#also if you're looking for ann rule recs i'd say stranger beside me

[pynkhues]

kinda niche but any books or plays you would want to see adapted into a prestige miniseries / film that havent yet ??

Ooo, that's such an interesting question. I've been seeing a lot of theatre over the last few months, and have actually seen a lot of tremendous plays (and a couple of very bad ones, haha), but the majority of them have been one-act indies which don't necessarily lend themselves to TV or film adaptations. My favourite was My Sister Feather, which was actually probably one of the best theatre experiences I've ever had (I wept through the last half), but I don't think it'd work as a film or series at all. It's such a play to me.

Books there are a few though! I read Maaza Mengiste's The Shadow King last year which has really stuck with me and I think could be an incredible series.

The Devil in the White City is one of my favourite true crime books, and something I think would be an incredible series if done right. Martin Scorsese has had the rights to the book for approximately 12 million years which I was SO excited about, but then he handed the directing reigns over to Todd Field (less excited by that, but not-not excited), but he's now left post-Tar, and Hulu's just dropped it too, so I'm in doubt it'll ever be made.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt would be great too, but I'd worry what that could set off in terms of pop culture, haha.

Actually though, I think the film or series I fantasise about the most is one about Ann Rule. Ann Rule is a very famous true crime author and while I've read a lot of her books and have always loved her writing style, I've always found her own story one that's so interesting. She grew up middle class and while both her parents were teachers, she had a lot of family members in the judicial system - her grandfather a sheriff, her uncle a medical examiner, a cousin who worked as a prosecuter for the DA's office.

She studied creative writing and psychology at college, but she ended up deciding to be a police officer only to be fired at 21 for her eyesight. She ended up marrying young and having four children, and then her husband left her. With old connections to the police force, she started writing true crime stories off recently closed cases to sell to magazines which was enough for her to get by, and then in 1971, she sold her first book proposal to write about the currently active Campus Killer. At around the same time, she started volunteering at a suicide hotline only to be sat next to, and befriend, a guy who she'd learn over the course of the year was the Campus Killer, Ted Bundy.

The Stranger Beside Me, the book she wrote, was a huge success, and it's genuinely a pretty brilliant read. Ann's such a great writer, and combined with her meticulous research and her own self-reflection (and criticism) of her relationship with him, the judicial system and herself and her family too. It's great, insightful and devastating, and I've read it a few times over and can't believe it hasn't had a prestige adaptation already.

I do think there's a series in her life generally too though, because Ann would write 32 more true crime books and develop an enormous following, and the way she balanced a complicated relationship with celebrity, crime and commercial gain is messy and Ann isn't always likable, but she's always interesting, and I feel like she deserves a story that really unpacks all of that.

#i'm seeing three plays this month too actually #the crucible which i've never actually seen staged #an all-woman cast production of frankenstein which i'm v excited for #and then a new aus immersive performance at a festival #which i'm not sure about but got free tix through work so am going to check it out #welcome to my ama #also if you're looking for ann rule recs i'd say stranger beside me #small sacrifices #and if you really loved me #oh and green river running red of course