, it would be tough… his father was a white politician and his mother was a black prostitute, so I've always pictured him as dark skinned, mixed racially… sort of, well, if Clive Owen and Derek Jeter could be cross-pollenated.

Learn more about Dark Men at Derek Haas's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

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Ed Kovacs's "Storm Damage"

Ed Kovacs has worked for many years as a private security contractor deploying to challenging locations worldwide. He is a member of AFIO, Association for Intelligence Officers, the International Thriller Writers organization, and the Mystery Writers of America.

Here he writes about the actors he could see playing the lead in an adaptation of his new novel, Storm Damage:

I don’t keep up with who the flavors of the year are, acting-wise. Since the hero of my crime novel Storm Damage is a genuine tough guy and MMA fighter who’s also smart and strongly ethical, I’d have to go with either Daniel Craig or Jason Statham, although my hero is written a bit younger. Statham because he’s physical and looks more like the character I imagined; Craig because he’s the whole package and brought a deadliness to the Bond role that had been sorely lacking for decades. No doubt there are many more great candidates and I probably make for a lousy casting director!

For my female lead I have no idea; I’d like to hear from my readers on that one. Before writing my books, I create about a five page, single-spaced backstory for each of my major characters. I do this even when I write screenplays, so I don’t need to be thinking about who would be good in the role. I have, however, gotten script-writing assignments for projects with stars already attached. The stars are seldom satisfied and often try to bring in their favorite writers for a dialogue “polish.”

Learn more about the book and author at Ed Kovacs's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

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Larry Karp's "A Perilous Conception"

Larry Karp grew up in Paterson, NJ and New York City. He practiced perinatal medicine (high-risk pregnancy care) and wrote general nonfiction books and articles for 25 years, then, in 1995, he left medical work to begin a second career, writing mystery novels. The backgrounds and settings of Karp's mysteries reflect many of his interests, including musical antiques, medical-ethical issues, and ragtime music.

Here he shares some thoughts on dream-casting an adaptation of his latest novel, A Perilous Conception:

My characters develop slowly as I write their stories, and as I get to know them better and better, they etch their appearances and behaviors into my mind. But the range of images readers construct of these same characters astonishes me. Seems that no one sees or hears quite the same people I do.

I think this probably represents success. A partnership exists between writers and readers, and my stories appear to give readers enough material to engage them, but allow them sufficient leeway to graft their own ideas neatly onto mine.

So if someone were to make a movie from A Perilous Conception, I wouldn't have any concerns about who should play Dr. Colin Sanford, Detective Bernie Baumgartner, or new-mother Joyce Kennett. Whoever the actors might be, they wouldn't coincide with my own vision. In fact, I can't recall ever seeing a movie, after having read the book on which it was based, where the movie characters looked and sounded like the people I'd constructed from the book. Better to let the movie people make their choices for A Perilous Conception according to their own lights, and not burden them with my preconceived notions which might hinder their efforts to produce a unified story.

But you know what I'd really love? A message on the screen immediately after the final scene of the movie: "This film was made because the production staff could not resist trying to put our own stamp on Larry Karp's mystery novel, A Perilous Conception. Any resemblance between Mr. Karp's work and ours is fortuitous. We encourage you to read A Perilous Conception, and enjoy creating your own unique production."

Learn more about the book and author at Larry Karp's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

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Mary O'Connell's "The Sharp Time"

Mary O'Connell is a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop and the author of the short story collection, Living With Saints. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in several literary magazines, and she is the recipient of a James Michener Fellowship and a Chicago Tribune Nelson Algren Award.

Here she shares some ideas about casting the leads for an adaptation of The Sharp Time, her first novel:

I’ve already watched The Sharp Time in my head with this perfect cast. A girl can dream, and hope, and pray that someone buys the movie rights…

My dream cast for The Sharp Time, the movie:

Kyle Chandler as Henry Charbonneau: Calling all you Friday Night Lights devotees! Who wouldn’t want to see Coach Taylor play against type as a quirky vintage clothing storeowner? Vintage Frocks, Beautiful Shop, Can’t lose…

Sinead O’Connor as Erika of Erika’s Erotic Confections: Sinead O’Connor was so amazing as The Virgin Mary in The Butcher Boy and I certainly envision her as the kind-hearted baker with the edgy exterior. (I also listened to “Theology” incessantly while I wrote The Sharp Time.)

Clint Eastwood as Arne, the pawn shop owner: He would be so fantastic as Arne, a tough guy who wears a “Charlton Heston is my president T-shirt” but also reads Denis Johnson poetry out loud.

Rosie O’Donnell as Mrs. Bennett: She has that amiable midwestern veneer, but I think she could absolutely bring it if she played the awful teacher.

Nat DeWolf as Brother Bill: His acting has the emotional resonance that makes the simplest gestures meaningful, so he could certainly carry the last scene, where his wave goodbye means so much to Sandinista.

Laura Kirk as Heather Jones: She was such a gem in Lisa Picard is Famous, and she would be perfection as Sandinista’s beloved mother. Again, the specific actress I had in mind as I wrote…

Sandinista Jones: Somewhere there is an actress in her early twenties, temping or waiting tables and dreaming and hoping and that’s the girl for this role, just at the role of her friend Bradley should go to another young hopeful. Here’s to the dreams of the unknowns!

Learn more about the book and author at Mary O'Connell's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

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Mary Stanton's "Angel Condemned"

About Angel Condemned, Mary Stanton's fifth Beaufort & Company mystery:

Representing her Aunt Cissy’s fiancé, museum curator Prosper White, in a case of fraud, attorney and celestial advocate Brianna Winston-Beaufort hopes to settle the matter out of court. But when Prosper is murdered and Cissy’s arrested for the crime, Bree will have to solve the mystery of the Cross of Justinian—an artifact of interest in both Prosper’s lawsuit and Bree’s celestial case—to clear her aunt’s name...

Here are the author's hopes for casting Beaufort & Company in an adaptation:

Brianna Winston-Beaufort: Kyra Sedgwick (who can act being 28 even if she isn't).

Sam Hunter: George Clooney.

Lavinia Mather: Viola Davis, in a gray wig.

Learn more about the book and author at Mary Stanton's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

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