Sara Flannery Murphy's "The Wonder State," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Wonder State: A Novel by Sara Flannery Murphy.

The entry begins:

I’m biased, but I think The Wonder State could make a riveting movie. The story is familiar – friends drawn back to a hometown they swore they’d leave behind. And setting a movie in the Arkansas Ozarks seems like an overlooked opportunity. The natural landscape there is dramatic and gorgeous, a character in and of itself.

If I could choose my dream director and screenwriter, I’d go with Brit Marling and Zat Batmanglij, the brains behind The OA. The OA has a dreamlike quality that I absolutely love, and Batmanglij and Marling would capture the nostalgic, magical feeling of The Wonder State while also weaving in its strangeness and darkness. The second season of The OA even features a mysterious house with a complex backstory, so I know they could handle The Wonder State’s many houses.

Casting actors to play my characters is tricky since I picture them so distinctly inside my head. It almost feels like casting a movie based on people I actually know, like finding an actor who best represents my mother or my close friend … something’s always lost in translation. The Wonder State presents an additional challenge because it’s a dual timeline story, requiring both teen and adult actors. I’m a massive Yellowjackets fan, so...[read on]

Visit Sara Flannery Murphy's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Possessions.

The Page 69 Test: The Possessions.

Writers Read: Sara Flannery Murphy (March 2017).

Q&A with Sara Flannery Murphy.

The Page 69 Test: The Wonder State.

My Book, The Movie: The Wonder State.

--Marshal Zeringue