The Movie Maker with Lucy Saxon

Today I am pleased to welcome author, Lucy Saxon onto the blog to tell us who she would love to cast as her lead characters in her latest YA novel, The Almost King, published this month with Bloomsbury.

Movies are great. Movies based on books are even better; they allow you to imagine the story in a whole new way, bringing characters to life and allowing for a different level of depth to be explored. 

I spend far more time than I probably should imagining what my books would be like as movies — one of my favourite things to do when I have writers block is to spend hours on the internet trying to find the perfect actors and actresses for my characters. It’s hard — obviously there’s no telling how they’d take to the role in real life — but going on looks and what I’ve seen them in before, a girl can dream, right? I’m not saying these actors would be perfect, but short of plucking the characters directly out of my head and into corporeal existence, they’re pretty close.

Nicholas Hoult is top of my list to play Aleks, my main character in The Almost King. He’s got the right sort of look, and is still about young-looking enough to convincingly play a seventeen year-old! With his older brothers played by Harry Lloyd (Grigori), Colin Morgan (Torell) and Andrew Lee Potts (Maxim), I’m sure the family resemblance could work well enough, and Nicholas Hoult is a truly stellar actor who could easily carry off Aleks’ many adventures.

The pair of risk-taking brothers, Drazan and Zhora, would be played by Ben Barnes and Sebastian Stan respectively. I love both these actors separately, and could imagine them having the same sort of camaraderie together that Drazan and Zhora have. 

As for my leading lady, I would love for Saria to be played by Lily James; her character in Downton Abbey actually reminds me a fair bit of Saria in a lot of ways, and she’s really coming into her own as an actress with Cinderella. 

The role of Luka, my mad mechanic, goes to the one and only Sir Ian McKellen. Because, well, obviously. 

Over at the Compass, I’d have Bodan played by Sean Bean, with Helen McCrory as his wife Ksenia. Sean Bean has the sort of rough charm I imagine from my friendly landlord, and Helen McCrory, like Ksenia, is a woman who is not to be messed with. 

Georgie Henley is my pick for Raina, Aleks’ no-nonsense best friend and pseudo-sister in his new home. Mostly because I’m of the firm opinion that Georgie Henley should be in most things. I think she could do wonders with bringing Raina’s character to the big screen.

I always imagined Jarek, Aleks’ barracks-mate, as Tom Felton. I live a Draco Malfoy Appreciation Lifestyle, and sometimes that creeps into my writing. Just a little bit. 

The villain of the hour goes to Tom Hiddleston, because as we’ve all seen he can play evil superbly. Shulga is cold, cruel and power-hungry; all of which are no problem for Hiddleston. Plus, he can pull off a blond moustache remarkably well.

Last but not least is Kara, who would be portrayed by Naomie Harris. After seeing her as Moneypenny, I’m pretty confident she could have the right sort of attitude for the Captain. 

That’s about where I stopped myself on the casting, in order to actually finish writing the book, but I’d say that’s enough to give any hopeful production company something to think about. My books becoming movies would be an absolute dream come true, though sadly by the time that happens, if it ever does, most of my dream cast will have likely aged out of their roles. Clearly I’ll just have to do the whole thing again in a few year’s time! For productivity’s sake, of course.

The Almost King by Lucy Saxon 

Sequel to Take Back The Skies. Published this week by Bloomsbury Books.

Summary 

In the second book in this sprawling saga, Aleks is the youngest of four brothers, each with his future predictably mapped out. But Aleks wants more than a life in his father’s shop. So when he hears his parents worrying about money, he decides to save them the cost of his keep by running away.

Aleks joins the army—but when that doesn't answer his problems, he breaks the law and deserts. Wanted and alone, he heads north, where he stumbles into love, adventure, and a skyship he might be able to call home . . . if he can evade the soldiers pursuing him.

Prepare for another sweeping adventure by nineteen-year-old Lucy Saxon in a series that seamlessly blends genre elements and a compelling contemporary voice. 

To find out more about Lucy Saxon:

Website / Facebook / Twitter

The Diamond Thief by Sharon Gosling

Pages - 276

Published by Curious Fox on the 14th February 2013

Book sent by publisher for review.

