Virutal Blog Tour: Author Russell Brooks here with a contest!!

Please help me welcome author Russell Brooks, promoting his new release "Pandora's Succession." Find out more about his book and the author himself on my Blog Tour Teaser Post, his blog, and his website. And follow him on the rest of his blog tour - dates and links here!   So let's all give a big welcome to author Russell Brooks as he talks about his new release, and be sure to comment to be entered to win one of ten ecopies of "Pandora's Succession!"

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 And the actor to play Ridley Fox is…

By Russell Brooks

My associate came up with the idea of turning Pandora’s Succession into a graphic novel and asked me which celebrities did I picture emulating the characters. It was interesting because in this story I had already envisioned actual actors portraying the characters. So without further ado, allow me to share with you the actors and actresses that I had in mind when I wrote Pandora’s Succession.

Ridley Fox—Christian Bale

I’ve always pictured someone who’s athletic, tough, but with a bit of a soft, emotional side. Christian Bale is perfect as the troubled CIA operative, Ridley Fox. Aside from having the right height, build, and age, he’s been a gentleman at times while a bad-ass at others. The best examples of this were when we watched him in The Dark Knight and Terminator: Salvation. Furthermore, Bale has a certain charisma that attracts women, not to mention the physique, that is, until he has a meltdown. In addition to being British-born, he has facial features that could make him pass for a native of almost any country, which would allow him to easily emulate the multilingual, chameleon-like talents that Fox possesses. The only thing that Bale needs is to learn to play the piano and the violin, because that’s what helps Fox think and to relax.

 

Dr Nita Parris—Zoe Saldana

Alright. Being of Barbadian ancestry, I know that this will put me in hot water the next time I go to Barbados because I didn’t picture Rihanna. After all, the former CIA weapons analyst turned field operative, Dr Nita Parris, is a native of Barbados. She was a tough one to envision because unfortunately I find that too many young actresses are way too anorexic. I also needed someone exotic and athletic to play the role of the former star track athlete turned scientist. I was captivated by Ms Saldana after seeing her in Pirates of the Caribbean and in Star Trek. Ms Saldana would be the perfect NOC agent (CIA term for Non-official cover). She appears to be intelligent, docile and innocent—yet aggressive and feisty when she needs to be. The type of woman that could put Ridley Fox in his place and keep him grounded.

 

Dr Tabitha Marx—Claire Stansfield

This will be a treat to fans of Xena the Warrior Princess. But who could not have nightmares after watching Ms Stansfield incarnate the role of Alti the Shamaness. In fact, in a previous draft of the novel, I had modelled Dr Marx’s character too close to Alti, that my writing coach advised me that Dr Marx was far too evil a character and that I ought to tone her down a bit. In addition, standing at over six feet tall, she could easily stand face to face with Ridley Fox and not be intimidated by him as other characters in the story were. Sigh, if only she was still acting today.

The October Man—John Gottfried—Jeremy Irons

As you see, it’s a toss-up. John Gottfried was my first choice after having watched him play a Russian General in the James Bond epic, Goldeneye. Although he’s German, he played a very convincing Russian and he even has the right tone of voice for the mysterious shadowy character.

Jeremy Irons was my second pick. He has a certain darkness about him in his appearance that would make him an ideal ex-KGB operative. The only thing that’s missing? Give him a pen to twirl.

Valerik—Robbie Coltrane

This one was too easy. After starring twice in two James Bond movies as an ex-KGB turned Russian mafia lord, Valentin Zukovski, he’s no stranger to being a Russian that likes to get into trouble. He was the first person that came to mind when I had the idea of having him accidentally spill an espresso on his shirt and then dip his table napkin into another patron’s drinking water to clean the stain.

Sveta Stechina

Look at the picture and guess which British actress this is. The first person to guess wins a prize. Hint, she’ll surprise the living daylights out of you. Tune in to the end of the virtual book tour when I post the winner of this mini-contest.

I’d like to thank Ms Amanda for giving me the chance to be a guest on her site.

The STOP THE SUCCESSION virtual book tour continues to November 24, 2010.

Simply leave a comment on a blog or site with your email address. Everyone that leaves a comment with their email address (in the body of your message) will win an autographed ebook cover. After the blog tour, 10 commenters from all of the blogs will be drawn to win free autographed ebook copies of Pandora's Succession.

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And thank you, Russell, for coming! I loved seeing which actors you would choose to play your characters - and I'll admit being a little stumped as to which actress you would like to play Sveta - I'll bet you guys can figure it out, though! Leave a comment with your guess and email - Russell will announce the winner at the end of his tour and that lucky someone will get a special prize.