Joshua P. Simon - The Accidental Author

Part two of casting the Blood and Tears series. Same rules and comments apply as last time.

Gauge – Robert Duvall

Great actor with a very warm look and voice. Perfect for Gauge.

Illyan – Mark Ruffalo

This was a hard choice. Illyan is described as being a pretty ugly guy and although Ruffalo isn’t the trollish figure I imagine, I think he has the acting chops to pull of the character which is most important.

Amcaro – Sean Connery


This is a small part but one I feel would be perfect for Connery. It’s not like he isn’t above doing a cameo or taking a small role here and there. Ha.

Nareash – Tom Hiddleton



Perfect voice and look.

Elyse – Jennifer Lawrence

Lawrence is good at both playing someone vulnerable and strong, something I think is key to Elyse’s character.

Lobella – Katie Cassidy

Not really married to this choice. I just felt she had a good look for the role.

Grayer – William Smith

Same here. Good look for the role.

Jeldor – Sven-Ole Thorsen



Once more casted for the look. As an FYI, he played the Thulsa Doom’s bodyguard (with the giant hammer) in Conan the Barbarian.

Stay tuned for the Hell Patrol cast.

Yes, I’m a day late again with Music Monday. Things are getting progressively hectic in our house and I spent most of yesterday walking around in an ADD-riddled haze, unable to focus on much of anything, forgetting completely about a blog post.

Anyway…

Back in High school, there was a brief period of a few weeks where my sister and I were obsessed with this song. I bought the album with high hopes only to be disappointed. It just wasn’t for me.

My sister reminded me of it about a week ago through text, and I decided to hunt it up on YouTube since it's probably been close a decade since I last listened to it. Surprisingly, I still think it is pretty good. However, like before I tried to listen to some of their other music and couldn’t get into it.\

Oh well.

Superdrag – Sucked Out

From Day One, my family told me my writing had a cinematic feel to it. When reading the Blood and Tears series, they imagined it as a movie in their heads. Several times I’ve been asked who I would cast in certain roles if I had the choice. With the exception of a couple of people I really had no clue.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to actually take a stab at casting many (not all) of the major and important minor characters within the series.

In most instances, this was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. As I was searching the internet, certain people would stand out right away and immediately I would say “That’s _____.” In other instances, I’ve changed my mind several times on who should play what role.

In some instances, I’ve put down someone to play a role without being familiar with their work or maybe knowing they aren’t a “perfect” fit, but felt the individual had a certain look that worked.

Although, I know my books will likely never be made into movies, this whole process was interesting and fun to do.

This week I’ll cover the characters from Hesh. With each person, I’ll add a few thoughts about the role/selection.


That’s right. Apollo Creed, baby. Bazraki is an older man and a hard man. I wanted someone who could bring a lot of intensity to the role but also had the physical stature to make it believable that Tobin and Kaz were his sons. Carl Weathers fits that description well. In fact, this might be perfect casting.

Walor – Mahershalalhashbaz Ali

Not familiar with his work but he has the look I want for the role. I think of Walor as a rare bright spot in an otherwise dark society.

Ufer – Chiwetel Ejiofor

Same thing here. Not familiar with his work, but he has the cold stare fitting of someone like Ufer.

Durahn – Terry Crews

This might be a controversial selection simply because Durahn is described as being really tall (a head taller than kaz who is over 6 feet). But, Terry has the look, intensity, and size I imagine when thinking of Durahn.

Side note: When writing these books, Michael Clark Duncan was who I imagined as Durahn.

Mawkuk – Sidney Poitier

Adding some acting clout to this role! And because of his age, I think he fits the description I give Mawkuk.

Odala – Kyla Pratt

This was a hard role to cast and honestly, I’m not married to Kyla. However, I do think she has a good look to her that could work.

Soyjid – Tyler James Williams

What I said about Odala goes here. However, I am familiar with Tyler’s work since I enjoyed Everybody Hates Chris.

Lucia – Tika Sumpter

I'm not familiar with her work, but the first time I saw her I thought she was perfect. A beautiful woman who epitomizes what I have in my head for Lucia.

Jober – Taye Diggs

I like his work and think he can handle the role of a more caring Kifzo.

Nachun – Djimon Hounsou

Djimon has a strong, mysterious look that I like a lot. Plus, he’s a talented actor and would be great in this role.

Kaz – Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Like Lucia, I took one look at Adewale and right away thought of Kaz. On looks alone, he was made for the role.

Tobin – Shannon Williams

And perhaps the hardest role to cast for several reasons. . . .

I say over and over that Tobin and Kaz look a lot alike because they are brothers , but finding two similarly looking actors isn’t very likely so I didn’t worry about doing so. Tobin is also my favorite character in the series so I’m really picky about who I’d want to play him. Shannon might be a bit too “clean” for the role but that can be fixed in makeup. The pluses are he has good size and that distant look in his eyes I think is important to the role. The downside is he has very little experience acting so who knows how he would fit.

So, what do you think? What are your choices for the above characters?

The new Killswitch Engage album (Disarm the Descent) has been dominating my music rotation. It is easily their best release in years. The more I listen to it, the more I want to listen to it.

Slave to the Machine (my current fav)


The Call

At some point, everyone has been judged by the actions of others. As you read this, I’m sure you can call to mind several instances in your life when this has happened to you. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that we’ve been guilty of falling into this same trap ourselves.

This phenomenon struck me last week when the lead singer to a band I really like was arrested. You can read the details here. Essentially, Tim Lembesis of As I Lay Dying was arrested for trying to hire someone to kill his wife. Yes, he’s an idiot, but that’s a whole other blog post.

One of the things that stood out to me in the aftermath of this was the commenters on various websites reporting the news. Sure, some people said Tim was a moron or worse. Others wished the best for his wife and kids. However, a large majority used the event to attack Christianity. This is because in the past, members of As I Lay Dying were pretty vocal about their faith. (On a side note, Tim admitted that he lost his faith and no longer believes in God.)

Reading those comments acted as a reminder to me that as a Christian many are going to judge me more harshly than they would someone else. Is it fair? I don’t know. However, I can see why it happens.

Too often, a person calling themselves a follower of God is ready to rain down fire and brimstone on all those around them without ever willing to admit they suffer from their own temptations. Yes, I think I have a pretty good grasp of what God wants us to do. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t stumble, fail, and embarrass myself as others do. I’m a Christian, but I’m also imperfect and I’m a sinner.

With that in mind, let’s judge people by their own actions rather than stereotyping an entire group (not just Christianity) on the actions of a few outliers. Better yet, judge an individual by how they act after doing something stupid or awful. Do they give up and spiral out of control? Or do they repent, ask for forgiveness and try to do better? That may be the true indicator of what sort of person they are.