Hollywood Reader

Secret identities, skinned corpses and alcohol-fueled guilt—each plays a major role in Jon Clinch's debut novel, Finn, which Random House is excited about and has scheduled for spring 2007 (see Deals, Feb. 20). Currently making the rounds in Hollywood, Clinch's book reimagines the pa of Huckleberry Finn as the son of a violently racist judge. When Finn makes the "mistake" of stealing former slave Mary and fathering a child with her (the future Huck), he takes desperate action to try and reclaim his father's respect. Clinch is repped by Folio Literary Management's Jeff Kleinman for lit, with UTA's Howie Sanders handling film rights.

CBS had producer Darren Star's Central Park West, and now NBC see potential in Valerie Ann Leff's Better Homes and Husbands (St. Martin's, 2004), set on the other side of the park. Optioned by NBC consultant Meryl Poster (formerly head of production at Miramax for series development), Leff's debut novel details the lives and loves of the denizens of a fictional prewar co-op on New York's Upper East Side. Ranging from the WASP-y baroness in the penthouse to the illegal Guatemalan freedom fighters hiding in the bedroom of a former dictator's granddaughter, the quirky characters seem ripe for small-screen success. Playwright Becky Mode (1999's Fully Committed) is set to write the pilot. Leff is repped by Brandt & Hochman's Bill Contardi.

Author James Siegel has a friend in producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (Constantine). Not only is the former studio head producing the writer's upcoming thriller Deceit (Warner Books, Aug.)—a nail-biter about a dishonest journalist that Universal just optioned in a high six-figure deal—he's also developing Detour (Warner, 2005) at Paramount and shepherded last November's $38 million–grossing Derailed (starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston and also based on a novel by Siegal) for the Weinstein Co.... Karyn Bosnakof www.SaveKaryn.com fame has just had her debut novel, Twenty Times a Lady(first reported in Hollywood Reader, Feb. 14, 2005), optioned by New Line Cinema for Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm to produce. The romantic comedy is due from Harper Paperbacks in July.

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