Bec
asked
Scott Hawkins:
Firstly, I absolutely LOVED The Library at Mount Char. You mentioned that you have written 3 novels previously. Are there plans to publish them?
Scott Hawkins
Hey Bec,
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
I vaguely remember a story about some well-known writer--Robert Louis Stevenson, maybe?--writing his first novel on a weeks-long voyage from England to the U.S., then chunking it overboard when they got to port. He had a theory that first novels should never be read. I don't think that's universally true, but it certainly was in my case. The people who actually read my first novel--it was a heist story called Criminal--still give me a hard time about it. It was baaaaad. Like, irredeemable.
My second book was a sort of science-fiction-y thing about some near future revolutionaries. The main critique was that it was basically incomprehensible. Looking at it some years after, I have to agree. I flipped through it the other day and *I* had a hard time trying to figure it out.
My third was almost there, I think. Not quite, but almost. It was a sort of fable written solely from the perspective of animals. Blacktail, the last wolf of the north woods, sets out to find the Forest God and has some adventures. It was along the lines of Watership Down as written by H.P. Lovecraft. When Mount Char sold my editor got wind of it and asked to take a look. He read it and sort of politely passed. The line I got from bot him (and, some years earlier, the woman who was to become my literary agent) was that Blacktail was 1) too dark for an animal story aimed at kids, and that 2) adults basically don't read animal stories that aren't written by Richard Adams.
I don't doubt that's true, but I suspect that "the writing isn't quite there yet" may have been a factor as well.
So no, no plans to publish the other three. I am absolutely thrilled that you care enough to ask, however.
Scott
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
I vaguely remember a story about some well-known writer--Robert Louis Stevenson, maybe?--writing his first novel on a weeks-long voyage from England to the U.S., then chunking it overboard when they got to port. He had a theory that first novels should never be read. I don't think that's universally true, but it certainly was in my case. The people who actually read my first novel--it was a heist story called Criminal--still give me a hard time about it. It was baaaaad. Like, irredeemable.
My second book was a sort of science-fiction-y thing about some near future revolutionaries. The main critique was that it was basically incomprehensible. Looking at it some years after, I have to agree. I flipped through it the other day and *I* had a hard time trying to figure it out.
My third was almost there, I think. Not quite, but almost. It was a sort of fable written solely from the perspective of animals. Blacktail, the last wolf of the north woods, sets out to find the Forest God and has some adventures. It was along the lines of Watership Down as written by H.P. Lovecraft. When Mount Char sold my editor got wind of it and asked to take a look. He read it and sort of politely passed. The line I got from bot him (and, some years earlier, the woman who was to become my literary agent) was that Blacktail was 1) too dark for an animal story aimed at kids, and that 2) adults basically don't read animal stories that aren't written by Richard Adams.
I don't doubt that's true, but I suspect that "the writing isn't quite there yet" may have been a factor as well.
So no, no plans to publish the other three. I am absolutely thrilled that you care enough to ask, however.
Scott
More Answered Questions
Amel Lou
asked
Scott Hawkins:
Hi Mr Hawkins! Any idea if your book will be translated in French? I work as a librarian and I recommended your book to a patron who, sadly, can't read english. I was wondering if in the near future I'll be able to acquire a french version for my public library? Thank you!
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