A fun thing I like to do when writing a book is casting actors and actresses into the story; I find it helps me visualize them better, and it’s just a good time all around. However, for Coercion, I didn’t truly have anyone in mind when I wrote the story; I kept changing my mind. Once upon a time, I thought I’d settled the decision of who would play troubled-but-foxy anti-hero Michael Vartanian by casting Henry Cavill in the role, but now even that’s subject to change, as I don’t often see any MV qualities in the actor (which is probably a good thing).

As for the women in Michael’s life — tempestuous, experienced Breeze and innocent-of-this-world Valerie — I’m happy that I finally-finally-finally have a better idea of how I see them.

To be honest, I stumbled upon a rough mental sketch of Breeze when flipping through a yearbook from the 1970s, and I found a photo of a blond senior wearing giant tinted glasses, and she looked so sassy and I thought, “There’s my girl.” What’s crazy to me is not only will that real-life senior never know how she influenced an erotic novel 30+ years after her photo was taken, but how we can only speculate on people of the past.

But when it comes to casting the currently hypothetical movie for Coercion, I have chosen actress Elizabeth Olsen.

She has a fresh-faced, ’70s quality about her that I think would be perfect. I can certainly picture her now, aggravating the hell out of her on-off boyfriend Michael with an evil deed meant right for the jugular, then bewitching him all the same with a wink and a flirty twitch to her hips.

Did you read Coercion and picture someone different for Breeze? Drop me a line — I’d love to know!

Purchase Coercion at http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_12&products_id=315.

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Lux Zakari
luxzakari@gmail.com
www.luxzakari.com