The Movie Maker with Julia Kagawa

I am so pleased to welcome Julie Kagawa to the blog today. New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa has chosen a cast of actresses and actors she feels would most suit the roles of the main characters (if ever made into a film!) in her new book The Iron Warrior, which is also the final instalment in the epic The Iron Fey series.

Dylan O'Brian cast as Ethan

Colton Haynes cast as Keirran

Crystal Reed cast as Kenzie

Erin Moriarty cast as Meghan

Ben Barnes cast as Ash

Thomas Brodie-Sangster cast as Puck

Julie: I am SO bad at this it's not funny. I don't watch many movies or television shows, so my choices are mostly based on their pictures and the few times I've seen the actors on screen.  Actually, when I envision my characters, I see them all as anime and video game characters.  Now if you asked me what video game characters inspired The Iron Fey, I could list them in a heartbeat!

The Iron Warrior is in shops now!

Share your #TheIronWarrior experience 

@Jkagawa @MIRAInk

juliekagawa.com

Summary

The Iron Prince betrayed us all.

He killed me. Then, I woke up.

Waking after a month on the brink of death, Ethan Chase is stunned that the Veil that conceals the fey from human sight was torn away.

The human world has been cast into chaos and the Forgotten Queen is leading an uprising; a reckoning that will have cataclysmic effects on the Nevernever.

Leading the Lady's Forgotten Army is Keirran, Ethan’s nephew and the traitor son of the Iron Queen. To stop Keirran, Ethan must disobey his sister once again as he searchs for answers.

In the face of unprecedented evil and unfathomable power, Ethan's enemies must become his allies, and the world of the fey will be changed forevermore…

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 Movie Maker with Bryony Pearce

As part of The Weight of Souls blog tour, I am pleased to welcome Bryony Pearce onto the blog to tell us about her ideal cast and locations for the book should it ever be made into a film.

I put off writing this post for ages.  It was one I was really looking forward to, but at the same time, I was also nervous.  One of the reasons for this is that I knew I’d have difficulty casting my characters.  I know what they look and sound like, but I thought that to find real people that matched my mental image, and more importantly, my reader’s would be impossible.  

So, being a wimp, I tackled the easiest part of my Movie Maker post first: the setting.  

Most of the book is set in present day London with locations ranging from Shepherds Bush to Hammersmith, Kensington to Streatham.  There are a number of scenes in Taylor’s school (which I actually picture more like my own old school, Samuel Whitbread in Bedfordshire) and a number of scenes inside various places, such as Angel Tube station, Pizza Express and the Science Museum.  I’m sure they’d let us shoot our fantasy movie there.  

Now, the soundtrack.  I have a post about the soundtrack to my book on http://www.bookangelbooktopia.com/, so I don’t want to duplicate it here.  Needless to say, it starts dark, gritty and urban and segues into something more anthemic.

Justin’s theme is Viva la Vida by Coldplay.  

Justin and Taylor’s love song is I’m not Calling you a Liar by Florence and the Machine.

The playlist itself exists on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/12egbcs), so have a listen, let me know what you think and what you might add.

Now, the Director.  Again a difficult one to fit.  I wanted a Director who worked in the UK, who was able to produce something both dark and urban, and also uplifting, and who could get the best out of young actors.  Two films came to mind: Attack the Block and the final Harry Potter (Deathly Hallows part 2).  When I realised that Joe Cornish, who Directed Attack the Block, also did Hot Fuzz (one of my top ten films alongside The Matrix, Princess Bride, The Faculty, Serenity, Avengers Assemble, 21 Jump Street, Galaxy Quest, Pitch Black and Stardust), I decided that I would ask him to direct The Weight of Souls.    

Now to the hard part.  I was especially concerned about casting my two main characters, Taylor and Justin, partly because they are so clear to me, but also because Taylor is half Chinese.

There are not a great many half-Chinese British actresses (in fact I had difficulties casting all of my ethnic cast members, which is a sad indictment of the industry).  In fact the only one I could think of was Katie Leung who played Cho Chang in the Harry Potter franchise.  

A little more research threw up Yifei Liu, a very beautiful full Chinese actress.  Both are technically too old now to play Taylor, but as a few of my other actors err on the older side, I decided to allow it.

