I’ve always been a big movie and TV fan. When I was a child, my mother was so worried about the hours I spent in front of the television, she sent me to nursery school. And this was way before preschool was the norm. Once I learned to read, books became an equal obsession, and poor mom would have to force me outside to play.

That ardor didn’t change as I grew into an adult. Until I started writing seriously, I was always a voracious reader. And once I worked as a broadcast producer for a local department store. Part of my job was to show buyers their commercials, so naturally I had a TV in my office. For some reason, it always
seemed to turn itself on around the time Days of Our Lives aired. When I left that job, the advertising department gave me a plaque inscribed with this: I Love Television. Without It Life Would Be An Endless Stream of Real Experiences.

Recently, I’ve had a chance to put my two loves together. I came across a fantastic site called Storycasting.com. It lets you take your favorite books and “cast” them as if you were turning them into a movie or TV show. I couldn’t wait to get in there and cast my books. For TWO LETHAL LIES, I chose Thorsten Kaye as the hero, Mitch Turner. Thorsten is a ruggedly handsome actor from All My Children. Christina Hendricks, from Mad Men, was the model for my heroine, Neesy Brown. And I cast John Hamm—also from Mad Men—as the gorgeously charming villain, Dutch.

You can do this with any book, so in addition to my own, I checked out some of my favorites to see how other people cast them. Sometimes, I found lots of controversy! Lots of people like Gerard Butler as Jamie Fraser in Diana Gabaldon’s OUTLANDER. But many more point out that Butler is too old now. Personally, I think Sam Worthington (Avatar) would be great. People greeted the casting of Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum with howls. On Storycasting, the preference is for Sandra Bulluck.

I had so much fun! Among the stars I cast for my own books were Tom Cruise and Frances McDormand as the hero/heroine of BLIND CURVE; Ben Browder and Claudia Black as the H/H of BLACKOUT; and Sam Worthington and Lena Heady as the H/H of ONE DEADLY SIN.

So now it’s your turn. What are your favorite books and how would you cast them if you could?

Annie will be giving away a signed copy of her romantic suspense, ONE DEADLY SIN to someone who comments.

www.anniecolomon.com