Paula Reed's Blog
February 21, 2011
Hester in Paperback
It has been exciting following Hester's latest incarnation as a trade paperback. There have been new surprises, like the number of people who entered to win one of the 20 copies St. Martin's Press gave away here on Goodreads, and those of you who won them writing about how you are looking forward to reading it. I hope it lives up to your expectations! There was also the unexpected thrill of seeing stacks of my book at Costco!
Now that Hester is in paperback, more book clubs are choosing it as one of their books to discuss, and I have had the honor of participating at local gatherings. I've even participated in faraway ones via speaker phone. I'm hoping to do a few by Skype. I love book clubs! The participants are always interesting and fun, and I love getting to interact face-to-face or voice-to-voice with readers.
If your book club decides to read Hester, please feel free to contact me. If it's at all possible, I will be happy to make room in my calendar for an appearance--physically in the Denver area or virtually elsewhere. My email is [email protected].
As always, happy reading!
Now that Hester is in paperback, more book clubs are choosing it as one of their books to discuss, and I have had the honor of participating at local gatherings. I've even participated in faraway ones via speaker phone. I'm hoping to do a few by Skype. I love book clubs! The participants are always interesting and fun, and I love getting to interact face-to-face or voice-to-voice with readers.
If your book club decides to read Hester, please feel free to contact me. If it's at all possible, I will be happy to make room in my calendar for an appearance--physically in the Denver area or virtually elsewhere. My email is [email protected].
As always, happy reading!
March 15, 2010
Juggling Books
I don't believe I've ever attempted this one before. I am currently reading three books and writing another.
In my ACE class, we have the students reading independent novels. To model reading for pleasure, I read as they do. I'm currently about halfway through Last Night in Twisted River. At home, I am working on Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk. When I go on my daily walks, I have The Help on my iPod (which I count as reading). The trick is, the books are radically different, and each has its own time and place.
Thank goodness my sophomores are reading poetry. I'm not sure I could handle a fourth, no matter how many times I've already read it!
In my ACE class, we have the students reading independent novels. To model reading for pleasure, I read as they do. I'm currently about halfway through Last Night in Twisted River. At home, I am working on Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk. When I go on my daily walks, I have The Help on my iPod (which I count as reading). The trick is, the books are radically different, and each has its own time and place.
Thank goodness my sophomores are reading poetry. I'm not sure I could handle a fourth, no matter how many times I've already read it!
January 31, 2010
Caught in the Middle
If you have gone to Amazon recently in hopes of purchasing Hester, you will note that Hester Prynne is caught in another bind. This time, she has been taken hostage in a skirmish between Amazon and my publisher, MacMillan. With the release of the iPad (a name that warrants its own entry, perhaps), the ebook market has been blown wide open. For several years, Amazon has had the premium e-reader, the Kindle, and Amazon set the rules, including the price at which publishers could sell digital books for the Kindle. MacMillan has never been happy about this and does not release all its books in Kindle format. Now, with Apple jumping in, MacMillan has pushed Amazon for the right to set its own price for digital MacMillan books. Amazon has responded by pulling all of MacMillan’s books, including print ones, from its website. The “buy now” button has been replaced by a request to be notified when the book becomes available.
I have no idea what will happen to orders for Hester placed before the battle lines were drawn. I have an order in myself. At the moment, I’m just hoping the whole thing is settled prior to the book’s release date. As for the cause of the skirmish, I think the publisher has the right to set the price for its books and ebook readers have the right to decide how much is too much. The market usually straightens itself out. If the publisher charges too much, people won’t order the book, and the price will come down.
Poor Hester. She has it tough. By the way, you can still get the book on the Barnes and Noble site or at your local bookstore beginning the 16th.
I have no idea what will happen to orders for Hester placed before the battle lines were drawn. I have an order in myself. At the moment, I’m just hoping the whole thing is settled prior to the book’s release date. As for the cause of the skirmish, I think the publisher has the right to set the price for its books and ebook readers have the right to decide how much is too much. The market usually straightens itself out. If the publisher charges too much, people won’t order the book, and the price will come down.
Poor Hester. She has it tough. By the way, you can still get the book on the Barnes and Noble site or at your local bookstore beginning the 16th.
January 26, 2010
Free Book!