Remy took a deep breath as she stood on the edge of the narrow plunge board. Above her, the old material of the big top's roof was close enough to touch. Below her was nothing at all but air dirtied by dust and tobacco smoke, and then, sixty feet below, arranged around the sawdust of the circus ring, there was the crowd.

Book Summary

No one performs on the circus trapeze like sixteen-year-old Remy Brunel. But Remy also leads another life, as a cat burglar and jewel thief. Forced by the evil circus owner Gustave to attempt the theft of one of the world's most valuable diamonds, Remy thinks it will be just another heist, but when she meets determined young detective Thaddeus Rec, her life changes forever.
Will Thaddeus manage to rescue the jewel? Or is it really Remy that he needs to save?

**********

I was lucky enough to get my hands a copy of The Diamond Thief, which is the first publication from Curious Fox. I remember the story originally coming out in an online chapter format through Fiction Express  and I missed the opportunity to read it then. I‘m so glad I waited for the final publication through Curious Fox who eagerly picked it up.

From the first few paragraphs you are instantly transported to the circus, set in a dirty Victorian London. Remy literally flies into the scene, stealing the hearts of the audience and instantly grabbing the reader’s attention. One member of the audience is quite entranced by her, however it does appear that Remy isn’t what she seems.

As the book progresses you see her regularly coming up against Thaddeus Rec, the complete opposite of Remy. By night she is a jewel thief, while he pounds the streets as a very honest policeman. He is determined to capture her for a crime, not once ever thinking that she would capture a part of him.

The characters are enigmatic and some are slightly bigger than life. The Professor has glimpses of Doc from the Back To the Future films. Desai reminded me of The Indian In The Cupboard. Remy, is a gutsy girl who thinks nothing of risking her life to get what she wants. Only Thaddeus is going out of his way to stop her putting herself at risk.

The book quickly embarks on an Indiana Jones style adventure as the thrown together group rush to find the diamond and stop the evil, loathsome Lord Abernathy, a master of disguise.

I loved the version of Victorian London created by the author. The thrill of running with the characters in the tunnels underground and discovering the inventions lurking to be discovered put me in the mind of Jules Verne. It had a steam punk feel to it, but I wouldn’t say it necessarily fitted into that category.

This is a very promising start for Sharon Gosling, a book filled with wonder and adventure, thrilling  and exciting, with a delicate love story blossoming at the heart of the story. I really enjoyed it and read it in two sittings. Well done Curious Fox and Sharon Gosling for bursting onto the publishing scene with such a magnificent debut!

Really Weird Removals.com by Daniela Sacerdoti

Pages - 295

Published by Discover Kelpies in August 23rd 2012

My dad has hundreds of books. The walls of his study are covered in bookshelves, all the way up to the ceiling. He keeps books in unsteady towers all around, his computer, under his desk, on the window sills. Big books and small ones, ancient ones and brightly coloured ones.

Goodreads Summary

Mischievous fairies? Stranded mermaids? Smelly troll? Whatever your supernatural dilemma, call the Really Weird Removals company! Luca and Valentina's uncle Alistair is a paranormal investigator. When he realises the children can see the supernatural creatures that share our world, he invites them to join his team. With the help of Camilla, a friendly ghost, the Really Weird Removals team save a real-life stranded Nessie, help a selkie come ashore, and befriend werewolves. But this exciting new world is also packed with danger. When confronted by malicious kelpies and hungry vampires, can their wayward uncle keep the children safe?

 

Review

A year ago I had never heard of Daniela Sacerdoti, now fast forward to 2013 and she has become one of my favourite authors. She has published three very different books aimed at different age groups and I have loved all of them.

This is Daniela’s first children’s book which is aimed at the 9 to 12 age bracket. On first impressions I was convinced I had been transported to CBeebies’s Balamory. The island Eilean, where the story is set, sounds rather magical and just the type of place I would like to visit. Daniela is a very descriptive writer and has a wonderful knack of bringing every setting alive.  The style of writing was very reminiscent of the childhood classics I grew up reading. Every chapter detailed with a hook on the end.

Luca and Valentine are brilliant characters;  Valentina, a feisty younger sister with an unusual interest in dead sea creatures and Luca, the older brother, who is quieter and more thoughtful than his sister. These two lead a cast of quirky and original characters that will stay with me longer after finishing the book, all unusual but extremely believable.  Uncle Alistair, loud and yet completely bonkers. Camilla, the friendly ghost of a young girl murdered centuries ago. All so well written and well thought out. My favourite character of all had to be Finley! I’m pretty sure you will love him too when you meet him.

