During his twenties, Parent traveled to NYC to try and make it as an actor. That didn’t happen. Instead, the author joined an experimental social work unit at Emergency Children’s Services. Parent was then thrust into situations that called upon him to protect children from abusive mothers and fathers, including instigating arrests and breaking households apart.
While there are no formal attachments to the project yet, Roth is said to be looking at actor Sam Rockwell (COWBOYS & ALIENS, MOON) to play the role of Marc Parent (despite the fact that Rockwell would be twice the age of the author when he first began in the social work unit).