Yes, it's Fantasy Cast Friday! And this week I've got my lovely friend and fellow author Jamie Tucker Dougan with me as he picks his dream cast for his latest release 'Offside!'
Read on to find out a little bit more about Jamie, and to see just who his 'Offside!' fantasy cast would be...
Author Bio

His first short story, Grande Plage, was released
in July 2012 and reached number 1 in the Amazon DE Free Download chart in
August 2012. It was followed soon after by his second short story, Always
Running Away which included the little bonus story, A Bus Journey.
In September 2012, Jamie released The Rubicon
Trail, a fictionalisation of a real life adventure in America. It has been a
Top 5 best seller in its category.
Jamie is currently working on a series of novellas,
the first called Offside! They are about fictional footballer Shane Henderson
whose love life becomes as complicated at the offside rule in football. The
first part in the series was released just before Christmas 2013 and the second
part, called Playing Offside will be released in spring 2014.
Away from writing, Jamie works in a busy car &
truck dealership in his home town and is a loving husband to his partner of 22
years and loving dad to his two young sons. He enjoys watching football, motor
racing and walking.
Book Blurb - Offside!
Teenage best friends Shane Henderson and Mia
Rodrigues had the same dream, to be professional footballers. Mia followed her
dream to America. Shane followed his to the football team he supported, Milton
Keynes Rangers. And so life took them on different paths, different journeys.
But sometimes paths cross... and they did briefly for Shane and Mia... and
their teenage friendship became something more.
Offside! is the first in a series of novellas about Shane's journey along his
path. And at times, that path sometimes gets more complicated than the offside
rule in football.
Shane Henderson isn't a typical footballer. Nightclubs, casinos, fast cars and faster women are not his style. He prefers the quiet life and cosy nights with the woman he loves. It's a pity that woman doesn't want the same thing.
A secret involving Shane's new wife and his brother isn't all it first appears to be and an explosive confrontation in the last game of the season begins to reveal the real truth about someone Shane thought he knew.
Not everyone plays by the rules!
Shane Henderson isn't a typical footballer. Nightclubs, casinos, fast cars and faster women are not his style. He prefers the quiet life and cosy nights with the woman he loves. It's a pity that woman doesn't want the same thing.
A secret involving Shane's new wife and his brother isn't all it first appears to be and an explosive confrontation in the last game of the season begins to reveal the real truth about someone Shane thought he knew.
Not everyone plays by the rules!
The Cast
Shane Henderson ~ Every story has a main
character. The main character in Offside! is
Shane Henderson, a professional footballer in his early 30s. Since his teens,
he dreamed of being a footballer, just like his dad, brother and uncle. But his
footballing abilities were overlooked by his parents, who had little time for
him when he was young.
It’s not until his family move to another country
that his abilities are noticed by the father of his new best friend that he
begins to follow his dream.
Shane leaves school and gains a place at the
footballing academy of his favourite team, Milton Keynes Rangers. Almost a year
later, he makes his professional début.
He is not a typical professional footballer though,
preferring a quiet life at home rather than fast cars, faster women,
nightclubs, race tracks and casinos. So it probably wasn’t a good idea to fall
in love and marry a fame hungry, attention seeking ex-Page 3 model.
Over the course of the Offside! Series, revelations will see Shane’s heart and head pulled in different directions and his love-life become more complicated than the offside rule. We also follow bits of his career playing for Milton Keynes Rangers, local rivals Daventry United and back to the club he loves the most.
Over the course of the Offside! Series, revelations will see Shane’s heart and head pulled in different directions and his love-life become more complicated than the offside rule. We also follow bits of his career playing for Milton Keynes Rangers, local rivals Daventry United and back to the club he loves the most.
The visual muse for Shane is Eric Szmanda, best
known for playing Greg Sanders in my favourite TV show CSI.
Mia
Rodrigues ~ Mia Rodrigues, the pin-up girl of womens’ soccer. Beautiful,
talented and a sensible head on her shoulders, so it’s no wonder that away from
the football field she is also a successful model, part-time lawyer and owner
of a successful entertainment agency.
The only daughter of Brazilian World Cup
winner Pepe, football has always been in her blood. Her dream of being a top
player came true when she headed for the USA at 18 years old. That was after
being spotted by a daily tabloid newspaper and her modelling career taking off.
But all she wanted to do back then was play football. Her footballing career
was cut short though in her late 20s. So she moved into coaching and
eventually management, becoming the first female manager of an MLS team in
America. She has her sights set on a bigger league though… The Premiership.
Mia is also Shane Henderson’s best friend, having known each other since their teens. But their relationship goes deeper than just friendship. They have feelings for each other and have, in the past, crossed that line where friendship becomes something else. Will the paths of their lives cross again?
Mia is also Shane Henderson’s best friend, having known each other since their teens. But their relationship goes deeper than just friendship. They have feelings for each other and have, in the past, crossed that line where friendship becomes something else. Will the paths of their lives cross again?
The visual muse and inspiration for Mia is
model/actress/entrepreneur/TV presenter Kelly Brook.
