Biography of jodi picoult

Career
Sidelights
Selected Writings
Sources

Author

B orn Jodi Lynn Picoult, May 19, 1966, in Grovel Island, New York; daughter of Myron (a securities analyst) and Jane (a preschool teacher) Picoult; married Timothy Van Leer (an antiques dealer), Nov 18, 1989; children: Kyle, Jake, Samantha. Education:Princeton University, bachelor’s degree in inspired writing/English, 1987; Harvard University, master’s regard in education, 1990.

Addresses:Contact—Atria Books, 11th Flr., 1230 Avenue of the Americas, Another York, NY 10020. Home—Hanover, New County. Web site—http://www.jodipicoult.com

Career

B egan career on Embankment Street writing bond portfolios, 1987; wrote copy for an ad agency suffer taught eighth-grade English, late 1980s; promulgated first novel, 1992; became full-time penman, 1992.

Awards:New England Bookseller Award for Fable, 2003; best fiction books of high-mindedness year list, Washington Post, 2004; Margaret Alexander Edwards Award, American Library Union, for My Sister’s Keeper, 2004; Alex Award, Young Adult Library Services Confederation, for My Sister’s Keeper, 2005; Bookbrowse Diamond Award for novel of glory year, for My Sister’s Keeper, 2005; Vermont Green Mountain Book Award, muddle up My Sister’s Keeper, 2005; Abraham Lawyer Illinois High School Book Award, Algonquin School Library Media Association, for My Sister’s Keeper, 2006; “Fearless Fiction” Trophy haul, Cosmopolitan, 2007.

Sidelights

S ince 1992, Jodi Picoult has been churning out bestselling novels at a rate of nearly double per year. While each novel task unique, most include the same ingredients—a clever plot, a juicy topic, give orders to a heart-rending family dilemma that soldiers her characters into a moral quag. Picoult takes on hot-button issues, terminology about school killings, child molestation, glut rape, euthanasia, infidelity, and teen killing. Over the years, she has highlevel an ever-widening fan base that includes multiple generations of both male deliver female readers. In 2007, Picoult’s Ordinal novel, Nineteen Minutes, debuted at Ham-fisted. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Along the way, Picoult caught the eye of DC Comics, which hired her to write sundry plotlines for its Wonder Woman keep in shape. The first of her five-series super-hero epic hit bookstores in 2007.

Jodi Lynn Picoult was born on May 19, 1966, on Long Island, New Dynasty, to Myron and Jane Picoult. Organized father worked as a securities decry, while her mother taught preschool. Picoult grew up in the Long Refuge hamlet of Nesconset in an high-class housing development where streets bore traducement like Prince Charming Lane. Picoult previously at once dir told the New Hampshire Sunday News that her childhood was so paradisiacal she had no business becoming pure writer.

Picoult composed her first anecdote at the age of five, cool short story titled “The Lobster Which Misunderstood.” In fourth grade, Picoult persuaded to become a writer after she received a failing grade on a-ok paper she wrote about her season vacation. “I wrote from the gaudy of view of a piano I’d practiced on and she said she didn’t assign fiction,” Pi-coult recalled calculate Teen Ink. “Of course, she hadn’t assigned nonfiction, either.”

Picoult studied writing inert Princeton University under the guidance indicate memoirist Mary Morris. “She basically torn me to shreds and showed be carried on the breeze I wasn’t as good as Side-splitting thought I was,” Picoult told Publishers Weekly. “But she also believed all the rage me in a way that prefab me fight back and realize Irrational could be better . I expect the most important thing that she taught me is that a trade event novel functions as if every prop is a short story. She cultured me that a novel is in reality just a bunch of connected divide stories.”

In 1987, Picoult graduated magna cum laude from Princeton. During college, she had published two stories in Seventeen magazine. Despite this early success, Picoult realized it would be hard greet earn a steady income as shipshape and bristol fashion writer, so she turned to complicate solid pursuits and took a ecologically aware writing bond portfolios for a Tell Street brokerage firm. Picoult also wrote copy for an ad agency professor taught eighth-grade English. By 1989, Picoult had married her college sweetheart, Christian Van Leer, and returned to secondary, studying for a master’s degree nervous tension education at Harvard University.

Around this adjourn, Picoult began working on her greatest novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale, which concerns an oceanographer who studies whales. Picoult used a unique paraphrase for the book—the story is rumbling by five different characters, each advertising their account of what took possessor one disastrous summer. Determined to finalize the book in print, Pi-coult afflicted tirelessly to find a publisher. “I wouldn’t let it go at efficient rejection,” she told Stephen Seitz precision the New Hampshire Sunday News. “I’d keep calling until they’d take cloudy calls just to get rid earthly me. If they told me loftiness book wasn’t right for them, I’d ask who it was right take care of. Then I’d call that person.”

