Honour's Debt's Dream Cast by J Vincent

Honour’s Debt is a movie!  Who’s in the dream cast?  I thought this topic would be a snap to write up—until I sat down to do just that. When I write a book I create character sheets and I always pick a picture to represent what that character looks like.  I chose these from a thick file I have of photos cut from magazines, newspapers, ads etc. As I considered which movie stars might work best I at first drew blanks except for one.  It puzzled me for at time and then I realized that while I recognize a lot of names and faces of today’s “stars” it is another generation of movie stars that I really know. Throughout my high school years I feasted on World War II movies. The stars of the 1940’s I know, well, personally--John Payne, Van Johnson, John Wayne, Gregory Peck. Follow the link to go down memory lane with that era’s stars.  Which present day stars to play my characters?  I thought of the ‘40’s. But a movie by stars of the past isn’t the thing, especially since Honour’s Debt is a historical and not a vampire movie. Today’s crop of actors is less, much less, well known so names didn’t come to mind except, as I said, one.

But let’s start with a blurb of Honour’s Debt.  

         Maddie Vincouer conceals her father’s death in 1809 after promising to save her family from Cousin Sanford’s greed. A Riding Officer's persistence endangers this pretense with his demands to meet her father. Chance reveals her secret to the cruel French spy Donatien.
       Matters go completely awry when Maddie aids a wounded "free trader." Unknown to her, the free trader is Major Quentin Bellaport. He has accepted an assignment to pursue a spy in order to meet and repay the debt owed for his life to Maddie's cousin Jamey by wedding her. Sanford's appearance and demand Maddie marry him, the Riding Officer's hunt for the free trader, Bellaport’s pursuit of the French spy, and he and Maddie falling in love hasten a final confrontation between all. Maddie faces a funeral, a wedding, kidnappings, and a deadly encounter on a moonlit beach. In a desperate attempt to save her Bellaport enlists the help of Baron de la Croix and rolls the dice on the fate of all their lives as he pays HONOUR'S DEBT.

In the Honour series I have a villain that runs through all the books. His name is Donatien.   Johnny Depp came to mind at once. He becomes the characters he plays and would do well with the constant alterations in looks and body language that are necessary for Donatien to be successful.  He is a master spy who constantly changes his identity. Donatien’s brother Petit wasn’t hard to cast.  Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones is perfect.

The other characters who run through all of the Honour books is the English spy André Ribeymon, Baron De la Croix and Quentin Bellaport’s fellow cavalry officers.  Anthony Andrews who played the Scarlet Pimpernel eons ago immediately came to mind for André but he’s far too old now. After conferring with my sister and daughters and much searching I finally settled on Dean O’Gorman who plays Fili in the current Hobbit movies. The Hobbit and Lord of the Ring books/movies are favorites of mine.  I do have to admit I didn’t realize from “reading” the books that dwarfs could be quite so good looking.
 

Then there’s the dashing Lt. James Vincouer.  Matt Boomer (right) who stars on White Collar has Jamey's look and his adventurous spirit.

The other characters took quite a while to find amid much internet searching of young actors. For Major Quentin Bellaport I chose Thor Oakenshield or Richard Armitage to go by his real name. The Hobbit is a favorite of mine. I never knew until I saw the first one that the dwarfs in that book looked so good.

Bellaport’s batman Jenks plays a major part in the movie.  Martin Freeman, PBS’s Sherlock Holmes’ Dr. Watson and also Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit movies is perfect for that part.  

For Bellaport’s father, the Earl of Margonaut, I cast LiamNeesom (left)—why not with a dream cast.

My heroine, Maddie Vincouer who did what had to be done to protect her family needs a strong woman to play her.  Gemma Arterton who was in Quantum of Solace and Prince of Persia The Sands of Time, fits the bill.

Someone I find difficult to cast is Maddie’s Aunt Pricilla. I considered Meryl Streep but she isn’t quite right for my sixty-something pleasantly conniving aunt. Any suggestions?

Captain Merristorm, my dark brooding character would be played by Matthew Rhys.  Rhys, a relatively unknown Welsh actor is, I read, best known for his part as Kevin Walker in Brothers & Sisters (a show I never did see).

The hunt for someone to play Lt. Samuel Goodchurch seemed to go on forever. I thought of Robert Pattinson but wasn’t completely happy with him. One person did persistently come to mind.  Matthew Gray Gubler, Criminal Mind’s Dr. Spencer Reid. If you go through his photos on Bing you will see he is a chameleon of sorts. He has the tall gangliness of Goodchurch and for me, a strength of spirit that my character needs.

