Chris Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "thriller"
THANKS FOR INTREPID MONTH
FACEBOOK AUTHOR EVENT FOR ONLINE BOOK CLUB
Intrepid Month was great fun during June, where I took part in an interactive Author Chat on Facebook and guest-posted on the That Book You Like blog.
“On Monday night.. we had a chance to chat to Chris Allen. It was entertaining and informative, a fabulous insight into writing, reading and living an adventurous life.”
— Mandi, That Book You Like
You can catch the round-up from Intrepid Month on That Book You Like here: http://thatbookyoulike.wordpress.com/...
Intrepid Month was great fun during June, where I took part in an interactive Author Chat on Facebook and guest-posted on the That Book You Like blog.
“On Monday night.. we had a chance to chat to Chris Allen. It was entertaining and informative, a fabulous insight into writing, reading and living an adventurous life.”
— Mandi, That Book You Like
You can catch the round-up from Intrepid Month on That Book You Like here: http://thatbookyoulike.wordpress.com/...
MY HOLLYWOOD DREAM CAST FOR HUNTER
A few blogs ago, back in January, I participated in the blog equivalent of a chain mail letter, an online challenge called The Next Big Thing. In it, I mentioned a couple of actors that I’d like to see play my characters in Defender.
Now this week, for Tia at The Serious Reader blog, I've thoroughly enjoyed putting together a short and snappy ‘Hollywood Star Cast’ for my second action thriller in the Alex Morgan espionage series, Hunter with descriptions of the characters included.
You can read it here: http://www.theseriousreader.org/1/pos...
In this post I will be further explaining why I think these and other actors would be the perfect fit to play the following five of the main characters in Hunter. They are by no means the only actors who could play these roles but I do like to have people pegged in my mind as I write - it helps me bring the characters to life.
As you’ll read in The Serious Reader guest-post, my stand-out to play Alex Morgan has for some time been Australian actor, Alex O’Loughlin. I like O’Loughlin because he’s Australian and he’s also done well on US TV playing Steve McGarrett in Hawaii 5-0. What I like about his portrayal of McGarrett is he’s really captured the essence of a former service man. He’s not a bulldog but he’s a definite action man. He has empathy and respect at the same time as being completely mission-focused. He doesn’t play a robot soldier, he plays a thinking soldier and I really like that about him.
But a new kid on the block for the Alex Morgan role has to be Henry Cavill, the British actor playing Superman in The Man of Steel. He's the perfect age, he has a strong 'good guy' look about him that really captures what I want for Morgan. Men want to be him, and women, well...
Meanwhile, a hands-down favourite to play General Davenport is Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan has just turned 60 and he carries his age and the integrity of his age well, especially given that General Davenport is a former decorated SAS officer before becoming an expert in the rules of war and humanitarian war. It would be easy for an audience to associate Brosnan with an action man past given that he is the last actor to play Bond before Daniel Craig. Above all, Davenport is an old-school gentleman and I think Brosnan would convey that well.
I would like to see Emily Blunt play Charlotte-Rose Fleming. I like the Englishness about her. In the book, Charlie is a child of an American mother and an English father. Blunt has a strong presence on screen while possessing feminine vulnerability. The most important thing for me is that the female leads convey intelligence and resourcefulness. Blunt would be perfect for that.
The one to play The Wolf is Olivier Martinez. The Wolf needs to be someone who conveys a very dark side while also being appealing on the surface, because that’s what The Wolf relies on; his strength is in being able to flout the law and present himself as something other than what he really is.
Rade Šerbedžija is the guy that I’d want to play Drago’s character. I first saw Šerbedžija in The Saint movie with Val Kilmer and he has been in many others since, including most recently in Taken 2. He is an incredibly strong actor and I even used him as inspiration for the description of Drago in the story. He has a physicality and presence that I absolutely hope to convey with Drago's central character.
It is a dream for any author to have movies made of his stories and I'm no different. While I use some of these actors in my mind while writing the third in the series, Avenger, there are new characters in the latest story that are not covered here.