The story is told over the period of a year through episodic events that occur surrounding the Really Weird Removals company which is the pest control answer for the supernatural world. We join them on their adventures to capture and remove unwanted unusual creatures. Each season brings new wonders to be discovered and removed. I thought that this book could easily be made into four smaller books that would suit younger children too, as each season is covered and adventures happen within each.

Each chapter begins with an entry from the Scottish Paranormal Database detailing a mysterious creature that had been discovered throughout history. I learnt about mythical creatures I had never ever heard of and I was left with a list of creatures to find out more about.

This next paragraph definitely has spoilers, so cover your eyes and scoot past if you haven’t read the book.

As the story progresses, Luca discovers that he is a sea whisperer; he can talk fluently with all the mythical sea creatures. Oh how I loved that idea! I want to be a sea whisperer too! I wish that talent really existed.

On the whole, I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a delightful read for the child hidden within. If you haven’t read a book by Daniela Sacerdoti, then you are sadly missing out.

The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin

Pages - 289

Published by Templar in 2010 in the UK

Published by Candlewick Press in the US

'Soranzo is out for your blood, Fausto Corvo.'

The candles in the astrologer's study flickered as he spoke, sending light dancing over a table covered with star charts and calculations. 

'I know, Vito,' said the man with the hooked nose and dark eyes. 'You are the third friend to warn me.'

'I fear for your safety, Fausto. Soranzo is not a man to be toyed with. He did not become one of the most powerful men in Venice without destroying the lives of those blocking his way.'

Goodreads Summary

When Sunni Forrest’s stepbrother accidentally transports himself into a Renaissance painting, she and her friend Blaise set out to bring him back. They find themselves in a strange world of labyrinths, monsters and pirates.

Can they evade their greedy pursuers? And will they ever find their way home?

**********

From the first chapter,you are sucked straight into the labyrinth and the story sets off on a hearty pace, barely allowing you to catch your breath, let alone calculate your bearings. I literally felt like I had been sucked into the Renaissance painting too. Just by sheer chance, Sunni's step brother, Dean is  transported first into a world that no one knew existed. Luckily Sunni worked out exactly how he had got sucked into the labyrinth and went straight in after him. 

The scenes within the painting were extremely  interesting. I have always imagined what it might be like to step into a painting and Teresa Flavin had described it perfectly.  I love this fascinating idea of transporting into a picture, only to find a magical world of adventure behind it. 

This book reminded me a little of the Narnia adventures, especially The Voyage of the Dawntreader. I think it is the fact that it involves an adventure into another dimension which brought the stories to mind.

The children are desperate to find their way home and the journey becomes quite intense as they battle with time and distractions to reach home again. 

The characters were interesting and quirky in their own ways. The writing well paced, keeping my interest through the story as they raced from one trial to another. The world building was amazing; such an interesting layered world must have taken a lot of construction, so I really was impressed by the detail to which the author went into. 

I only had one niggle and that was  that at one point, I did find myself getting quite confused as to which ship each child was travelling on  as well as which boat was being discussed in the story at a particular moment. The choppy nature of the writing, made me lose my way a little until they left the ships behind, then I found myself back on track with the story. 

Other than that  a most enjoyable read. I look forward to reading the next in the series. 

The Mystery of the Whistling Caves by Helen Moss

Pages 168

Published July 7th 2011
Book kindly sent for review by publisher.

Stone Cottage was quite possibly the most boring place Jack Carter had ever seen. The walls were grey, the roof was grey, grey rain was falling from a grey sky: even the pigeons huddling on the chimney were grey and sort of fed-up looking. 


Scott and Jack have been shipped off to Great Aunt Kate's house in Cornwall for the summer. They are both annoyed and fed up on arrival and worried that the holiday will be extremely boring. Until they meet Emily Wild and her dog, Drift who takes the boys out to see the Whistling Caves. Only when they get to the caves, they find they are no longer Whistling.

They are informed that a legend surrounds the castle that when the caves stop whistling, the castle will come under attack. So when priceless treasures are stolen from the castle, the children begin to believe that the legend is true. Can they solve the mystery of the whistling caves?