A good friend of mine (another author--Teresa Bodwell) made a fun crossword puzzle from the information on my website. If you'd like to win a free autographed copy of Hester, follow the link. I'll draw a winner at random from everyone who completes the puzzle and submits their address between now and March 1!
http://crossword-puzzle.info/tbodwell...
http://crossword-puzzle.info/tbodwell...
January 10, 2010
Hester's Second Sight
The biggest criticism I've faced thus far has been on my choice to "give" Hester Prynne the ability to perceive the sins of others. It was mentioned in Publishers Weekly and again here at Goodreads as being a highly improbable plot element. I suppose I can't argue its improbability. I don't think this is something you would find in a real-life person. My only defense is that, well, it's fiction, and it was Hawthorne's idea before it was mine. True statement. Reread chapter five of The Scarlet Letter, or if you don't feel like hunting down a copy, check out my website: http://www.paula-reed.com. The "Readers' Group" page has questions for your book groups and excerpts from The Scarlet Letter that influenced Hester.
December 28, 2009
New Takes on Classic Novels
When I sold Hester to St. Martin’s Press back in October of 2008, a release date of winter 2010 seemed unimaginably far away. For the longest time, friends and colleagues would say, “What’s up with the book?” and I’d say, “Well, they’re still planning an early 2010 publication date,” which was not a satisfying answer for any of us.
Now, as advanced readers’ copies of Hester have gone out for review, it hardly seems that more than a year has gone by. The actual release date in bookstores is February 16. Since I sold the book, I have taught its predecessor, The Scarlet Letter, to two years’ worth of high school sophomores (not to mention the countless students I’d taught it to in the previous 20 plus years). I’ve shared the journey, showing them the various versions of Hester’s cover as it evolved, and listened with a new appreciation to their speculations concerning all that Hawthorne’s novel does not tell about its four major characters.
I’ve read a number of threads on blogs and here at Goodreads about books that are written as continuations of classics—from the many incarnations of Mr. Darcy to Dracula’s latest rise from the grave. Some people are excited to read more about characters they loved and weren’t ready to let go of when the original book ended. Others are horrified at blasphemies being committed against such venerated works.
In the end, each new book will have to speak for itself. The plays of Sophocles and Euripides were based upon the myths they grew up with, and Shakespeare’s plays often had predecessors in literature and history. At the same time, some books based upon classics have proven bitter disappointments to readers who loved their sources. All I can do is assure you that I approached Hester with the reverence any passionate English teacher has for The Scarlet Letter. I felt that Nathaniel Hawthorne was looking over my shoulder at every word I wrote. Sometimes, I sensed a nod of approval. Other times, I was pretty sure he was frustrated that his intangibility prevented him from wringing my neck. It is my deepest hope, though, that by the time I bring Hester Prynne back to the shores of New England and the events of Hawthorne’s own novel, both he and my readers feel the journey was worth taking.
Now, as advanced readers’ copies of Hester have gone out for review, it hardly seems that more than a year has gone by. The actual release date in bookstores is February 16. Since I sold the book, I have taught its predecessor, The Scarlet Letter, to two years’ worth of high school sophomores (not to mention the countless students I’d taught it to in the previous 20 plus years). I’ve shared the journey, showing them the various versions of Hester’s cover as it evolved, and listened with a new appreciation to their speculations concerning all that Hawthorne’s novel does not tell about its four major characters.
I’ve read a number of threads on blogs and here at Goodreads about books that are written as continuations of classics—from the many incarnations of Mr. Darcy to Dracula’s latest rise from the grave. Some people are excited to read more about characters they loved and weren’t ready to let go of when the original book ended. Others are horrified at blasphemies being committed against such venerated works.
In the end, each new book will have to speak for itself. The plays of Sophocles and Euripides were based upon the myths they grew up with, and Shakespeare’s plays often had predecessors in literature and history. At the same time, some books based upon classics have proven bitter disappointments to readers who loved their sources. All I can do is assure you that I approached Hester with the reverence any passionate English teacher has for The Scarlet Letter. I felt that Nathaniel Hawthorne was looking over my shoulder at every word I wrote. Sometimes, I sensed a nod of approval. Other times, I was pretty sure he was frustrated that his intangibility prevented him from wringing my neck. It is my deepest hope, though, that by the time I bring Hester Prynne back to the shores of New England and the events of Hawthorne’s own novel, both he and my readers feel the journey was worth taking.
