Yesterday over at the toberead blog, I posted a little thing about Random House making a deal with a production company to purchase film rights of Random House books, if available. As an author for Ballantine (an imprint of RH), I was of course intrigued. What author wouldn’t want their book made into a movie? The same author who says they “don’t care” if they hit the NYT list — one who lies.
One of the caveats is that they’re not looking at the mega bestsellers (like John Grisham whose books are already turned into blockbuster movies); they’re looking at other books — which I think bodes well for authors AND movie goers, for suspense and romance in particular. Jonathon Kellerman, one of my fave authors, writes for Ballantine and I can totally see Alex Delaware coming to life. And what about Tess Gerritsen . . . out of all her books, I’d love to see the most recent, VANISH, made into a movie. And as I said on the other blog, Julie Garwood‘s KILLJOY is my favorite of hers. And don’t forget Lisa Gardner . . . Bronwyn Jameson on the TBR blog pointed her out.
There are so many non-bestselling books (okay, all three of those authors have hit THE list, but I haven’t seen any of their books turned into movies . . . why, I have no idea) that have great characters and great stories . . . I can see them as movies.
But I’m a visual person. When I write, I “see” the scene. If I can’t visualize it, I can’t write it.
Last night I was working on a scene in THE KILL. My editor wanted more tension. Basically, it was too easy to catch the bad guy and we weren’t sufficiently scared for the heroine. The suggestion I received didn’t work. I sat my husband on the couch and said, “Okay, pretend you’re in the passenger seat of a stolen police cruiser and you’re holding a gun on me.”
“It’s awkward.”
“Right!” And I’m thinking, there’s NO WAY Olivia is going to be able to disarm the villain. She’s stuck.
Then it came to me. The solution. Something completely different than what I’d original written, what my editor suggested, and what had been running around my head. I stayed up until one in the morning pounding out the new scene, totally excited, because it worked and not only did it work, but I could picture the entire event unfolding . . . that’s how I KNEW it worked.
So I emailed my fabulous editor about the changes, and she called me all excited and said, “I love it. A little blood is always a good thing.”
Hee hee hee.
So, to get back to my original point . . . visual is good. I’d love to see some of the books I love made into movies, simply because I feel I’ve already seen them.
And, of course, I’d love to see my books made into movies . . . if I said I didn’t, I’d be lying.
Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.
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