*********

Whilst reading this book, I found myself instantly transported back to my childhood, reading my beloved Enid Blyton books. Helen Moss has captured that Blytonesque essence, bottled it,  added a dash of real life and and a slice of modern times to create a whole new series for today's generation.

The characters Jack, Scott and Emily appeared to be very similar to the teenagers of today. Yet they each  have that thrill of adventure bursting to get out. Emily reminded me a lot of Harriet the Spy, as she spent many hours investigating her neighbours. The dog, Drift, could definitely have been a descendant of Timmy, from the Famous Five, or maybe even Lassie, with his quick instincts. This is quite a short book, so a lot of the secondary characters didn't really make an impression on me. However one did, Mrs Loveday, the cleaner,  who had me in stitches with her inaccurate word usage. 

The crime happened quite quickly in the beginning of the book, and then the plot moved along at quite a fast pace. The children found themselves in quite a few dangerous situations which had me worrying that they wouldn't get out safely. 

I really enjoyed reading this book, especially as the mystery kept you hooked right until the end. Quite a few red herrings are thrown in, before the real thief is discovered and then we are supplied with some climatic scenes to get us to the end. In the same way as Enid Blyton would, the case is solved by the last page, the thief is put in jail and the reasons for the theft are laid bare for everyone to see.

 A good spirited fun adventure that will have you reminiscing your childhood. I would definitely recommend this as a summer read for all nine years old, especially those who are embarking on the journey for their own holiday of adventure.

I am really pleased that the rest of this series will be brought out in quick succession. There are six books written altogether and I can't wait to read the next. Though I may have to stock up on lashings of ginger beer first! 

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

y

Pages - 704
Published in 2006 by Time Warner Books

My dear and unfortunate successor:
It is with regret that I imagine you, whoever you are, reading this account I put down here. The regret is partly for myself - because I will surely be at least in trouble, maybe dead, or perhaps worse, if this is in your hands. But my regret is also for you, my yet-unknown friend because only by someone who needs such file information will this letter someday be read. If you are not my successor in some other sense, you will soon be my heir - and I feel sorrow at bequeathing to another human being my own, perhaps unbelievable, experience of evil.

This story begins when a young girl finds an ancient book and a cache of letters hidden amongst her father's books in his library. This discovery takes her on a journey which unravels secrets from her father's past as well as the story of her mother's life and her fate.

What the book doesn't tell you from the cover is that this is really the story of Dracula/Vlad the Impaler and once I realised that I was lost within the story.  When I recall this book, I consider it a story within a story within a story, as you begin reading at one layer, before being transported into another and then another. You begin with the author's story about finding a rare book in her father's library, which then moves you onto the stories of her father about his adventures trying to find his mentor Rossi. The book then progresses into the letters of Rossi and his attempts to discover the hiding place of Dracula.

This book is full of Gothic charm on the go, the adventure and the chase spilling out on either side as you ride the rollercoaster through the story.  The book is a real chunkster at 704 pages, but you quickly get lost amongst the pages of the book and immersed in the history of Dracula/Vlad the Impaler.  It is surprising that I didn't faint from asphyxiation as I kept holding my breath for long periods of time during the intensely dramatic chases.  If I had to put this book in a genre, I would really struggle as it contains so many different elements from a range of genres.  There is romance, adventure, myths and legend, as well as epistolary features.

This book took my love of vampires to a completely different level.  In this book there is such an aura around the stories of Dracula and the vampire is seen as mythical and unreachable until he reveals himself near the end of the book. I loved walking along the fine line of truth and fiction within this book.

The character of Helen Rossi, annoyed me a little during the book. She was always so cold and aloof, that I couldn't possibly consider her to have mothered a child. Her personality never altered throughout the book and I would have liked to see her character soften as the story progressed.

I loved the story and loved learning more about the legend of Dracula/Vlad. In a morbid way, I have always found the stories quite fascinating and am intrigued to learn more. I hold my hands up and admit to never having read Bram Stoker's Dracula, which features heavily in this book, but I do plan to read it before the end of the year. Perhaps I should stay up on All Hallows Eve to read it with a couple of Jack O Lanterns grinning fiendishly at me whilst I read. Oooh I am getting the shivers.