I'd also love to find out any actors you can see playing any of the characters in my thriller novels - just leave me a comment!
Now this week, for Tia at The Serious Reader blog, I've thoroughly enjoyed putting together a short and snappy ‘Hollywood Star Cast’ for my second action thriller in the Alex Morgan espionage series, Hunter with descriptions of the characters included.
You can read it here: http://www.theseriousreader.org/1/pos...
In this post I will be further explaining why I think these and other actors would be the perfect fit to play the following five of the main characters in Hunter. They are by no means the only actors who could play these roles but I do like to have people pegged in my mind as I write - it helps me bring the characters to life.
As you’ll read in The Serious Reader guest-post, my stand-out to play Alex Morgan has for some time been Australian actor, Alex O’Loughlin. I like O’Loughlin because he’s Australian and he’s also done well on US TV playing Steve McGarrett in Hawaii 5-0. What I like about his portrayal of McGarrett is he’s really captured the essence of a former service man. He’s not a bulldog but he’s a definite action man. He has empathy and respect at the same time as being completely mission-focused. He doesn’t play a robot soldier, he plays a thinking soldier and I really like that about him.
But a new kid on the block for the Alex Morgan role has to be Henry Cavill, the British actor playing Superman in The Man of Steel. He's the perfect age, he has a strong 'good guy' look about him that really captures what I want for Morgan. Men want to be him, and women, well...
Meanwhile, a hands-down favourite to play General Davenport is Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan has just turned 60 and he carries his age and the integrity of his age well, especially given that General Davenport is a former decorated SAS officer before becoming an expert in the rules of war and humanitarian war. It would be easy for an audience to associate Brosnan with an action man past given that he is the last actor to play Bond before Daniel Craig. Above all, Davenport is an old-school gentleman and I think Brosnan would convey that well.
I would like to see Emily Blunt play Charlotte-Rose Fleming. I like the Englishness about her. In the book, Charlie is a child of an American mother and an English father. Blunt has a strong presence on screen while possessing feminine vulnerability. The most important thing for me is that the female leads convey intelligence and resourcefulness. Blunt would be perfect for that.
The one to play The Wolf is Olivier Martinez. The Wolf needs to be someone who conveys a very dark side while also being appealing on the surface, because that’s what The Wolf relies on; his strength is in being able to flout the law and present himself as something other than what he really is.
Rade Šerbedžija is the guy that I’d want to play Drago’s character. I first saw Šerbedžija in The Saint movie with Val Kilmer and he has been in many others since, including most recently in Taken 2. He is an incredibly strong actor and I even used him as inspiration for the description of Drago in the story. He has a physicality and presence that I absolutely hope to convey with Drago's central character.
It is a dream for any author to have movies made of his stories and I'm no different. While I use some of these actors in my mind while writing the third in the series, Avenger, there are new characters in the latest story that are not covered here.
I'd also love to find out any actors you can see playing any of the characters in my thriller novels - just leave me a comment!
Q&A ON COFFEE TALK BLOG
This post first appeared on: http://coffeetalkwitherin.com/2013/07...
1) Tell me about your main protagonist, Alex Morgan. How much of this character is based on yourself and your own experiences as a Paratrooper and Army Major?
Alex Morgan is a real mix of me and those I’ve served with. Like me, Alex Morgan is Australian with Welsh heritage who served with the British Parachute Regiment. He’s got a predisposition to bouts of melancholy due to some of the stuff he’s seen, he thinks of himself as one of the old-school defenders of the faith, and we both share an affinity with tea and a pint of Guinness. That’s about where the similarities end – right about the time that Morgan is picked as the new star agent at Intrepid (being the black-ops division of Interpol, naturally).
2) What made you decide to start writing a book?
