Monday, October 31, 2016

Martha Freeman's "Strudel's Forever Home"

Martha Freeman is an author of books for children of all ages, including The Orphan and the Mouse, the First Kids and Chickadee Court mysteries, and The Secret Cookie Club: Campfire Cookies.

Here Freeman shares some ideas for casting some roles in an adaptation of her latest novel, Strudel's Forever Home:
Strudel’s Forever Home has a tale within the tale. (Both are about dogs, so each tale also has a tail… but never mind.) The principal plot concerns a boy, Jake, who reads to a dog named Strudel at a shelter, then eventually adopts him. The book he reads is Chief, Dog of the Old West. Listening to the stories, Strudel, a dachshund in the big city, aspires to be Chief, a German shepherd on the lone prairie. Results for Strudel are mixed.

Anyway, I never really saw any big stars playing the parts of Jake or his family. While I did just cast Matthew McConaughey in the MS I’m working on now, that was unusual. I rarely think of my characters in Hollywood terms. With the “Chief” story being larger-than-life, though, I definitely had old westerns in mind. I see Rin Tin Tin (or one of his/her many stunt doubles) in the title role, and Gary Cooper as the sheriff.
Visit Martha Freeman's website.

--Marshal Zeringue