The Pendulum Files: p.m. terrell casts the movie

Welcome to my stop on The Pendulum Files book tour! When I read books, I often cast the characters in a movie adaptation in my mind as I am reading. I asked p.m.terrell about casting for the main characters in an adaptation of The Pendulum Files. Check out her response below.

The Pendulum Files by p.m. terrell

CIA operative Dylan Maguire joins forces with psychic spy Vicki Boyd to find out who is bombing merchant vessels bound for the United States from China. Their mission will lead them to Black Sites, the high seas and into covert operations. And when an assassin escapes from prison determined to finish the job he started, they find their personal lives and their missions are about to collide in ways they never could have imagined.

Casting the Characters

There are five main characters in the Black Swamp Mysteries series:


There’s Vicki Boyd, the CIA psychic spy who is the “good girl”, the one who always tries to color inside the lines. She is often quiet and introspective but still waters really do run deep. Her love affair with Dylan Maguire has ignited passions within her, and when she tried to walk away from the CIA to begin a new life, it was short-lived. She resisted getting pulled back in but now she is resigned to it. And she is the best in the business when it comes to psychic spies. When I think of Vicki, I always picture Amy Adams.

Vicki’s sister, Brenda Carnegie, is just the opposite: a computer genius but a bad girl, one who prefers to tread on the dark side, the one who loves danger and who can be sexually charged. She has become one of the two most favorite characters in the series, according to my fans. It seems everyone loves the bad girl! I know Lindsay Lohan would do an awesome job with this character.

The charming, handsome Irishman Dylan Maguire is the character everyone seems to fall in love with. Men want to be him and women want to bed him. Black hair, hazel eyes, muscular, romantic, kind and caring but a CIA operative who can kill when necessary—Dylan’s character is intentionally complex. Kevin Ryan, an Irish actor from Dublin, would be perfect in the role.

Christopher Sandige is an anti-hero; a political strategist more accustomed to a desk than murder; tall, wiry, brown hair and expression-filled eyes. A romantic, hopelessly in love with Brenda even though he knows trouble is always half a step behind her. And yet, when the situation warrants it, he can shoot to kill, fight with the best of them… and keep Brenda under control. Tom Weston-Jones would be my pick.

Sam Mazoli is the CIA supervisor who manages Vicki and Dylan. Multi-faceted, he is gruff, he is no-nonsense, he’s the kind of boss that can have employees quaking. He can also be unintentionally funny and uncharacteristically surprising: the crotchety man who murmurs sweet nothings to his very feminine Persian cat, the brusque supervisor who frets over sick angelfish. There’s never been any doubt in my mind who should play him: Robert De Niro.

Excerpt

She wasn’t quite sure what roused her from sleep. But as Vicki slowly opened her eyes, she became aware of her nude body lying on one side with Dylan’s larger, muscular form curled up behind her. One arm was stretched over her protectively and her derriere rested against his lap, their legs intertwined.

Normally some moonlight found its way inside, but the room was so murky that she wondered if there was any moon at all this night. She narrowed her eyes in an effort to adjust to the darkness as Dylan’s measured, soft breathing remained against her ear.

She nearly gasped as her eyes fell upon a figure just a few feet from the bed. She frowned as it swayed in front of her; it was not flesh and blood—that much was obvious. It was almost opaque and as she continued to stare, it grew more luminous until a tiny woman stood in front of her with long, flowing white hair billowing about her as if blown by the wind.

She wore a thin nightgown that reached from the base of her neck all the way to her feet, and as Vicki continued to stare, she smiled.

“Mam,” Vicki breathed as she recognized Dylan’s grandmother.

Dylan murmured something incomprehensible and held her more tightly against him.

“Be careful what you do, child,” Mam said in a clear voice. “There are eyes on you.”

Vicki gasped and grabbed at the bed covering. “You shouldn’t be watching us!” she exclaimed.

Dylan awakened and leaned over her to look at her face. “What is it, Darlin’?”

Vicki could feel the heat in her cheeks. She half-turned to Dylan to see him watching her with sleepy eyes. “I—” She turned back to where his grandmother had stood, but she was gone.

“Another bad dream, mayhap?” he asked before settling back. “There’s nothin’ at’al to be frightened of, Darlin’. I’ll take good care o’ you.”

She tried to relax against his body once more. She kept her eyes open and her ears on alert but she was met only with silence and a darkness that reminded her that she’d had precious little sleep. Still, she pulled the bedcovers over them, covering their naked bodies.

The grandfather clock downstairs ticked off the seconds, the sound reminding her of just how silent the rest of the house really was. She finally felt herself snuggling into that warm cocoon of sleep.

She could feel Dylan’s breath against the back of her neck; it was the steady breathing of a man deeply asleep. Then she became aware of something else, something against her nose as if someone was breathing on her face.

Her eyes flew open to find Mam leaning down in front of her, her face just inches from hers.

“It isn’t me you need to be concernin’ y’self with, child,” she said. “Other eyes are watchin’.”

Author Bio and Links

p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 20 books in five genres. A full-time author since 2002, Black Swamp Mysteries is her first series, inspired by the success of Exit 22 in 2008. The books include Exit 22, Vicki's Key, Secrets of a Dangerous Woman, Dylan's Song and The Pendulum Files. Vicki's Key placed as one of four finalists in the 2012 International Book Awards. Her historical book, River Passage, won the 2010 Best Drama Award, and her romantic suspense, The Tempest Murders, placed as one of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards.

Prior to becoming a full-time writer, she founded and operated two computer companies in the Washington, DC area. Her specialties were computer crime and computer intelligence and her clients included the CIA, Secret Service and Department of Defense. Computer technology often weaves its way through her contemporary suspense/thrillers.

She is also the co-founder of The Book 'Em Foundation and the founder of The Book 'Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, an annual event to raise money for literacy campaigns. She also serves on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson County Public Library and the Robeson County Arts Council, and served as the first female president for the Chesterfield County/ Colonial Heights Crime Solvers.

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Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. pm terrell will award one randomly chosen commenter a beautiful Celtic cross necklace. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. Remember, the more you comment, the better your chances to win.