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 the Crips, with a foreword by Ice T, took readers into the life of a Crip gang member and the California Prison system. The Christmas Cookie Club became an international bestseller, spawning cookie exchanges and donations to charity.

Here Pearlman shares some suggestions for casting an adaptation of her new novel, A Gift for My Sister:

I don’t think of movie stars when I envision my characters. My characters exist so fully in my mind no real person could match my imagination. Yet, Lionsgate turned one of my books, Infidelity, into a Lifetime movie and the people they chose fit the movie they created. I had not imagined that Kim Delaney who I loved on NYPD Blue would play the lead and that Kyle Secor, who became the President’s husband on Commander and Chief, would be her husband. Cristian de La Fuente was the ‘other man’. I loved being on the set and watching my book morph into a project that grew from the creativity and imaginations of cast and crew. When a book is made into a movie, it becomes the producer, director, and cast, and scriptwriter’s collaborative art project.

A Gift For My Sister would make a fabulous movie. There’s the psychological tension between the characters, with settings as rich as rap concerts, and an entire trip across America. Each actor will bring something new to the character that cannot match my image. Here are some ideas for the characters in A Gift for My Sister.

Michelle Williams for Sky because she reveals huge amounts of emotion in small gestures. She can portray a cautious, yet internally anxious and angry, character.

Katharine McPhee for Tara because she can sing, act, and has an edge. She can do impetuous, loving and self-sacrificing.

T.I. for Aaron/Special Intent because he looks and raps a bit as I imagine Aaron. And he has experience in front of a camera.

Kathy Bates for Allie, the friend who helps them on their journey across the country, because she can be wise, loving, yet tough, bridging those characteristics effortlessly.

Alfre Woodward for Sissy (Aaron’s mom) because of her welcoming warmth.

It’s exciting to see words I’ve written spoken by actors and I would love to be on the set when they do the rap concerts.

Learn more about the book and author at Ann Pearlman's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: A Gift for My Sister.

Writers Read: Ann Pearlman.

--Marshal Zeringue

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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 major characters, I see Jodie Foster as Cheryl Beth Wilson, the nurse and nursing professor. Detective Will Borders would be well served by Vincent D’Onofrio, who can play the pain and depth of this character. As for his partner, Detective Dodds, Terrence Howard.

Learn more about the book and author at Jon Talton's website.

The Page 69 Test: Powers of Arrest.

Writers Read: Jon Talton.

--Marshal Zeringue

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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 Sixteen Candles, specifically) when I wrote Being Friends with Boys. While there isn’t exactly a connect-the-dot between any of the book or movie characters, I hope that the same the mood those films evoke is still there. Were he alive today, it would be awesome to have John Hughes direct the movie version of this book. I also loved (500) Days of Summer and since there’s a heavy music element to this book, Marc Webb might be another interesting directorial choice.

Since all the actors I loved in John Hughes’ films are now almost be too old to play the parents (though gosh—Molly Ringwald as Charlotte’s stepmom, Hannah, would be fantastic), I’ve got try to use my imagination a little more to cast these characters.

For the role of Charlotte, the main character, I’d choose Kat Dennings in her Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist mode, hands down. She might have to work to un-glamourize herself just a little at the beginning of the Being Friends with Boys film, but her tough, edgy, funny vibe would be really perfect for Charlotte, especially once Charlotte learns a thing or two about sticking up for herself. (As she does later in the book.)

Oliver, Charlotte’s best friend since 5th grade, is a bit of a broody looker, and so it’d be interesting to see Daniel Radcliffe (at about HP #5 age) play him. Trip, her other best friend, is bouncier and goofier, so maybe Hunter Parrish (slightly younger than he is now) would be a good fit. The bad-boy of the book, Benji, I can’t imagine being played by anyone else but Macaulay Culkin (much younger and healthier than he is now, of course—maybe around when he was 19). I loved him so much in Saved!, and that’s the energy that would be perfect for Benji. Of course, I’m also a huge Robert Downey Jr., fan, so if we wanted to cast Benji as someone more darkly complected, that might work too (so long as RDJ was, you know, 18). Charlotte’s love interest, Fabian, needs to be someone approachable, but creative and sexy at the same time. Maybe Tye Sheridan; he played a smallish role in The Tree of Life, but I think he’d be ready for a bigger role now!