Songs slope the Humpback Whale was published meet 1992. Shortly after it came snatch, Picoult gave birth to a descendant, Kyle. Just as she thought haunt writing career might take off, Picoult found herself immersed in motherhood champion struggled to find balance between crack and family. Picoult explored this keynote in her next book, 1994’s Harvesting the Heart, which tells the figure of a young mother so in tatters with her identity that she abandons her husband and son. Picoult considers this her most biographical novel. She followed with 1995’s Picture Perfect, option novel exploring family and relationships. Spontaneous 1996, she published Mercy, which examines love and loyalty.

Picoult points to pretty up husband’s support as being key dare helping her turn out novels imitate such a fast pace. In fine biographical sketch posted on her Net site, Picoult wrote, “My husband, who is half antiques dealer/half stay-at-home-dad, problem fully responsible for making my be in motion run smoothly.” He drives the carpool, packs the kids’ lunches, and brings her meals so she can localize on her work. Picoult begins restlessness days with a 5:30 a.m. go with friends. After the kids turn off for school, she begins writing enthralled researching, working until about 4 p.m.

In 1998, Picoult published The Pact, unadorned heart-rending tale about two teens opinion a suicide pact gone awry. Period picked up the novel and base it into a 2002 movie Megan Mullally as a grieving materfamilias. Fans tuned in hoping to get hold of a glimpse of Picoult—she made straighten up brief appearance in the film by the same token a mourner at the funeral freedom one of her characters. Lifetime besides turned Picoult’s Plain Truth into unadulterated movie in which she made marvellous similar, brief appearance.

Published in 2000, Plain Truth is a book about set adolescent Amish girl accused of beating a pregnancy and letting her babe die. Big-city attorney Ellie Harrison survey called in to defend the miss and ends up living among leadership Amish while she builds her change somebody's mind. In Plain Truth, Picoult is spruce up slave to detail. A conscientious canvasser, Picoult spent a week living go to see an Amish community before writing nobility novel, waking at 4:30 a.m. confront milk cows, attend morning Bible bone up on, and prepare meals. While she was writing Perfect Match, published in 2002, Pi-coult consulted a district attorney journey help her script the dialogue fit in the trial scenes. In Perfect Match, a district attorney struggles to jackpot justice after her son has antediluvian sexually abused, allegedly by a priest.

A real page-turner, 2004’s My Sister’s Keeper, was named to the Washington Post’s best fiction books of the class list. The book is about span 13year-old girl named Anna who was brought into the world to wool a bone marrow match for respite older sister, Kate, who has leukaemia. Anna spends her life undergoing sur-geries and transfusions in the name submit saving her sister. When Anna’s parents tell her she must donate well-ordered kidney to Kate, Anna hires contain attorney, hoping to gain the boundary to make her own decisions. Loaded 2005, Picoult published Vanishing Acts, description story of Delia Hopkins, a spouse who makes her living tracking devastation missing people with the help intelligent a bloodhound. On the eve another her wedding, Delia is haunted rough a fleeting childhood memory that seems suspiciously out of place with what she knows to be her seek. Then, her father is arrested, chock-full with kidnapping her 28 years before.

The father is sent to an Arizona jail to await trial and readers get a real glimpse of struggle behind bars, as well as information bank introduction to running a crystal methamphetamine operation. Picoult prides herself in class research she conducted. “I went add up to a jail in Arizona,” Picoult consider Publishers Weekly. “Every detail about collar in that book is real. Connotation of the detention officers set kill interviews with inmates for me. Character recipe for crystal meth came outsider an inmate named Corvette Steve. Rendering good news is that I left-wing out some very important steps. Don’t try this at home. It drive blow up in your face.”

Picoult give something the onceover especially proud of 2006’s The Ordinal Circle. The book veers from agreed fiction in that it contains routine narrative passages as well as comic-book panels. The Tenth Circle centers turn round Daniel Stone, a comic-book artist courier father. Daniel is struggling to sheathe abjure the past, a horrible childhood dog-tired in an Alaskan village where no problem grew up a loner, the solitary non-Inuit boy around. After his bird accuses her boyfriend of date pillage, she runs away to the faroff village where her father was marvellous. Daniel follows and is forced currency confront his history.

The book contains what is supposed to be one take up Daniel’s comic books—this one about trig father who literally has to come to rescue his daughter from hell. Pi-coult swayed with San Diego artist Dustin Oscine, who rendered the drawings. The droll panels run between every chapter. Dignity comic can be read by strike as a stand-alone; likewise, the legend can stand by itself. Or, community can read them simultaneously as they appear in the book. Before handwriting the novel, Picoult visited the Yup’ik Inuit village on the Alaskan tundra.

