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These are busy times for Menlo Park author Jeanne DuPrau. Her newest book, “The Diamond of Darkhold: The Fourth Book of Ember” (Random House Children’s Books), has just been released. And, a movie adapted from her first book in the Ember series, “The City of Ember,” hits theaters nationwide Oct. 10.
The Ember series recounts two children’s adventures in a fictional, underground city created after a catastrophic event alters life on Earth. In the conclusion of the series, “The Diamond of Darkhold,” readers will learn if Lina and Doon can bring light to a world that is always in darkness.
“I wanted to come back to the original setting. The fourth book takes up where the second book left off,” says Ms. DuPrau.
As to the “The City of Ember” film, Ms. DuPrau has seen some clips, but not the entire feature. She did not write the screenplay, and says that, at first, she was upset over changes that were made in her original story. But, she adds, “as time went on, I saw the reasons for them.”
She says the film depiction of the underground city “is amazing” and Lina, as played by Saoirse Ronan, “is the star.” Saoirse is known for her role in the recent film “Atonement.” The “Diamond of Darkhold” also stars Bill Murray and Tim Robbins.
So far, there are no plans for a red carpet movie premiere, says Ms. DuPrau.
Always a writer
Jeanne DuPrau says she’s “always been a writer.” Her mother kept everything she wrote, including a story, complete with illustrations, about Frosty the Snowman, written at age 5.
She wrote, she says, “because that was what I was good at” in elementary school, junior high, and at Woodside High School, where she graduated in 1962. She recalls her Woodside English teacher, Kenan Neese, encouraging her talent.
Ms. DuPrau worked in the corporate world (Addison-Wesley and Apple) until 1989, when she decided to freelance. “I really thought of myself as a nonfiction writer, although I’ve always loved reading fiction.” She has written four novels and six nonfiction books.
Her first novel for children, “The City of Ember,” was originally written in the late 1980s. She put the manuscript aside, but after the success of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, she went back to it. Inspired by the Potter series, she rewrote her book to make the characters more active
In an interview with The Almanac in June 2003, she said,” My book was way too slow and everyone was way too passive.” The article continues, “So, she got to work on rewriting her book, applying what she learned from reading Rowling, and came up with a dynamic book that, much to her surprise, was quickly snatched up by a publisher.”
These days Ms. DuPrau is taking a break from writing. “I just needed not to be writing,” she says. She tends her garden, has her dog, Ethan, for company, and keeps busy answering e-mails from her many fans, who range in age from 7 to 80.
As for future books? “Well, I do have an idea in my head,” she says with a smile.
Photo by Veronica
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