Ticket to Admit one

Books to Movies – How About It?

Karin Kallmaker Craft of Writing, Finders Keepers, Touchwood - First Edition

Ticket to Admit one

“Have you thought about adapting your books into movies? I think several of the books you have written would make wonderful movies.”


Have I thought about it? Yes, but not seriously. Screenwriting is very different from writing novels, and I would benefit from classes, that is, if I intended to write the screenplay myself. I would also have to retrain my ear for dialogue—something meant to be read and absorbed through the eye-brain connection doesn’t necessary sound the same when absorbed through the ear-brain connection.

Popped kernel
It’s possible that when my kids go off to college and I suddenly have oodles of time on my hands (okay, pausing to laugh at the thought of ever having “oodles” of time) I might consider taking on the process. In the meantime, the only way one of my books will become a movie is if someone else options the novel and brings their own screenwriter to the party.

Many moons ago, Touchwood was optioned, but financing for the project fell through. Which brings up the question of who would play the leads? Who would play the leads in any of my novels? I rarely have any particular visual in mind, preferring to leave the reader to fill in the blanks, though secondary characters I often fill in all the way. For example, Marissa’s “stand on the table and announce you love your lesbian daughter” Mom (Finders Keepers) looked an awful lot like Meryl Streep to me.

If you have an actress in mind for a particular character in one of my novels, feel free to comment!

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