I was torn between the two, but as Katie is a Scot and I’d quite like to see her play someone bad-ass, I decided to cast her.  So here is Katie Leung as Taylor Oh:

 

Next, my male lead, Justin.  For him I have cast Andrew Garfield.  Although the actor was born in LA, he has a British mother and moved to Surrey when he was three, so I have no worries about his British accent.  He has Justin’s eyes, build and hair and having seen him in Spiderman I think he’d do justice to the part.  I also think he and Katie make a lovely looking couple.

Taylor’s best friend, with the ever changing hair is quirky, sweet and believes wholeheartedly that the ‘truth is out there’.  She hasn’t had the easiest of lives: her mother is a drunk and brings home a series of boyfriends.  Hannah has to maintain the house as well as keep up with her school work.  I cast Juno Temple, who was born in England into a showbiz family and has a lovely fragile, ethereal, quirky but tough quality that I feel really exemplifies Taylor’s best friend.

Tamsin should have been easy to cast (a blonde bitchy type shouldn’t have been a problem), but I actually did have difficulties, because Tamsin is deeper than that.  She is Taylor’s opposite, but also her twin (Tamsin means twin), she is the Yin to Taylor’s Yang.  Tamsin hides her real self behind a veneer and has also been in love with Justin.  She is Taylor gone wrong.  I was looking at Abigail Breslin for the role of Hannah (I remembered her from Signs) but had discounted her because she was American.  Then I saw pictures of her now (she is older and has gone blonde) and thought, wow, she could definitely play Tamsin.  In the book Tamsin puts on a fake US accent because she thinks it’s cool, so I have no problem casting an American actress for this part.  I’d like to see this actress play a bad guy and I think she’d bring a real depth to her.

Pete is another one I had trouble with.  It isn’t easy to find young black British actors on IMDB.  Then I remembered Attack the Block.  The main actor in that, John Boyega, was incredibly nuanced (and gorgeous).  That moment at the end where you find out that he is only fifteen and has cartoon bedding is just heart-rending.  So he had to be my Pete.  

Pete plays the tough guy, but he has been damaged by all the things he has done with James and Tamsin.  He was in love with Taylor and resented her for rejecting him; that led him to join the group tormenting her.  Yet Taylor remains loyal to Pete to the point of self-sacrifice.  Pete is a boy with a lovely smile and I’m a bit in love with him.  

The real baddie in the group is James: a blonde haired, blue eyed monster who looks like a good guy.  He takes in all the adults, but not Taylor.  His dark underside is as black as the terrifying darkness itself which ultimately comes for Taylor and takes her away.  Freddie Stroma is a British born actor, perfect for James.  He is a little older than I’d like, but looks the part and has a degree in Neuroscience, so I’m impressed.

The final cast member that I’m going to include is Taylor’s dad, Gabriel.  For this one I like Rufus Jones.  He’s a British actor best known for comedy, but he was a friend at University and if you can’t cast your friends in fake movies, then who can you cast?

I think this would make a fantastic movie.  Having been anxious about casting, I think I have come up with a brilliant cast: hugely talented, reflective of the qualities I like in my characters and a lot of fun.  Do let me know what you think.

The Weight of Souls was published on the 1st August by Strange Chemistry.

You can contact Bryony  on Twitter as @BryonyPearce or via her Facebook page: BryonyPearceAuthor.  You can even email Bryony through a link on her website www.bryonypearce.co.uk

Want to read the first couple of chapters of The Weight of Souls? Then click on the link below.

http://issuu.com/angryrobot/docs/theweightofsouls-samplechapter

If that has caught your interest, how would you like the opportunity to win a copy of The Weight of Souls? Check out the link below to see how you can be in with a chance of winning a copy. You have until the 24th August to enter.

http://bryonypearce.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/the-weight-of-souls-a-very-big-competition/

The Movie Maker with Eleanor Wood

Today on the blog, I’m really pleased to welcome Eleanor Wood, debut author of Gemini Rising,which has been published by digital publisher, Carina UK.