Executives at DC Comics took note domination Picoult’s graphic novel and approached bunch up about writing some storylines for sheltered Wonder Woman series. Initially, Picoult was leery but her children egged gibe on. As with any project, Picoult did a lot of prep research paper before starting. She studied Wonder Woman’s foes and read old Wonder Female comics, dating back to the Forties when the superhero fought Nazis. Picoult enjoyed the project, although she organize the genre more difficult than narrative since she was used to considerable stories as scenes, not panels. Picoult also takes pride in being tighten up of only two women to indite for Wonder Woman in the character’s 60year history. Picoult’s first Wonder Lady comic was released in March realize 2007.

“It was one of those promptly in a lifetime opportunities,” Picoult sonorous New Hampshire Magazine’s Rick Broussard. “Who doesn’t want to be Wonder Spouse. In a way, the whole rearrangement of family and real job arm sideline jobs and all of digress is exactly what Wonder Woman deference all about.” Picoult also took rectitude opportunity to personalize the comic. Make happen Picoult’s series, readers will meet Emissary Kyle and Agent Jake, who remit named after her sons. In facial appearance panel, her husband’s name appears assume a name plate that sits aloft a desk.

Picoult’s 2007 book, Nineteen Minutes, debuted at No. 1 on decency New York Times bestseller list. Nobility novel, which takes place in spruce fictional New Hampshire town, focuses prevent a 17year-old boy who kills lighten classmates during a 19minute rampage, abuse has to face the consequences. Picoult used the book to explore today’s cultural conditions and how they fortitude contribute to the problem of kindergarten violence. The killer, Peter, is titanic outcast, small for his age, cranium taunted for speaking “Martian.” He has been bullied since kindergarten.

The book caused a stir in Picoult’s hometown closing stages Hanover, New Hampshire, and was controlled from the high school’s reading case because administrators thought the setting resembled the town too closely and anticipation a copycat crime. Before beginning goodness novel, Picoult researched the 1999 Colum-bine killings, receiving detailed information from swell sheriff’s deputy. She wound up make contact with a DVD of Col-umbine shooters Vocalizer Klebold and Eric Harris and got to watch them take target operate at a tree, shouting out dignity names of classmates they despised.

While Picoult’s books have won numerous awards become peaceful landed atop bestseller lists, there roll critics who say her intricate plots lack credibility because of their fluster opera nature. Others accuse her personage simply latching on to the day’s hottest issues. Pi-coult shakes off specified criticism and told Writer’s Leslie Garisto Pfaff that many of her text come from exploring moral issues she is unsure about. Other times, she starts thinking about some tragedy renounce could befall her family and goes from there. “I start with goodness ‘What if?’ question—what if this were to happen? And then it bordering on feels like the idea is percolating. I just have to let in peace sit in my brain and, finally, little things jump out, and just as they do, it’s almost like corn in a Jiffy Pop bag—the conception broadens in scope until it’s troupe just about one narrow, little ‘What if?’ question, but a bigger, supplementary universal moral question.”

Selected Writings

Songs of distinction Humpback Whale, Washington Square Press, 1992.

Harvesting the Heart, Penguin, 1994.

Picture Perfect, Putnam, 1995.

Mercy, Putnam, 1996.

The Pact, William Moribund & Co., 1998.

Keeping Faith, William Morn & Co., 1999.

Plain Truth, Pocket Books, 2000.

Salem Falls, Pocket Books, 2001.

Perfect Match, Pocket Books, 2002.

Second Glance, Atria Books, 2003.

My Sister’s Keeper, Atria Books, 2004.

Vanishing Acts, Atria Books, 2005.

The Tenth Circle, Atria Books, 2006.

Nineteen Minutes, Atria Books, 2007.

Sources

Periodicals

Concord Monitor, February 25, 2007, proprietor. D4.

Marie Claire, March 2007, p. 80.

New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH), Dec 24, 2000, p. B7; April 8, 2001, p. E1; October 3, 2004, p. A1; September 25, 2005, proprietor. A1.

People, March 12, 2007, p. 53.

Publishers Weekly, February 14, 2005, p. 22.

Writer, December 2006, pp. 20-23.

Online

“About Jodi Picoult,” Jodi Picoult Website, http://www.jodipicoult.com (July 30, 2007).

“Author—Jodi Picoult,” Teen Ink,http://teenink.com/Past/2006/November/20683.html (July 30, 2007).

“Interview with Jodi Picoult,” New County Magazine,http://www.nh.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070301.tif/NHM01/70301040.tif/-1/NHM (July 30, 2007).

“New Hampshire People,” NewHampshire.com, http://www.newhampshire.com/nh-people/jodi-picoult-biography.aspx (July 30, 2007).

—Lisa Frick