Captain Medworth, the Riding Officer is almost too small a part for Ioan Gruffudd to the right.  But what moviewouldn’t be better with him in it?

Sanford Vincouer the villain would be Shia Lebeiuf. Something about his attitude made me pick him for the greedy, bully that is Sanford.
  
 For Sanford's rude demanding mother Eliminda Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond came to mind.

The last cast was Lord Blake Major Danbury. Lord Blake, the third son of a duke, is known to be an excellent cavalry officer but also plagued by ennui.  Leonardo DiCaprio has the looks as well as the acting ability to play the man.  The sword scar on Danbury’s right cheek would only make the actor more interesting.  Lord Blake is utterly bored with life or so it seems. I'm working on his book at the present time and have a new inspiration.

So what do you think, especially you who have read Honour's Debt?  If any of you have other suggestions I'd like to hear them.

Questions and Answers by J Vincent

Pat Davids’ blog posed several questions to consider as 2013 begins which I’ve condensed in italics below.  Such introspection can lead to confusion at first but then to surprising answers, at least to me when I came up with them.  i also realized my answers would probably change according to how they struck me at a later time.  But for now this is what I have.

What is your value?  Not what do you value, but what is your value? You are valuable. Look inside and see if you can give a voice to that value.

This was a puzzle.  Surely our value lies in what we value? I value hard work, and part of my value is that I am a hard worker. I admire loyalty so part of my value is that I am loyal to a fault. But then I reconsidered.  During the past six months I have thought I had little value. I have been very ill and slow to recover with new problems cropping up in an ever continuous line. My inability to do almost anything made me believe I had no value.  But after some thought I came to a different conclusion.  Do I consider people with handicaps, of whatever source, lacking in value? No. If they have value then so must I. Perhaps my value is different from when I am well but it still exists. I still touch lives. I make people smile; I make people care. I provide a means for their value to increase through the ways they help me. Yes, I will always have value.

What is your strength? What is the most indelible part of you? What makes you tick? Search your heart. What makes you strong?

My strength has always been my persistence, perseverance or whatever name you want to call it. My family would say it’s plain old German bullheadedness, but it has held me in good stead through life so far.  It’s why I have survived my many health problems.  It’s why I have written as many books as I have.

What do you enjoy? Just you. The New Year will be dull and lifeless if you don't make time for what you enjoy. Pick a date and mark your calendar for some you time. 

Pat says these change and how right she is. Macrame, crocheted jewelry (Long ago I made and sold enough crocheted rings and necklaces to buy my first clothes dryer!), and collecting snowmen were once passions of mine.  A current passions is quilt making as you saw via a previous blog.  

One writing passion is for some of my characters. We have people we love and some we don’t. Same is true for characters. I am very fond of all my heroes in my Honour series but I am fascinated by my villain, Donatien.  He has shocked me by how much he has evolved from his first appearance. I’m the author, I mumble now and then, I should know exactly what my characters are up to at all times.  It’s always seemed weird to me that I don’t and that they can surprise me. Learning the rest of my hero’s stories and this villain’s is the most probable reason I will finished the Honour series.

What is your weakness? What keeps you from following your passion? What holds you back from accepting your full value? This is about you. This is about finding out what makes you tick.

Pat’s blog made me realize I’ve been wandering goalless through my life the past year. I had sporadic fits of activity--writing and otherwise. But there was no real direction to any of it. Part of my weakness is just that--physical weakness. This is often compounded by the effects of the various meds I take. In December I was still exhausted all the time, unable to make decisions, didn’t want to get up, etc.  I thought depression and stopped taking one of my newest meds that got me through the crisis this fall but had depression/suicide as a major side effect. That improved matters but the exhaustion and a few other symptoms remained.  A blood test showed I was severely deficient in Vitamin D. It is amazing how much a weekly dosage of 50,000 units has changed me. I actually feel like me again and that it is possible to set goals and attain them. But the above is too simple.

Fear of failure, lack of confidence, and procrastination also play a part. Combine these with the fact that my priorities changed as my health declined. Searching for answers to Pat’s questions helped me focus on what is important to me. Only time will tell if writing is still a passion. No matter what, as Pat said so well, “To know and understand you is the key to finding inner peace and happiness.”

Wishing you all a Happy and Successful New Year!