 

I love movies almost as much as I do books (and music and clothes and sandwiches - but that’s beside the point right now).  It’s pretty obvious that movies were a massive influence on the writing of Gemini Rising.  There’s even a scene in which the main group of characters watch The Craft, Heathers and The Crow at a sleepover - which kind of spells things out.

I find it easy to picture the story as a film.  In the Hollywood version, I’d love to see The Sisters Fanning as Elyse and Melanie (OK, I know they’re not actually twins but they’ve definitely got the right vibe), and Ezra Miller as Jago.  Most importantly, my sister Katy Wood would have to have a part somewhere, as she’s an actress - maybe as Miss Webb.

However, the main thing I picture is a very particular aesthetic and it’s not strictly speaking my own: it’s Sofia Coppola’s.  Just as I wanted to get across that cloying claustrophobia of school and female friendship, combined with the bursts of excitement of going out to gigs and drinking in the park, her films have the same feeling.

I first saw the Virgin Suicides when it came out in 1999 - when I was roughly the same age as the girls in Gemini Rising.  It was a time when I became obsessed with cinema and many of my still-favourite films came out - Buffallo 66, Amores Perros and Battle Royale (as well as Cruel Intentions and 10 Things I Hate About You).  Maybe that’s why Sofia Coppola’s films still always look to me like being 17.

She’s got form in creating beautiful book adaptations (The Virgin Suicides), and from her first short film (Lick The Star) to her newest (The Bling Ring, which I can’t wait to see) she’s always had that same knowing but slightly teenage sensibility.  In all her films she gets the important details spot-on - the soundtracks, the fashions, the tiny visual details (I still love that bit in Marie Antoinette when you catch a glimpse of her pink Converse trainers amid the period drama).

In my dreamiest imaginings, she is the perfect person to bring the world of Gemini Rising to life.  The dark happenings in teenage suburbia, casual evil in school uniform, gothic happenings on sun-bleached summer days - but then also eating donuts with your little sister and crushing out on the hot boy next door...

Book Summary

How far would you go to fit in? Sorana Salem is ok with being not quite bottom of the pile at her exclusive private school. Until the mysterious Johansson twins arrive unexpectedly mid-term. Hypnotically beautiful and immensely cool, magnetic Elyse and mute Melanie aren’t like the school’s usual identikit mean girls. Soon Sorana’s sharing sleepovers and Saturday nights out with the twins. But their new world of Ouija boards and older boys might not be as simple as it seems. And the dark secrets that they share could be about to take Sorana down a path that’s impossible to turn back from… -

To find out more about Eleanor Wood:

Twitter: @eleanor_wood

Facebook: www.facebook.com/eleanorwoodwriter

Website: http://eleanor-wood.blogspot.co.uk

The Movie Maker with Sarah Alderson

As part of the Losing Lila blog tour,  Sarah Alderson is here today to present her fantasy cast list for the film. version. 

Often I will have a particular actor in mind when I create a character though some of the time I’m just creating them out of what’s in my head - a composite of people I know, or musicians, actors, even models (I do like to spend time scouring for my perfect leading men).

I sold the movie rights to Hunting Lila (though it’s still a long way from being made into a movie) and the producers asked me for my dream cast list. Straightaway I shot back ‘the entire cast of Game of Thrones’. I love that show. I love anything HBO makes actually. Omar from the Wire is my ideal Key. I based the character on him looks-wise.

Alex was always based on the actor Alex Skarsgard after I saw him in Generation Kill. He played a Marine called Ice man. I watched him on screen and just thought - yeah, that’s my Alex. In fact I named Alex after him. If I ever met him I think I’d die.

I never had anyone in mind for Lila - though recently I saw the movie The Descendants and thought that George Clooney’s daughter in that would be perfect.

Lila’s father was always Robert Downey Junior in my mind. I have a huge crush on him and on Ian Glen, a British actor, who I would love to play Richard Stirling.

Rachel in my mind is my friend Myanna Buring, who’s an actress. She plays Tanya Denali in Twilight: Breaking Dawn and she’s impossibly glamorous. She’d be perfect in the role. Although I could also see her playing Sara too. Or even Amber. She’s that versatile.

