Sorry it's been so long putting up another blog, I promise not to try to ever take this long again with posting another blog. I've been trying to start a Youtube channel and hoped that it would include the next blog, but it has taken longer than expected to get the channel up and running. I am excited about the future of making videos, so without further ado, let me tell you about my most recent read.
Today I will be talking about a novel series that I recently read called Roam by Kimberly Sterdronsky Adams
So let me tell you a little bit about the books and why it would translate well into a TV series. Roam is about a 17yo girl named Roam Camden who is living a pretty normal life, aside from her mom passing away from cancer she lives with her dad and her older sister, she’s really smart being in all advanced classes and is dating her childhood sweetheart Logan. The novel starts off with it being her first day of school as a senior from summer break. She enters her first period history class and is taken aback by her attraction to her teacher Mr. West Perry, she tries to steer clear of him until they accidentally touch and numbers appear on Roam’s arm. West then has to explain to Roam that he’s immortal and that she has an immortal soul and he has to find her in every lifetime and that their baby will save the world, but while their trying to save it, another pair is trying to destroy it and the numbers that appear are coordinates to the other person’s location. But, West tells a reluctant Roam that he will figure out another way to fulfill the prophecy since Roam is so young this time and he’s 10yrs her senior. She agrees since she is very committed to Logan, but after Roam’s run in with West, she starts having dreams about her past lives and her own demise. And after an unfortunate series of events she learns that unbeknownst to himself that her childhood sweetheart Logan is one half of the opposite pair. And from there the action starts. Roam and West try to figure out how to stop Troy the immortal which is Logan’s other half,and they time travel to do so along with trying to escape him in the present. I’m going to stop right here because i feel like i’ve given enough for you to get the gist of the story. So let me tell you why it would be great as a TV series.
So I would pitch it like this. It’s like Vampire Diaries meets The Netflix show Travelers. It has the element of a love triangle with two men who are mortal enemies and have spent a lifetime hating each other and a girl who has to choose and then you have the element of time travel but when Roam time travels she’s back in the body of the person in her past life. But the story is so much more, you learn about parallel worlds and that the evil immortal Troy is not only hunting them because of his obsession with Roam which was his wife in a past life but also to save his kingdom.
It has all the elements to keep an audience tuned in. Kidnapping, murder, love triangles,time travel. And what i really like the most is that the story builds up into the paranormal element, we see Roam living a normal life like every other teenager until she’s thrust into a world where she’s apart of a prophecy. The supporting characters play a big role too, her sister and her father are not left by the wayside like every other book where the parents are not around or they leave their families for good and start another life. The story is set up nicely where there is always a dilemma that could span out multiple episodes. I haven’t seen time travel shows do well in the past but this novel has a unique twist on it and has never been done before and it’s so different from what is out now and has the potential to be a great hit in television. If I could change some things to make it better for TV is that i would build up the relationship with Logan more, because it was such an easy choice while i was reading the novel that her love would be West, she didn’t put up much of a fight and I would also make West a little younger and make Roam at least 18 her senior year. I would also have her friend Ally Mae play a bigger role, I can count on one hand how many times Ally Mae appeared in the story, it made it seem like the only friend the heroine had was her boyfriend. I would target the show for 16-34 year olds, and if you plan on reading this series there are trigger warnings such as sexual content, rape, and language. And one thing i would do that executives rarely do is make the author a consulting producer on the show, because it’s ultimately their vision and they can add things in there where the writers lack and I think it would be key to the success of the show.
Casting
Roam Camden- Kristine Froseth known from the society
Violet – Sarah Grey – known from the order
Logan Rush - Brenton Thwaites – known from the Giver and Pirates of the Caribbean
West Perry – Zach Roerig known from Vampire Diaries
Troy – Stephen Amell known from Arrow
