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'Divergent' Casting: Four Vying For Four


With actress Shailene Woodley aboard as tough-as-nails Tris in the big-screen adaptation of "Divergent," casting directors are now sounding the whistle for her hunky, dystopian love interest. And, according to Deadline, four(!) actors are vying for the role of Dauntless instructor Four.



The highest-profile name among them is Lucas Till, who played Havok in the superhero flick "X-Men: First Class." Lucas has had a number of brushes with hot YA film properties—he reportedly auditioned for the role of everyone's favorite baker boy Peeta Mellark in "The Hunger Games." This could be the part that finally secures leading-man status for Lucas.

But he has a trio of competitors to face: "Monte Carlo" actor Luke Bracey, "Blue Lagoon: The Awakening" star Brenton Thwaites (who will also play the Young Prince in the upcoming "Maleficent"), and Jack Reynor. (Does this mean "Hunger Games" star Alexander Ludwig is officially out of contention?)

Obviously it's hard to judge from simply looking at photos which of these actors will be the best fit for Four, but we're asking you to do it anyway! Take a gander at the competition and tell us: Who should hop the "Divergent" train alongside Shailene? Vote in our poll below!

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First Look: Lily Collins in 'Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' Fantasy

Looking to become the next popular franchise with teens on the big screen is the popular young adult book Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. The Karate Kid remake director Harald Zwart is at the helm of the story which sees Lily Colllins (The Blind Side, Priest) playing a young woman who discovers she is the descendant of a secret cadre of half-angel warriors called Shadowhunters locked in an ancient battle to protect the world from demons. Now we have our first look at Collins as the lead character doing something with a bloody rune on her hands (fans probably know what's she's doing). Look!

Here's the first look at Harald Zwart's Mortal Instruments: City of Bones from EW:



Harald Zwart (The Karate Kid, Agent Cody Banks) directs Mortal Instruments: City of Bones written by I. Marlene King and Jessica Postigo and based on Cassandra Clare's book of the same name. Lily Collins (The Blind Side, Priest) plays Clary Fray, a young woman who discovers she is the descendant of a secret cadre of half-angel warriors called Shadowhunters locked in an ancient battle to protect the world from demons. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Jared Harris, Kevin Durand, Lena Headey and Kevin Zegers. Sony's Screen Gems arm will release the film late next summer on August 23rd, 2013. Any fans interested?

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Self-Published Author Signs a Three-Book Deal, Heralding New Adult Fiction


Earlier this year, Cora Carmack self-published her novel about a 22-year-old girl who is a virgin in her last year of college and decides to have a one-night stand to solve the problem. She selects a man, but from there on things go disastrously wrong.

Her book, called “Losing It,” went on sale and within four days it had sold 5,000 copies, according to Suzie Townsend, her agent at New Leaf Literary and Media. By 12 days, she had sold 32,000 copies. Within the first week it reached No. 18 on The New York Times combined print/e-book bestseller list, despite not having a print edition.

And so in a pattern that is becoming more familiar for the book industry, established publishers came calling.

On Wednesday, New Leaf announced that HarperCollins had signed Ms. Carmack to a three-book deal that includes “Losing It,” for a sum in the “high six figures.” The HarperCollins “Losing It” e-book will be available before the end of the year. A print version will follow in the spring.

Of course, most self-published books linger in obscurity, but Ms. Carmack’s novel was in an emerging area of the market that publisher’s think is under exploited: New Adult fiction – books for readers in their college years and early 20s.

Here is how Ms. Carmack describes the audience in a post to her blog:

Young Adult books are about surviving adolescence and coming of age. New Adult is about how to live your life after that. New Adult is the “I’m officially an adult, now what?” phase.

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