The only two real people are Harvey and Suki; these are based on people I know. Harvey is my best friend’s husband and Suki is based on a girl I know who works in fashion in London, though
the real Suki isn’t as boy crazy (though she is fashion obsessed).
All my fantasy casts are on my website. www.sarahalderson.com

If you haven't read any books by Sarah Alderson yet, then quick go buy one! 

To find out more about Sarah Alderson:

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/sarahjalderson

Twitter:@sarahalderson 

Website:www.sarahalderson.com

The Movie Maker with Keith Austin

As part of the Grymm tour, I am pleased to welcome Keith Austin on the blog, to pick out his ideal cast should his book  ever be made into a book!

AS disturbing as it sounds, I keep bumping up against Tom Cruise. It’s something you’re bound to do when asked to imagine the dream team for the movie version of your book.

            Remember when author Anne Rice wasn’t exactly backward in coming forward about the choice of Tom Cruise to play Lestat in the film version of her mega-bestselling book Interview With The Vampire? As she told the Los Angeles Times in 1993: “I was particularly stunned by the casting of Cruise, who is no more my Vampire Lestat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler.”

And yet, many people would later say that Cruise was the best thing in the film. Even Rice was moved to comment that “from the moment he appeared, Tom was Lestat for me”.

So, with one exception, here’s my list of who could maybe perhaps one day play some of the weird and wonderful characters in Grymm …

Thespa Grymm The real estate agent from hell, a woman as wide as she is tall, a “harmless old sofa” with a “heart of pure, baby-eating evil”: Imelda Staunton*, a consummate actress who could not only pull off the physical transformation but also find the soft centre that makes Thespa tick.

Margaret from Maggot’s Milkbar False teeth, false hair, false leg and a habit of coming out with disconcertingly bizarre statements: Ricky Gervais. I love the idea of getting Gervais dressed up as a woman with a wooden leg who is pining for her missing dog. Could it be a challenge he couldn’t resist?

Inky Bugleslab The sly newsagent with the wormlike tongue and the mouth like a scalpel slash: Steve Buscemi. Inky only appears a couple of times in the book and I think a cameo by bug-eyed Buscemi would be fun.

Malahide Fleur The huge baker whose masterful creations look, smell and taste divine but are only a prelude to … what? Here, I’m torn between Richard Griffiths and Little Britain’s Matt Lucas. I quite like the idea of Griffiths sort of reprising his role as the chef from the Pie In The Sky TV series but turning it on its head - the chef sleuth turned bad. Very bad.

Beersheba Bluehammer The neurotic, frustrated and dangerous artist who runs the hardware store has bright orange hair and a face like an axe? Well, Emma Thompson was Nanny McPhee, right? And this is the nanny turned up way past 11 and then flipped inside out. Thompson could do this standing on her head.

Frederick and Catherine Puzzlewick The oddly vampiric Puzzlewicks, owners of the candle factory, are a married couple who look so much like each other that they could be twins. Which is the husband and which the wife? This one’s a bit from left field and would depend on the audition, of course, but step forward and take a bow John and Edward Grimes, aka the Irish pop duo Jedward. I think they would be great as the spooky couple.

Mr Anhanga The ultimate villain of the piece - a shifting insect of a man who is creepy beyond belief. Well, until I saw the TV version of Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal, I thought David Suchet was Poirot and Poirot was always and forever Suchet. However, his turn as the villainous Reacher Gilt showed he could transform nicely into the scuttling “cockroach thing” that is the trickster Anhanga.

Which brings us to the exception to all those coulds - Cleaver Flay. There is, to me, one actor whoshould play the mad butcher. Only this man embodies the beefy man mountain that is the hairless, animal loving monster that is Flay - and he is Pruitt Taylor Vince. I know, I know; who? He’s the American actor who played Malcolm Rivers, the mass murderer with multiple personalities in the much acclaimed movie Identity. He even looks the way I imagined Cleaver Flay. That’s him, I swear, standing on the roof of the SUV on the cover of the book. All it would take would be a vat of animal fat and a cutthroat razor.

            Yes, only Pruitt Taylor Vince should play flay.

            Unless Tom’s free.

* Or Helena Bonham Carter (if you’re out there, Tim!)

GRYMM by Keith Austin is published by Red Fox/Random House UK