As many of you know, we’ve had a contest going on the last couple of months to see which Phantom Island fan could cast the actors and actresses in the Phantom Island movies of my dreams. (To see specific guidelines and cast requirements, go to: Watercrossing Contest Details.) I felt like this was a true test to see what kind of details and characterization a true fan pays attention to in the books! So I selected one winner for each book and here they are…

For Windchaser, I decided to go with the cast created by username:

“Salvis”

Hands down, the reason why I HAD to select this one is because I feel like this person absolutely NAILED the characters of Whitnee and Caleb. As two of the main characters in the book, who have a lot of tension and emotional dynamics between them, I think these choices were fabulous and true to physical description!

“Salvis” chose Annasophia Robb as Whitnee!
LOOK at those gray eyes w/that blonde hair… perfect cast!
“Salvis” chose Logan Lerman as Caleb!
He has been my ideal Caleb since Percy Jackson. ADORABLE Boy-Next-Door look.

I also really liked that this person found a way to cast Christian Bale (Helloooo, Camp Director STEVE!) and Selena Gomez (as Claire…although, I have a character in the Water books written just for Selena…) and Sam Worthington (as Levi… NICE.) All in all, a pretty good cast, except for the role of Gabriel – but I believe he is the hardest one to cast!

“Salvis” – please send me an email to phantomislandbook@gmail.com with your real name and a good shipping address within the next five days, and I’ll send you a copy of WATERCROSSING when the printed copies arrive!

And now for Windfall, I decided to go with the cast created by username:

“Nightengale7”

I found myself drawn to some of the selections for the Island characters and older characters in this particular cast. I think casting the people on the Island is probably the hardest for me in my mind – mostly because none of those characters are particularly based on anybody I know in real life.

“Nightengale7” cast Tom Welling as Gabriel!
My mom & I have been Tom fans forever, so I kind of liked this one!
Maybe it’s in the eyes or the lips or the jaw or… YEAH.

“Nightengale7” cast Lily Collins (from The Blind Side) as Morgan!
She just has a beautiful & calming quality about her as Morgan – well cast!

“Nightengale7” cast Zooey Deschanel as Eden!
Zooey has a uniquely strong feminine & earthy look while also
maintaining this pure, likeable quality about her – just like Eden!

Other notable members of this cast were Helen Mirren (as Sarah – perfectly elegant!) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (as Serena, Whitnee’s mom…although, I’ve always envisioned Catherine as Abrianna.) I REALLY liked this cast and felt that this person’s choices really revealed how well they caught on to the way I wrote these characters!

“Nightengale7” – please send me an email to phantomislandbook@gmail.com with your real name and a good shipping address within the next five days, and I’ll send you WATERCROSSING when the printed copies arrive!

Congratulations to these two fans – you will receive Watercrossing THREE MONTHS before the rest of the world!! You have earned the first sneak peeks since you clearly know and love the Phantom Island characters. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being loyal and true fans!

To the rest of you – maybe you didn’t get to cast the books for the contest, but www.storycasting.com is still a fun site to play on, and I’d love to see more casts from fans! Who do YOU see in your mind when you read these books? Please share with us!