Author: Will McIntosh
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Synopsis:
For fans of The Maze Runner and The Fifth Wave, this debut YA novel from Hugo Award winner Will McIntosh pits four underprivileged teens against an evil billionaire in the race of a lifetime.
Sully is a sphere dealer at a flea market. It doesn’t pay much—Alex Holliday’s stores have muscled out most of the independent sellers—but it helps him and his mom make the rent. No one knows where the brilliant-colored spheres came from. One day they were just there, hidden all over the earth like huge gemstones. Burn a pair and they make you a little better: an inch taller, skilled at math, better-looking. The rarer the sphere, the greater the improvement—and the more expensive the sphere.
When Sully meets Hunter, a girl with a natural talent for finding spheres, the two start searching together. One day they find a Gold—a color no one has ever seen. And when Alex Holliday learns what they have, he will go to any lengths, will use all of his wealth and power, to take it from them.
There’s no question the Gold is priceless, but what does it actually do? None of them is aware of it yet, but the fate of the world rests on this little golden orb. Because all the world fights over the spheres, but no one knows where they come from, what their powers are, or why they’re here.
Guest Post- Dream Cast
My Dream Movie Cast for Burning Midnight
About a year ago we came this close (I’m holding my thumb and forefinger so close together you couldn’t jam a feather between them) to landing a film option deal for Burning Midnight with a Studio That Shall Not be Named, and I’m hopeful something will still happen. In the meantime, I can dream.
In the book, all four of the main characters are seventeen. Actors often play younger, but I figure I need actors who are no older than twenty-seven to make the cast believable as a group of teens. So here it is--my dream cast for the big-budget SF adventure film, Burning Midnight.
Hunter is a badass Latina woman. She’s all but homeless, and survives by hunting spheres in New York City. She’s searched in the sewers, in the rafters of abandoned factories, so she’s athletic. She wears jeans and sweatshirts, wouldn't be caught dead wearing lipstick.
Bianca A. Santos. Known for her work in the TV show The Fosters, as well as films Ouija and The Duff, Ms. Santos is twenty-six. She was born in California, but speaks fluent Spanish, which is a huge plus because there’s a scene in the film where Hunter speaking fluent Spanish is crucial. I also think she has exactly the right look! I can picture her as a tough, sarcastic city dweller.
David “Sully” Sullivan is your average suburban Irish-American guy, pleasant-looking but not drop-dead gorgeous. While writing Burning Midnight I pictured Jim from The Office, but John Krasinski is thirty-six years old, too old for the part. Instead, I’m going with:
Dom is a tough-looking Italian-American guy with kind eyes. He’s a body builder, so the actor would definitely have to be muscular. Dom is based on a high school buddy of mine, so it’s hard for me to look at actors and see Dom.
Never mind. I see him.
Keahu Kahuanui. I’m breaking my own rule, because Mr. Kahuanui is thirty, but he has the face and the body to be Dom. He plays Danny on the TV show Teen Wolf, and I’m guessing he speaks fluent German and some Mandarin, so I’m guessing he wouldn’t have much trouble with a New York Italian-American accent.
Mandy is a tall, gay Korean-American woman. She’s the only straight-A student in the gang, and she’s on the volleyball team. Finding a tall female Asian actor who looks like an athlete turned out to be a challenge. I’m going to go with:
Jenna Ushkowitz. She’s a Korean-born actor best know as Tina Cohen-Chang on Glee. She’s five foot four, so we’re going to have to do some rewrites because that’s not very tall, but I think she looks very much like I pictured Mandy.
And there they are. As soon as a producer, director, screenwriter, and major studio jump on board, we’re ready to film. This was more challenging than I thought it would be--I leave this task with new respect for casting directors.
Will McIntosh’s debut novel, Soft Apocalypse, was a finalist for both a Locus award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. He is a frequent contributor to Asimov’s, where his story “Bridesicle” won the 2010 Reader’s Award, as well as the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. His third novel, Love Minus Eighty (based on “Bridesicle”) was published by Orbit books in June, 2013, and was named best Science Fiction novel of the year by the American Library Association. His upcoming novel, Defenders has been optioned by Warner Brothers for a feature film. Will recently moved to Williamsburg, Virginia with his wife Alison and twins Hannah and Miles. He left his position as a psychology professor in Southeast Georgia to write full time, and still teaches as an adjunct, at the College of William and Mary. Will is represented by Seth Fishman at The Gernert Company. Follow him on Twitter @WillMcIntoshSFAbout the Author
I've been having my eyes on this book since I first heard about it a couple of months ago. It looks and sounds utterly fantastic and amazing! Thank you for the great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading this. These actor pics are pretty close to what I imagined. I imagined Sully with dark hair (kind of like Liam Hemsworth, except you know, smaller). I am really enjoying this read so far.
ReplyDeleteSo excited about this giveaway!
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