Of course, the reader’s imagination is always the best casting director ever, so mostly I defer to readers of Being Friends with Boys regarding who should play whom. Even if that means the result is a bunch of yet-undiscovered unknowns!

Visit Terra Elan McVoy's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: The Summer of Firsts and Lasts.

--Marshal Zeringue

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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 characters who then begin flirting online while purportedly trying to track down their missing luggage in Paris (the 18-year-old girl) and Madrid (the 17-year-old boy).

The teenagers’ parents—both single—are clueless about their kids’ budding e-romance. Why? Because they’re too preoccupied with work. The mother (I can picture Sandra Bullock, Kate Winslet or Diane Keaton in this role) recently quit her job as chef at a fancy restaurant in Chicago. The father (I’d love to see Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Steve Martin, or Alec Baldwin here) is a museum exhibit designer with a big show coming up titled "Love in the Post-Digital Age." He has no time to slip an admiring note in the bag of a woman (our Sandra-Kate-Diane character) he sees on an international flight. But that’s exactly what he does.

These characters will meet each other, lose each other, find each other again (in Barcelona), tick each other off (romantic partners and parents/children alike) before they realize adore each other to pieces.

But now do you see why I need either Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail) or Nancy Meyers (The Holiday, Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated) to direct the movie version of this book? In the Bag is a romantic comedy about two generations, three international cities, and four major characters—all trying to find love in this post-digital world.

And it is complicated.

But not really.

It’s a feel-good story about taking chances on new relationships, even though we all know by now that falling in love can be as risky as checking a bag on a long flight—or thinking about the movie adaptation of a book a week before the pub date.

And I know exactly who I’d love to write the soundtrack: Jimmy “Wichita Lineman” Webb.

Learn more about the book and author at Kate Klise's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

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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 rights. So I've been sifting through faces.

Kate Winslet would really work for Zoe. As my protagonist, the whole story is filtered through her point of view, so the role needs an actor strong enough to carry every scene. Is there anything Kate can't do? I don't think so.

There's no one I've ever seen as Nick Rose. None of the current crop of Hollywood stars would work for me, so he'd have to be a complete unknown.

I'm not all that familiar with the UK's young stars, so for Lisa, the young blind woman Zoe saves, I'd have to go with Ahna O'Reilly—but with an English accent.

Morris I see as Jada Pinkett Smith. She's got the look and the right blend of toughness and vulnerability. Morris has lost everyone, yet she's able to push that aside, lead people, do tough things that need to be done. And somehow, she manages to maintain her sense of humor. I think Jada would totally kill in that role.

White Horse's villain, the Swiss, is probably the trickiest to cast. I have someone in mind, but there's a huge plot-gaping reason why it wouldn't work (and no, I'll never say who unless you've read the book). A fellow writer suggested Giovanni Ribisi, and so far I can't think of anyone better.

Learn more about the book and author at Alex Adams's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

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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 the practical elements which would make filming possible. The plot, though it starts with tragedy rapidly changes gear and becomes a gripping, edge of the seat thriller where a baby’s life hangs in the balance. It has a cast of four main characters, Owen, Catherine, Naomi and Sean, each completely different and utterly unique. And there would be the bonus of two superb parts for women, in short supply these days. Then we have the contained locations, a basement market, a seedy flat in Covent Garden, a mysterious reservoir high in the Tuscan mountains where an entire village was drowned and may still be glimpsed in its depths. The tortured pasts of the children could be handled with flashback sequences.