Lewis
Henderson ~ Every story needs a bad guy. The bad guy in Offside! is
Shane’s big brother, Lewis. But is he really the bad guy?
Like Shane, Lewis is also a professional footballer. Nearing the end of a career mostly spent playing in Italy, he moves to Shane’s former club on loan. Always the blue eyed boy to his mother, he has an estranged relationship with his little brother. But in a strange way, he cares for his younger sibling which is why he does something that breaks his brother’s heart.
Like Shane, Lewis is also a professional footballer. Nearing the end of a career mostly spent playing in Italy, he moves to Shane’s former club on loan. Always the blue eyed boy to his mother, he has an estranged relationship with his little brother. But in a strange way, he cares for his younger sibling which is why he does something that breaks his brother’s heart.
The visual muse for Lewis is Emmerdale’s
lovable rogue Cain Dingle played by Jeff Hordley. Cain is a bad boy but you
just can’t help liking that bad boy. Just like Lewis when you realise why he
did what he does to his little brother.
April
Flowers ~ April Flowers, new wife of Offside!’s main character Shane
Henderson. A woman he loves very much but a woman with a secret… a few secrets.
The former Page 3 model turned TV sports reporter and lads’ mag pin-up girl is
not as sweet and innocent as she appears.
She’s an attention seeking drama queen who
loves the limelight. Very much a WAG but not the kind of WAG happy shopping in
the best shops and eating in the best restaurants. She’s the opposite of
Shane, who shuns attention and tries to live a quiet life away from the media
spotlight. April attracts the media. In Offside! though, she’ll wish she hadn’t.
Revelations that April has been playing “offside” set the scene and as the series progresses, we’ll find that not everybody is playing by the rules and April is not the only character playing “offside”.
Revelations that April has been playing “offside” set the scene and as the series progresses, we’ll find that not everybody is playing by the rules and April is not the only character playing “offside”.
The visual muse for April is former
Emmerdale star Roxanne Pallet. Like Roxanne’s character was in Emmerdale, April
looks sweet and innocent but is also a bit of a man eater and heart breaker.
Sam
Black ~ Sam is Shane’s former teammate in Offside! and by the time the
story reaches its third part, teammate again. They are also best friends having
joined Milton Keynes Rangers’ Youth Academy together. Sam is also Mia
Rodrigues’ cousin. But that doesn’t stop Shane often confiding his feelings for
Mia in Sam.
Sam also has a big dislike for April, and
often tells Shane his opinion of her.
I’ve cast Home & Away star Steve Peacocke who plays Darryl ‘Brax’ Braxton. Not because they are similar characters but because when I wrote the first line in Offside! mentioning Sam, Home & Away was on TV and Brax was on the screen.
I’ve cast Home & Away star Steve Peacocke who plays Darryl ‘Brax’ Braxton. Not because they are similar characters but because when I wrote the first line in Offside! mentioning Sam, Home & Away was on TV and Brax was on the screen.
Shelby
Cooper ~ Shelby only has a minor role in Offside! but in the second part,
she has a major part. However, I’m not giving anything away about the second part
yet, so you’ll just have to see how major a part she has and how it affects the
series.
I’ve cast Person of Interest star Sarah Shahi who plays Agent Shaw (spoiler alert UK viewers) as Shelby for two reasons. One is that Person of Interest is my current favourite TV show. The other is that during breaks from writing ‘Playing Offside’, I binge-watched Person of Interest and because I did, I couldn’t get the lovely Ms Shahi/Agent Shaw out of my head. So she became the visual muse for Shelby.
I’ve cast Person of Interest star Sarah Shahi who plays Agent Shaw (spoiler alert UK viewers) as Shelby for two reasons. One is that Person of Interest is my current favourite TV show. The other is that during breaks from writing ‘Playing Offside’, I binge-watched Person of Interest and because I did, I couldn’t get the lovely Ms Shahi/Agent Shaw out of my head. So she became the visual muse for Shelby.
Other characters from the Offside! Series,
some minor and some yet to be introduced...
Dario de Luccio ~ Daventry United manager.
Another character that has a minor part in Ep1 but a major impact on what’s going on in Ep2.
I’ve cast a real life former footballer as Dario – former Rangers and Blackburn Rovers player Lorenzo Amoruso
Chip Agassi ~ Mia’s race car driving husband. He’ll make his full début in Ep3.
I’ve cast Coronation Street bad boy Marc Baylis (Rob Donovan) as Chip.
Dale McKechnie ~ Shane’s ex-girlfriend from his schooldays and early part of his career. Mentioned throughout the series but makes her proper début in Ep3.
I’ve cast another Coronation Street star as Dale – Samia Ghadie who plays Maria Connor.
There are more characters I could cast but the ones I’ve listed here are characters that have visual muses, faces I picture in my mind when I’m writing the Offside! Series.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JTDougan
Twitter - @JamieTDougan
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Thanks so much for taking part, Jamie, and for such a brilliant Fantasy Cast Friday!
Fantasy Cast Friday is back next week with the fabulous Mandy Baggot, and her dream cast for her new release 'Made in Nashville'. Don't miss it!
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