Week #4 of THE NEXT BIG THING: Casting

This is week four of TNBT a fun blog questionnaire for The Next Big Thing.

Here’s the plan:

***Answer the ten questions listed below about a current WIP (Work In Progress).

***Tag five other writers (five awesome writers whose work you want us to watch) and link their blogs so we can all hop over and check them out! It’s that simple.

I’ve chosen to answer one question per week with ‘the best laid plans’ of publishing my second novel by the time the ink dries on the final question. 

Here is Question #4 of The Next Big Thing: 

TNBT: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? 

GAIL: Until this question arose, I hadn't given much thought to movie renditions of my novel's characters. I knew readers would probably provide their own vivid depictions of my characters as they read the Pepper Bibeau mysteries. I wouldn’t want to override the images they form in their minds. I am willing to make a couple of suggestions though.

My female protagonist is of mixed heritage, including paternal Western European and maternal East Asian and Hawaiian, so other than an amalgam of Keanu Reeves (for the Hawaiian and Caucasian) and Lucy Liu (for the Asian), I’m not sure who would fit the bill. Besides, the two of them back-to-back (think Matrix and Charlie’s Angels) cast a thinner shadow than my Polynesian-framed protagonist, Pepper.

For the first Pepper Bibeau mystery, I did have an actor in mind for one character, Homicide Sergeant Tobias Robertson of the Chicago Police Department. Ernie Hudson was the original role model for Toby. He has appeared in a wide range of movies including Ghostbusters, Congo, and Sugar Hill. Another actor who could fill the role is Denzel Washington, or even Wesley Snipes. I just watched the movie Jerry Maguire again and would have to say, definitely not Cuba Gooding Jr!

All of my characters stand out in my mind, but not in physical form. As I write their scenes, I feel their mass, height, coloring, and attitude. When Pepper’s Uncle Fred grumbles, it is the purring of an old softy that I hear. Though Pepper’s uncle, Maluhia Peleke (Fred) Kane, is Hawaiian, keep in mind that he bears no resemblance to Don Ho or Jack Lord’s Steve McGarrett. How about Duke Kahanamoku?

And now, five awesome writers whose work you want to watch:

1. Rich Weatherly http://richweatherly.wordpress.com/

2. Judith Price http://www.judithprice.com/

3. Peter Bradbury http://petercbradbury.blogspot.com/2012/06/press-release.html

4. Gordon Kessler http://gordonkessler.com/

5. Florence Osmund http://www.florenceosmund.com/

Full set of questions for The Next Big Thing Interview:

What is the working title of your book?

Where did the idea for the book come from?

What genre does your book fall under?

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

What other books within your genre would you compare this story to?

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?