Books Make Great Films and Television...

Maybe I'm just paying more attention to books becoming films since one of my books got optioned, but it seems like there are a lot of upcoming movies and TV series based on books. Here's a sampling:

The film Julie and Julia, which was released earlier this month, is based on two books. There was the book Julie and Julia, which was based on author Julie Powell's blog about cooking her way through the Julia Child cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and there was Julia Child's own memoir, My Life in France.

The recent release The Time Traveler's Wife was based on the book by that title by Audrey Niffenegger, which has been very popular among reading groups. Other book club faves that are coming to the big screen are The Road, based on the Cormac McCarthy novel, and The Lovely Bones, the adaptation of the book by Alice Sebold.

Young adults (and the young at heart) have some literary vampires to look forward to. Of course, there's the film of New Moon, the second installment in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, but there's also Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, based on the book in this young adult series by Darren Shan.

Several children's favorites are also making it to the screen. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi and Ron Barrett, has ben adapted into a traditionally animated film. Maurice Sendak's classic Where the Wild Things Are has been adapted into a film mixing live action and computer animation. And Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox has been brought to life using stop-motion animation.

Books are coming to the small screen, too, with several new series based on books. FlashForward, the story of what happens after everyone in the world gets a brief glimpse of the future, is based on the science fiction novel by Robert J. Sawyer. The series Eastwick is based on the novel The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike (which has already been made into a film). Then there's The Vampire Diaries, based on the young adult series by L.J. Smith. On the schedule for the spring, there's a series called Past Life, based on the novel The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose.

Meanwhile, HBO has a number of book-to-screen projects in the works. Their previous ones, including Sex and the City, Band of Brothers, TTrue Blood and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, have proven that books make a good basis for series and miniseries.

Until next time ... Shanna

Shanna Swendson writes "Fairy Tales for Modern Times" and is the author of the Enchanted, Inc. series about a Texan in New York City, a magical NYC. Visit her website or blog for more information.