Dream Cast for Emily's Trial

Emily's Trial, Book 2 of the Akasha Chronicles

Some writers “cast” their characters before they pen the first word of their story.  I didn’t search for actors or models to serve as references for my characters before I wrote Emily’s House, Book 1 of the Akasha Chronicles. But when I set out to write Book 2, Emily’s Trial, I decided to give casting my characters a shot.

It was a lot of fun to search out real-world faces to match the characters I’d created in my mind. There aren’t any exact matches of course. But I’ve come pretty close here.

Allow me to introduce you to the cast of Emily’s Trial:

Actress Rachel Hurd-Wood 

Emily Adams – played by Rachel Hurd-Wood. Emily is the main character, reluctant hero, ordinary girl with a painful past turned modern Celtic Priestess. Emily’s signature long, red hair and piercing green eyes make her a somewhat hard character to cast. Emily is beautiful but in a natural way. She doesn’t wear much makeup and tends to let her hair go au naturel. But when I came across this picture of Rachel Hurd-Wood, it was like looking at a picture of the snapshot of Emily I’ve had in my head for about five years now!

But hold on, when we cast the model to pose as Emily for the cover of Emily’s Trial, I think we found a girl that may be even more of a dead ringer for Emily than Rachel. Here’s Ashley playing Emily Adams for the cover of Emily’s Trial.

Armed with her magical dagger and wearing the golden torc, forged long ago by faerie hands, Emily is ready to take on the forces of darkness in Emily’s Trial. But will desire tempt her to use the powerful magic entrusted to her in a forbidden way? And what will happen to her and her friends if she succumbs to the forces of temptation?

Acrtess Allisyn Ashley Arm

Fanny Katz – played by Allisyn Ashley Arm. Fanny is the wisecracking, loyal friend to Emily. The two have known each other since pre-school. Fanny has always had Emily’s back. But in Emily’s Trial, the friendship is tested. Will their bond survive the ordeal of Emily’s Trial?

Fanny’s strong, athletic and although physically small, can kick the ass of just about anybody. When I’m writing, Fanny’s voice comes out with a potty mouth! So to keep the Akasha Chronicles series YA appropriate, I’ve had to tone down her language ;-) It has been a fun challenge to try to find other ways to say her trash-mouth phrases that won’t scald the ears of parents and librarians!

I saw this picture of Allisyn and couldn’t believe the resemblance to the Fanny in my mind! Just add curly hair and you’ve got Fanny.

Actor Ian Somerhalder

Owen Breen – played by Ian Somerhalder. How hot does a guy have to be to get Emily to put her friendships – the most valuable thing to her – at risk? How about Ian Somerhalder hot?

Those smoldering eyes, the full lips, the dark hair. Ian is slightly older than Owen, and Owen has dark, chocolate-brown eyes. But the swagger is all Owen. I think Ian Somerhalder could persuade me to do anything he wanted me to. Hell, I don’t think it would take much persuading!

Actor Sterling Beaumon
Photo Getty Images

Jake Stevens – Played by Sterling Beaumon. If you’ve read book 1, Emily’s House, then you know that Jake and Emily have been best friends since they were little kids. Jake is super-smart and as loyal as they come. What he lacks in courage, he makes up for with his calm, level-headed reason. When the shit hits the fan, and you find yourself in a big mess, Jake is the go-to guy to come up with a plan to get you out (a good thing, because Emily has a way of getting herself into lots of messes!).

Jake is what you might call a “late bloomer”. In Emily’s Trial, he’s now 16 but still waiting to “fill out” a bit. When I came across a picture of Sterling Beaumon, I thought he was perfect to play Jake. Just add glasses and you’ve got Jake Stevens.

Astute readers of book 1 may have guessed it, but in Emily’s Trial, it’s confirmed – Jake has been crushing on Emily - big time! But the oblivious Miss Adams hasn’t put it together. When they’re thrust into danger, will Emily start to crush on him too? And if she does, is it too late for them?

Sterling sure is aging well! Perhaps a look at Jake in the last installment of the Akasha Chronicles, Emily’s Heart, coming 2013.

Sterling Beaumon

What’s a story without some conflict – antagonists? Emily’s got plenty of antagonists in Emily’s Trial. Her old nemesis Greta Hoffman makes an appearance in Emily’s Trial.

AnnaSophia Robb, Photo by Jonathan Ressler

In Emily’s House, we learned that Greta was the kind of girl that, as a child, could melt the hearts of adults with her blonde curls and large, blue eyes. Greta still uses her physical beauty and charm to get what she wants.

There are plenty of blonde-haired, blue-eyes beauties in Hollywood. But whoever plays Greta has to have something other than good looks. After all, Greta has to hold her own against Emily Adams – no wimpy, lithe runway walker will do!

Greta Hoffman – Played by AnnaSophia Robb. When I saw this picture of AnnaSophia, I thought this is Greta! I can picture her as a popular, a cheerleader, and a teacher’s favorite. But this picture also captures that side of Greta that no one knows – the secret side. There’s more to her than meets the eye. What role will she play in Emily’s Trial? And I promise you, there’s more of her to come in Book 3, Emily’s Heart.

One last character to get you in the spirit of it all. A nasty creature – sometimes I wonder where my brain comes up with this stuff! Should I be worried?!

In Emily’s Trial, Emily and crew meet perhaps the ugliest beast they’ve ever seen. What would happen if you took this . . .

"What? My mother thinks I'm beautiful!" 

And mixed it with this . . .

The mixture would turn out to look a lot like Dorcha, a strange creature that roams the Umbra Perdita.

There are other characters to meet in the pages of Emily’s Trial, but I have to leave you some surprises.

Happy reading J