S.E. Hinton

BIO

Susan Eloise Hinton wrote her eye-opening tale of the rift between upper and lower class teens --- THE OUTSIDERS --- when she was only 15 years old. When the novel was published in 1967, the success of the groundbreaking young adult novel made Hinton into a household name at age 17. By the early 1980s, she had added four more highly-acclaimed YA novels, numerous awards, and four movie adaptations to her list of achievements, cementing her place in history as one of the most well-known and beloved YA authors of our time.

Hinton's newest project, HAWKES HARBOR, will be her first ever novel written for an adult audience. In this, her first foray into adult fiction, Hinton weaves a dark, yet often comedic tale of a young man's headfirst dive into high-stakes adventure, unthinkable horror and the resulting insanity.

In 1988 Hinton was the first author to receive the Margaret A. Edwards Young Adult Services Division/School Library Award for Life Achievement, recognizing her novels THE OUTSIDERS; THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW; RUMBLE FISH; and TEX. Today, THE OUTSIDERS is required reading in many schools and has sold over 10,000,000 copies since its first publication, giving the novel the prestigious number two ranking on Publishers Weekly's "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books" list, just below CHARLOTTE'S WEB. Additionally, all five of her novels --- THE OUTSIDERS; THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW; RUMBLE FISH; TEX and TAMING THE STAR RUNNER --- were selected by the American Library Association as Best Books for Young Adults between 1967 and 1979.

In the early 1980s, four of Hinton's novels were adapted for film. Hinton was involved with the filming of TEX, THE OUTSIDERS, and RUMBLE FISH --- all of which starred young up-and-coming actors, including Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, and Tom Cruise. Hinton even played bit parts in these films as a typing teacher, a nurse, and a prostitute. The last of Hinton's novels to be adapted for film, THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW (in 1985), starred Emilio Estevez, who also wrote the screenplay, and joined the rest of the movie adaptations as being another box office success and film classic. THE OUTSIDERS, directed by Francis Ford Coppola of The Godfather fame, even spurred a 1990 television series whose 90-minute pilot was the highest rated show in Fox's history when it aired.

In 1995, Hinton released two children's books, BIG DAVID, LITTLE DAVID and THE PUPPY SISTER.

S. E. Hinton currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her family.

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INTERVIEW

October 8, 2004

Cindy Lynn Speer and Wiley Saichek of Bookreporter.com interview bestselling young adult author S.E. Hinton, who has written a novel for an adult audience titled HAWKES HARBOR. Hinton talks about the fictional town in which the book is set, why she chose to write a tale that features a vampire and her decision in the 1980s to take a break from fiction writing.

Bookreporter.com: What inspired you to write HAWKES HARBOR?

S.E. Hinton: I hadn't written in a while and wanted to do something for fun. I wanted the freedom to write an "adult" novel. I wanted to have some adventures.

BRC: Is the town of Hawkes Harbor based on an actual locale you've been to? What was involved with creating a "new" town? Will we see future books set in this location?

SEH: Hawkes Harbor is a fictional town. I needed an East Coast town, as Jamie Sommers and Kell Quinn meet in Hawaii and slowly drift west, until they arrive at the other side of the United States; the climates becoming colder and colder. I pictured Hawkes Harbor as a small, economically depressed town, the kind where most people know each other. Kell refers to it as "an uncanny little place," and I tried to give a few details to strengthen the "oddness," such as a history of disappearing people, a high rate of insanity in the population, an unusually strong cold current, the inability of the local mailmen to find Hawkes Hall. I scattered these details through the book, the emphasis on the characters and story rather than place.

BRC: Vampires have captivated readers for centuries. What drew you to writing a tale with a vampire? How did you decide which characteristics of vampire lore to use in HAWKES HARBOR?

SEH: I was drawn to the Vampire as a character definition more than anything. I don't read vampire books, although I am very interested in the paranormal. I didn't research Vampires, relying on the traditional lore of coffins, blood, stakes, etc. Grenville Hawkes was a man who valued self-control almost above all, and dealing with his reactions to being subjected to this "curse" was an interesting dynamic for me.

BRC: We love the different adventures Jamie went on. Why did you make him a sailor, and a man of sometimes questionable character?

SEH: Well, he had to be of a questionable character to reform. I don't believe he was a hardened criminal as much as a hardened man. The murder of a crew mate affected him deeply. I went into this book wanting a sense of freedom, and Jamie being a sailor gave him a lot of freedom.

BRC: Your earlier novels were written for a Young Adult audience. What inspired you to write for an adult audience with HAWKES HARBOR?

SEH: I was living with a teenager and it's hard to work up much sympathy for them in those conditions. Also, I just plain wanted to write about adult characters for a change.

BRC: Your last book, BIG DAVID, LITTLE DAVID, was written in 1995; your last novel was nearly 20 years ago. Why the gaps between your books? What keeps bringing you back to writing?

SEH: TAMING THE STAR-RUNNER was published 16 years ago, and I wrote two children's books since. I was busy raising my son, and didn't have the emotional energy to put into a novel. I knew I'd get back to writing, and certainly wasn't as worried about it as others seem to have been. It's all I ever wanted to do --- I began in grade school --- and it's all I know how to do.

BRC: You've seen several of your books made into movies. Have the rights to HAWKES HARBOR been bought? Do you think a movie has an effect on how the book is remembered either positively or negatively?

SEH: There's nothing definite about a movie version of HAWKES HARBOR right now. Movies can't ruin books. They can only ruin movies.

BRC: THE OUTSIDERS has become required reading for so many teens. How do you feel knowing that you've written something that has endured like this?

SEH: Proud, and humble at the same time.

BRC: What do you like to read? Who are some of your favorite authors? What authors influenced your work?

SEH: I read a lot of nonfiction, history, biography, social commentary, paranormal. I like Victorian novels. Jane Austen, Mary Renault, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Shirley Jackson are some of my favorite authors.

Anything you read can influence your work, so I try to read good stuff.

BRC: If someone were to define you with one word, what would you like that word to be?

SEH: Honest.

BRC: What are your future plans? Will readers have to wait 20 years for another novel?

SEH: No. I am in a stage of life where I feel very free to write.

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