Kristy Woodson Harvey's "Dear Carolina"

Kristy Woodson Harvey holds a degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master�s in English from East Carolina University.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of her debut novel, Dear Carolina:

I�ll be honest. �Who would play the characters in Dear Carolina if it was made into a movie?� has been one of my most feared and most avoided questions of the publication process. Mostly, probably, because it�s a question that has forced me to face a harsh realization: I�m no longer cool. I used to read every People magazine and watch every new film that came out and at least channel surf by Entertainment Tonight. But now? I guess with a three-year-old and squeezing in writing time, I�ve somehow become way less attuned to Hollywood�s best and brightest.

But I decided that it�s time to quit avoiding the question and, instead, embrace it! Who wouldn�t, after all, want to see her work come to life on the big screen?

Khaki, the adoptive mother in Dear Carolina, is a Southern woman through and through. She�s glamorous when she�s working in her role as NYC interior designer, relaxed when she has her hands in the dirt on her NC farm and most at home in her most important life�s role: mother. She knows how to chase big dreams, she�s found success, but she�s never forgotten where she came from. So, it seemed just right to �pretend cast� another NC girl, who has lived a life somewhat similar to Khaki�s, to play her in the film: Jaime Pressly. She�s run the gamut in the characters she has played, but now, as a mother herself, I think she would fully embrace the heart that needs to be put into this film.

And, for her leading man, Graham? Chris Hemsworth. Yeah, I might not read People every week, but who in her right mind would miss the Sexiest Man Alive? Perfectly unshaven and a family man himself, Hemsworth would be an amazing Graham. And I just know he would nail that Southern accent.

But the big question remains: Who will play Jodi, the birth mother? She has lived hard but maintains such a sense of vulnerability about her. Life has dealt her a tough hand, but, even still, she has so much hope. I guess I�ll have to leave that one up to the real casting crew if Dear Carolina ever gets made into a film!

Visit Kristy Woodson Harvey's website.

--Marshal Zeringue