Back to the slog.

[greygirlbeast]

Yesterday we did only a single chapter, Chapter Six. It has a title, but not one I like or intend to keep, so it's best considered presently untitled. Soldier and Odd Willie trapped in the warrens beneath Woonsocket, Soldier as a child being led up to the attic of the yellow house on Benefit Street. And now the Zokutou whatchamadoodle looks like this:

404 / 691 (58.5%)

With luck, we'll make it through chapters seven and eight today. At this point, counting today and the day the ms. is supposed to be back in NYC, I have only fourteen days remaining before it's all pumpkins and mice again. And I shouldn't count the day it's due back, even though I am being allowed to e-mail the edited ms. back to Penguin. So, less than two weeks.

As we've been reading the novel this time, Spooky and I have been playing the "casting the movie" game. Here are our picks and blank spaces, our dream cast (so far) for a Daughter of Hounds film adaptation:

Emmie Silvey (eight years old) — uncast
Soldier (as adult) — Katee Sackhoff
Soldier (as child) — uncast
The Daughter of the Four of Pentacles — uncast
Deacon Silvey (now in his fifties) — Steve Buscemi
Sadie Jasper (now in her early thirties) — Clea Duvall
Odd Willie Lothrop — uncast
Saben White — uncast
The Bailiff — Jim Broadbent
Madam Terpsichore — Alice Krige
Sheldon Vale — uncast
George Ballou — Wilem Dafoe
Esmeribetheda — uncast

Hmmmm. I'd thought we had fewer blank spaces than that.

We had a very pleasant Beltane. We picked flowers late in the day. A huge feast for dinner and then the ritual around eleven p.m. During the ceremony we had blueberry cornbread and fresh, locally grown strawberries with lambic ale flavoured with black currants. I'll post the text of the ritual later, behind a cut, if anyone's interested. Still, I wished we could have been out on a field or a wood or on a beach somewhere, a bonfire and all. Ah, well. Someday. Someday, we'll see the Edinburgh Fire Festival, which is Beltane frelling done right. This afternoon, we'll take the last of the ale and bread and a few of the berries to the two oaks, the ones I posted a photo of earlier, the ones from my dream.

And now we have now reached that dread part of the year when May 26th looms vast and ugly on the horizon, and I'm beginning to fear that -2 will be an even traumatic birthday for this particular nixar than was -0, and, you know, gifts always seem to help to soften the blow. Should you be so inclined, there's this Amazon wish list thing.

Hold on, platypus. I'm coming....

Comments

[tactileson.livejournal.com]

Steve Buscemi as an older Deacon is fabulous! I can totally see that. Oh, and I do have a gift I'll be sending your way soon. It's not on your list, but something I thought you'd enjoy anyhow. It has to do with Yeats and magic, so I figured it'd be right up your alley.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Steve Buscemi as an older Deacon is fabulous! I can totally see that.

Spooky and I hit upon that one months ago, and I think we were both afraid it was too weird and no one would get it. But, yeah, I think he'd be perfect.

Oh, and I do have a gift I'll be sending your way soon. It's not on your list, but something I thought you'd enjoy anyhow. It has to do with Yeats and magic, so I figured it'd be right up your alley.

:-)

[z0mb1e.livejournal.com]

Nooooooo! No Clea Duvall as Sadie!!! I'm not sure who I would rather see though... I think Sadie is one of those characters that I can see SO clearly in my head I have never pictured her as a particular actress.
Other than that I think Jom Broadbent and Alice Krige would be perfect as the Bailiff and Mme Terpsichore. I'm not sure who George Ballou is, but Willem Dafoe is always perfect.

And I also really wanted to catch the Edinburgh Fire Festival. I just got back from Edinburgh a week ago and I wanted to stay longer. It is a great city with a million great festivals.

Randomly, do you and Spooky ever drink tea? I work at this place called Teavana with 8 million different flavors of tea, and I think the first store started out in Atlanta.

[reverendcrofoot.livejournal.com]

Dakota Fanning for Emmie and Soldier (as a child).

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Dakota Fanning for Emmie and Soldier (as a child).

Alas, she's my Dancy Flammarion, and I'm not sure she'd work as Emmie (you'll see).

[sovay]

Deacon Silvey (now in his fifties) — Steve Buscemi

That's perfect.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

Yay Katee Sackhoff! I adore her in BSG. She's one of those actors that you initially don't expect too much from (not that I expected her to be bad, I just expected her to be average) and then she ends up being fabulous. *g*

[mockingbirdgrrl.livejournal.com]

steve buscemi and wilem dafoe.
perfection.
now i want a movie, too.

[reverendcrofoot.livejournal.com]

I don't know but in the one story I read, I pictured The Baliff as Sid Haig.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I don't know but in the one story I read, I pictured The Baliff as Sid Haig.

Wow. On the one hand, if some director or producer called and said, "Hey, Caitlín. We have Sig Haig for the Bailif," I would be very, very happy. But on the other hand, he's really much a bit over the top for my vision of the Bailiff. But stilll... (*sigh*

[stsisyphus.livejournal.com]

Deacon Silvey (now in his fifties) — Steve Buscemi

Hmm. I don't see it, but I'll go with it if we can get Ray McKinnon as Deacon during the Threshold period. He is from Georgia and all...

Sadie Jasper (now in her early thirties) — Clea Duvall

Le. Swoon. Sorry, personal moment there.

Wish I knew more about the other characters to comment. Both Jim Broadbent and Sam Haig seem interesting (if very divided) visions of the Bailiff. But, I have a feeling that Mr. Haig is a pretty workin' Joe kinda guy, if there was direction for him to tone it down, he could.

During the ceremony we had blueberry cornbread and fresh, locally grown strawberries with lambic ale flavoured with black currants.

Sounds yummy. Lambic is good stuff, but only in small doses.