Now to my actors. For Owen perhaps Ryan Gosling, or that outstanding British actor Edward Redmayne. He has both on stage and on screen an extraordinary heart breaking vulnerability that would make him perfect for Owen. Jeremy Renner is Sean, the wide boy, the Irish dreamer with a dangerous streak in his flawed nature. Catherine would be played beautifully by Bryce Dallas Howard or Jennifer Lawrence. A young Jenny Agutter would have epitomised her character. And finally my femme fatale, unpredictable and deadly, Natalie Portman or Megan Fox. The British actress I would like to see bringing Naomi alive is that tour de force, Eve Best. Just picturing it and imagining them acting and speaking the dialogue is a sheer joy!

Learn more about the book and author at Anne Berry's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Water Children.

Writers Read: Anne Berry.

--Marshal Zeringue

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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 Bonaparte's, whom he first meets in Napoleon's Pyramids and is later allied to and odds with in The Rosetta Key and The Dakota Cipher. The newly released The Emerald Storm is the fourth novel in the series.

Here Dietrich shares some ideas for cast and director should the series be adapted for the cinema:

“When will it be a movie?” is one of the most frequent questions I get when speaking about my Ethan Gage adventure books, including the latest, The Emerald Storm.

“Who should play Ethan?” I reply.

The female vote has tended to favor Hugh Jackman, the handsome Aussie, who indeed could have fun with the role. Eric Bana and James Franco are also hunks fans have offered.

Fun is the operative word. I have a hero who is not just heroic but at times funny, confused, or failing. It takes an adept actor to pull off that kind of cheek. Robert Downey Jr. brings a modern smirk to Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes, but I think he might be a little too commanding and contemporary as Ethan Gage.

Johnny Depp would be fascinating, as always, but is not quite robust enough. Alternately, I’d be curious to see if Jude Law could hold center stage in the role.

Harrison Ford, in his roles as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, captured the mix of pluck and vulnerability I imagine for Ethan. You need an actor who can be funny, and Clark Gable had the knack. David Niven would never physically make an Ethan Gage, but his mix of wit with derring-do again straddles the line between courage and comedy. Roger Moore is nothing like Ethan, but he brought archness to James Bond.

So it takes an action hero with range. Colin Farrell is an actor who has covered roles from Alexander the Great to the humor of In Bruges. Matt Damon and Brad Pitt always do interesting things. Lost’s Josh Holloway has that wisecracking stud quality.

The best choice, of course, might be a relative unknown, such as Sean Connery when he became James Bond.

Who do you suggest?

Astiza requires beauty married with intelligence, so the smoky intensity of a Catherine Zeta-Jones or Angelina Jolie. She needs to be a scene-stealer.

Napoleon should be Tom Cruise, who is an inch taller than the conqueror. While many picture the cartoon-plump Napoleon, looking constipated with his hand in his coat, the Napoleon of the Ethan Gage books rose as a slim rock star of magnetic energy, and Cruise has exactly that Napoleonic star power.

Paul Bettany, who has played Darwin, would make an interesting Robert Fulton. Could Depp pull off French voyageur Pierre Radisson? Alan Rickman as Talleyrand, perhaps. Don Cheadle as the imprisoned black revolutionary, Touissant L’Ouverture, and younger versions of Samuel L. Jackson as Dessalines and James Earl Jones as Jubal, in Emerald Storm.

The real difference would follow a director with the vision and skill to bend the actors to the roles. Any movie would be an historical epic, and the master at that is Ridley Scott. Peter Weir explored the era expertly in Master and Commander. Peter Jackson is perfect if we could get him out of Middle Earth, James Cameron if we could get him out of the water, and Steven Spielberg if we could just get him.

I’d love to see “based on the novel by” on the big screen, and the Battle of the Pyramids or the Haitian slave revolt are made for 3D, Imax, and CGI. But a series like Ethan also lends itself to HBO or Showtime.

So Hollywood, please call. Oh, and my cameo? Pretty much limited to an extra corpse, if you want a good movie.

Learn more about the book and author at William Dietrich's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

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