WHAT'S A MOTHER TO DO--THE MOVIE!

NO, Hollywood hasn't come calling yet with an offer to turn my novel into a movie, and probably won't. But when I wrote MOTHER, I had to have an idea of what my characters looked like, so I cast it, just as if it WERE a movie.  I don't know how other people read fiction, but I don't just see words on a page--I try to visualize it, like watching a movie in my head.

                          
         So here is the way I saw some of the main characters in my book
 

I saw Nicholas Cage as Frank "Big Mother" Harley.

This is Mavis, Frank's lipstick-lesbian wife. In real life, she's Diane Kruger.

I couldn't see anyone else as Hammer but Billy Bob Thornton.

This is what I thought Frank's dad, the Rev. Edmund F. Harley, looked like. In case you don't recognize him, that's James Lipton, host of TV's Inside The Actor's Studio.  Yes, he's an actor. Also a writer, producer, director, teacher, and man about town. He's also married to Miss Scarlett, from the movie CLUE, based on the popular board game.

Who could look more like Buddy Omaha than Tony Soprano. Tell me this wasn't who you thought of.

When I was writing MOTHER, I actually had pictures of all these people in a file folder, which I can't find at the moment.  I can't remember who Autumn looked like, or Willie the Snake, or Frank's mother. And it's not that important. Every reader probably pictured someone different anyway. If, by some incredible, million-to-one long shot, Hollywood did make a movie of the book, I doubt that they'd consult me about the casting. This is simply a tool I use when writing fiction, and I thought it would be fun to share it with you.

This is who I originally had in mind as Jellybean Randall.

OK--I finally found the original pictures I used to keep my characters' features in mind. Here are some more of the characters.

Behold--Autumn Wicker.  In real life, Carmen Elektra.

Mother's mother.

Sherry, the temp as jailbait.  Yes--Lindsey Lohan.   Who else?

The lovely Kanisha Cannon, Jelly's cousin and main squeeze.

Lydia Sparkle.

Wendy Tinsley, Mavis' teacher-crush.

T-T-That's all, folks!  See you at the movies!  Hahaha  I wish!

SEQUEL PLANNED

Despite the fact that WHAT'S A MOTHER TO DO has not exactly hit the bestseller charts, a sequel (titled MOTHERLOVER) is now in the planning stages.  Literally 2 or 3 readers have all but demanded this.  The feedback from MOTHER has been, somewhat surprisingly, overwhelmingly positive. Most of the people who read the book liked it, and several  liked it a lot.

MOTHERLOVER will be set principally in Owensboro, with side trips to Las Vegas and possibly another city, most likely in Florida.  Many of the same characters, and a few new ones, will be in the book, which will take up where the first one left off.

IN OTHER NEWS,  WHAT'S A MOTHER TO DO is now available for check-out at the Daviess County Public Library. The DC library has a policy of ordering another book for every five holds, so the more often it is checked out, the better.