Ocean of Dust by Graeme Ing Guest Post

Ocean of Dust by Graeme Ing

Fourteen-year old Lissa is snatched from her home and finds herself a slave on a trading ship traveling on a waterless ocean of nothing but gray dust. A feisty, curious and intelligent girl, her desire to explore the ship earns her the hatred of the cruel first officer, Farq.

Fascinated by the ocean of dust, Lissa becomes embroiled in its mysteries, sensing things that the crew cannot, while cryptic whispers in her head are leading her toward a destiny linked to the dust itself. Only one man aboard can help her make sense of her new talent, but can she trust him? All is not as it seems, and she must unravel the clues before it’s too late.

When a sinister plot casts her adrift on the barren ocean, her best friend is left in the hands of the treacherous crew. Everything hinges upon her courage, quick wits, and her ability to master her new talent.


Ocean of Dust - the movie

I'm sure every new author dreams of their books capturing the attention of
powerful Hollywood producers, and being made into a movie. We imagine receiving
that email asking whether we want to option the rights. Let me think about that...
er... yes! I know a couple of Indie authors that this has happened to, and I think it's
true that moviemakers are searching everywhere for inspiration.

So whom would I cast for the major roles in Ocean of Dust:

Lissa

As a huge fan of AMC's Walking Dead, I imagine Emily Kinney playing my
heroine. Emily plays the young Beth in WD, and has the bright-eyed innocence that I
picture Lissa having. Of course, she'd need to dye her hair auburn. :)


      Branda
The sidekick. Probably the toughest of all to cast. I have such a vivid picture
of her in my mind that I can't match to a real person. My choice would be 

Kailee

Baue

r, who starred in Meridian. Branda is Valinese, a race that resembles Earthly

oriental races.

Farq

The evil deck-master! Paul Bettany would do such a fantastic job in this role.
Remember him as the creepy Silas in The Da Vinci Code? I love Paul as a baddie, and
his superb acting talents would bring Farq to life as an ambitious, cruel First Officer.

       Alice 

The bully. My pick is Dakota Blue Richards, who played Lyra, the heroine in
The Golden Compass. I think she could play the spiteful, pouty Alice very well.

Captain

David Threlfall is a highly talented actor. I loved him as Killick in Master
and Commander. I think his rugged but handsome looks match that of my captain, a
powerful, commanding, but reserved man.


      Oban
The creepy, vein-pulsing ship's navigator is one of my favourite characters.
Every time that I wrote about him, I could only picture one actor: Ian McDiarmid.
The poor guy is almost exclusively known for the sinister Emperor and Senator
Palpatine in the Star Wars movies. Sorry for typecasting you, Mr. McDiarmid. :)

Mampalo

Finally, the young ship's officer that unknowingly causes such a rift
between Lissa and Alice. It has to be Orlando Bloom. (Do I hear the female readers
sighing longingly?)


Casting one's characters is not as easy as it seems. Some I had in my mind as I wrote
the book, but for others it was difficult to choose one of so many talented actors.
Also, the problem with having three early teen characters is that I would have to
choose again every few years. Casting has been a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy my
picks.

Author Bio

Graeme Ing is a writer of fantasy and SF novels, both adult and YA. His first novel, Ocean of
Dust is a YA fantasy.

Graeme is currently working on his second book, a horror fantasy hybrid, starring a cocky,
sarcastic necromancer in a world of vicious undead and political machinations.

Born in England in 1965, Graeme lives in San Diego, California. His career as a software
engineer and development manager spans 25 years, including the development of a dozen
computer games for consoles, home computers and online. He is also an avid D&D nerd,
armchair mountaineer, astronomer, mapmaker, pilot and general geek. He and his wife,
Tamara, share their house with six crazy cats.

Website: http://www.graemeing.com/
Bio Page: http://www.graemeing.com/about/
Info about Ocean of Dust: http://www.graemeing.com/books/
Blog: http://www.graemeing.com/blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GraemeIngAuthor
Twitter: @GraemeIng https://twitter.com/GraemeIng
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/106761802400693987858/about
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6571955.Graeme_Ing