A few different things propelled me in the direction of writing. I grew up on the yarns of Ian Fleming and Alastair Maclean, and their command of storytelling was such that I aspired to see some action in order to write about it convincingly. I was also an aspiring jazz and rock drummer when I was at school and I wasn’t too bad at it. But when the 80’s synthesized dance music like Tainted Love et al started gaining traction, that was it for me. I decided it was now or never, and joined the Army aged 18. Probably a funny way to do it, but with a family history steeped in military service, I reckon it was inevitable. That said, I didn’t actually start any serious writing until I returned from East Timor Emergency in 1999 – after I’d been medically discharged from the Army. And then it took ten years to discover my own style of storytelling through thousands of drafts. These things don’t happen overnight, as I’m sure you well know.
3) Can you describe your writing process? Are you a planner or do you “wing” it?
A bit of both, actually. After dreaming, researching and constructing the plot for each book, I’m head down and bum up writing a plethora of notes in my brown leather-bound notebook, filling post-it notes in my writing mancave, creating a map for the book on my whiteboard, the lot. It’s also brimming around in my head at this time to the point of overflow. So I’ve got to put it down somewhere so that I can then put the pieces of the puzzle together. After that, I wing it. The story comes out and I type it as fast as my two fingers can get it on the page! Editing is another story all together…
3) What is next for Alex Morgan? And Chris Allen?
Morgan has a lot on actually. He’s taking on some of the world’s shadiest and most despicable characters in Avenger – human traffickers. He’s also showing the first female agent in Intrepid the ropes, and I’m sure she will put Morgan through his paces too. My job is to see Morgan’s adventures go as far and wide as they can – be that on the big and small screens, throughout the book series, into different languages and published in different states and territories. It’s a big vision, but I know what is possible and I’ll not stop until I get there!
1) Tell me about your main protagonist, Alex Morgan. How much of this character is based on yourself and your own experiences as a Paratrooper and Army Major?
Alex Morgan is a real mix of me and those I’ve served with. Like me, Alex Morgan is Australian with Welsh heritage who served with the British Parachute Regiment. He’s got a predisposition to bouts of melancholy due to some of the stuff he’s seen, he thinks of himself as one of the old-school defenders of the faith, and we both share an affinity with tea and a pint of Guinness. That’s about where the similarities end – right about the time that Morgan is picked as the new star agent at Intrepid (being the black-ops division of Interpol, naturally).
2) What made you decide to start writing a book?
A few different things propelled me in the direction of writing. I grew up on the yarns of Ian Fleming and Alastair Maclean, and their command of storytelling was such that I aspired to see some action in order to write about it convincingly. I was also an aspiring jazz and rock drummer when I was at school and I wasn’t too bad at it. But when the 80’s synthesized dance music like Tainted Love et al started gaining traction, that was it for me. I decided it was now or never, and joined the Army aged 18. Probably a funny way to do it, but with a family history steeped in military service, I reckon it was inevitable. That said, I didn’t actually start any serious writing until I returned from East Timor Emergency in 1999 – after I’d been medically discharged from the Army. And then it took ten years to discover my own style of storytelling through thousands of drafts. These things don’t happen overnight, as I’m sure you well know.
3) Can you describe your writing process? Are you a planner or do you “wing” it?
A bit of both, actually. After dreaming, researching and constructing the plot for each book, I’m head down and bum up writing a plethora of notes in my brown leather-bound notebook, filling post-it notes in my writing mancave, creating a map for the book on my whiteboard, the lot. It’s also brimming around in my head at this time to the point of overflow. So I’ve got to put it down somewhere so that I can then put the pieces of the puzzle together. After that, I wing it. The story comes out and I type it as fast as my two fingers can get it on the page! Editing is another story all together…
3) What is next for Alex Morgan? And Chris Allen?
Morgan has a lot on actually. He’s taking on some of the world’s shadiest and most despicable characters in Avenger – human traffickers. He’s also showing the first female agent in Intrepid the ropes, and I’m sure she will put Morgan through his paces too. My job is to see Morgan’s adventures go as far and wide as they can – be that on the big and small screens, throughout the book series, into different languages and published in different states and territories. It’s a big vision, but I know what is possible and I’ll not stop until I get there!
