Bookplanet: unknown paperback genre writer scores ultimate Hollywood deal; and Orhan Pamuk wins Nobel for Literature

1. A New Writer Is Soaring on the Wings of a Dragon – by JULIE BOSMAN

Naomi Novik has written three fantasy novels chronicling the Napoleon-era adventures of a swashbuckling ship captain and a heroic dragon named Temeraire who fight to rescue Britain from a French invasion.

Now she has a dramatic tale of her own: Geek Girl Makes Good.

Ms. Novik has just sold the film rights to all three of her books to Peter Jackson , the director of such blockbusters as “King Kong” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The deal has completed her ascent from a computer programmer to a virtually unknown writer to a newly minted member of a select group of authors — J. R. R. Tolkien among them — whose novels could receive the extravagant high-tech, big-budget Jackson treatment.

Sitting in the living room of the tidy Upper East Side apartment she shares with her husband, Charles Ardai, Ms. Novik, a petite, pale and bookish-looking 33-year-old, said she had always hoped her novels would catch Mr. Jackson’s eye.

“I fantasized about Peter Jackson,” said Ms. Novik, surrounded by bookshelves crammed with “Star Wars” figurines and vintage toys that bring to mind the apartment of the lead character in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” “Before we ever sent the books to Hollywood, really, I was talking, we were joking with friends. Even my parents were saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the man who did ‘Lord of the Rings’ bought your books?’ ”

“I’m a big geek and a fangirl,” she said, referring to her penchant for fantasy fiction. “If you wanted to make a dragon movie, I would be incredibly excited about it, just for that. And if it’s mine, so much the better.”

Reviewing her first novel, “His Majesty’s Dragon,” in The Washington Post, Rachel Hartigan Shea wrote that the book contained a “generous dollop of intelligent derring-do.” The Times of London called it “Patrick O’Brian crossed with Anne McCaffrey: historic, seafaring adventure, with dragons.”

Mr. Jackson is equally enthusiastic: “I’m really excited to be working with Naomi and to fully explore the world she’s created,” he said in an e-mail message. “The Temeraire trilogy is the perfect blend of two genres I particularly love: historical war and fantasy. That blending will generate all kinds of creative possibilities.”

Ms. Novik’s books are heavily influenced by Mr. O’Brian’s high-sea novels. After having a lukewarm reaction to the film version of “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” in 2003, Ms. Novik read the original Patrick O’Brian book. Two weeks later she had finished all 20 books in his Aubrey-Maturin series. (She confessed that after seeing “Master and Commander” numerous times, she thought Russell Crowe might make a great Capt. Will Laurence, the protagonist of her books.)

Her publisher, Del Rey, which specializes in science fiction and fantasy, is preparing for the interest that Mr. Jackson’s films inevitably bring by rushing 300,000 copies of the series into print. Del Rey, a Random House imprint, used an unusual strategy to sell Ms. Novik’s books: all three were initially published as inexpensive paperbacks last spring, beginning in March.

Random House had used the technique before, in thrillers and romance, to introduce an author, build interest in a series and quickly satisfy demand. Next fall, Del Rey will release a paperback box set of Ms. Novik’s three books, then publish a fourth one soon after.

Ms. Novik grew up in Roslyn Heights on Long Island, the daughter of two Polish immigrants who read her fairy tales in Polish. She was an early and voracious reader who, at 6, first breezed through “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and a few years later developed a Jane Austen obsession. In high school she was a self-described “stereotypical nerd” and a straight-A student who spent lunch and recess in the library.

Around 1994 Ms. Novik began writing fan fiction, stories based on the characters of other writers. She called it “embarrassing, terrible early work” that could not be published — thankfully, she said — because it would be tantamount to copyright infringement on other authors’ characters.

As a student at Brown University , Ms. Novik immersed herself in English literature and flirted with the idea of being a journalist. (“I wanted to be Lois Lane,” she said.) Eventually she turned to computer science, doing graduate work at Columbia University and becoming a computer programmer.

But working as a designer on a computer game left her wanting more, she said: “I came back from that thinking, ‘I’m 30. This isn’t the life I want at this stage in my career.’ ”

A friend suggested she try writing novels, and in January 2004 she began writing “His Majesty’s Dragon.” In two months the manuscript was completed. Her agent, Cynthia Manson, quickly sold it to Del Rey, which ordered two more.

Then last February Mr. Jackson’s representative called: Mr. Jackson was interested in optioning Ms. Novik’s novels. “It does freak you out a little bit,” she said. “I have to say, you really sort of have no idea what is going to happen, how that is going to change your life.”

She has yet to meet Mr. Jackson in person, and they have spoken on the phone only once, when he called her with congratulations on their collaborations as she dined at a restaurant on the Upper East Side. “I sat there and tried not to make a complete idiot of myself,” Ms. Novik said.

He has extended an open invitation to visit him in New Zealand, but Ms. Novik is busy writing the fourth novel in the “Temeraire” series, which is due in January. Most days she can be found with her laptop in a cafe at the Metropolitan Museum of Art , one of the few places where she can concentrate enough to churn out the 6,000 words that she considers adds up to a productive day.

For now, the concept of Hollywood fame isn’t weighing heavily on her. “I don’t have visions of red carpets,” she said. “I have visions of actually seeing the movie.”


2. Orhan Pamuk Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel literature prize on Thursday, for his multitude of works that deal with the symbols of clashing cultures.

The Swedish Academy said that Pamuk ''in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.''

The 220-year-old Swedish Academy, which has handed out literature's top prize since 1901, had five candidates on its short list, drawn from hundreds of nominations sent by invitation only.

Of the five finalists, only the winner will be revealed; the other four names are kept secret for 50 years.

Critics say Nobel literature laureates have been getting edgier and more controversial, and the academy's choice often bring its share of criticism.

In 2004, Austrian Elfriede Jelinek won for what the academy described as her talent for revealing ''the absurdity of society's cliches and their subjugating power.''

Her detractors said her work, known for its frank descriptions of sexuality, pathos and conflict between men and women, was distasteful and unworthy of such a prestigious award.

''I think the prize has become more interesting than it was 10, 15 years ago. It is more surprising, and they also dare to give it to authors who could be controversial,'' said Pelle Andersson, a literature critic for Sweden's biggest daily, Aftonbladet.