Category Archives: Author

Scribd Welcomes E-Reads: Grand Master of Sci-Fi

Posted on May 10, 2013 by | 2 Comments

For lovers of sci-fi, fantasy and historical fiction, Scribd just hit the mother lode.

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This week, E-Reads has joined Scribd, and they bring a ton of fantastic content specialized around romance novels, sci-fi, fantasy, and difficult to source, out-of-print books.

For sci-fi in particular, we are super excited about Brian W. Aldiss, named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America and an author with over 50 years of experience. Aldiss was inducted into the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2004. Check out his Nebula award-winning Forgotten Life.

We also have featured Aldiss’ Helliconia series – an epic chronicle that details the rise and eventual fall of a thousand year-old civilization as it marches through a long progressio of seasons — each of which lasts for centuries. Originally published starting in 1928, the trilogy begins with Helliconia Spring (published in 1982), Helliconia Summer (1983) and Helliconia Winter (1985).

Here is a look at one of the original covers when it was published:

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Start where it all began by reading Helliconia Spring.

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Today in History: “Vertigo” Premieres in San Francisco

Posted on May 9, 2013 by | 1 Comment
An image from the "Vertigo" movie poster. [Photo Credit: Creative Commons]

An image from the “Vertigo” movie poster. [Photo Credit: Creative Commons]

On this date in history — Today, in 1958, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” premiered in San Francisco, where the film was shot. Today, it considered to be one of the best movies ever made. In fact, this year, the British Film Institute named it the best film ever, sliding “Citizen Kane” into second place.

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In The San Francisco of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” — Place, Pilgrimage, and Commemoration, Douglas A. Cunningham has assembled provocative essays that examine the uniquely integrated relationship that the 1958 film enjoys with the histories and cultural imaginations of California and, more specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area.

For a fun trip down memory lane, take a look at some before and after shots of the actual locations used in the shooting of “Vertigo” and what they look like today courtesy of a blog post from KQED and Reel SF.

In the dramatic nighttime opening sequence detective John 'Scottie' Ferguson (James Stewart) trails a policeman chasing a suspect across a series of rooftops. Scottie slips and ends up hanging perilously from a gutter causing him to suffer a severe case of acrophobia - a feeling of vertigo. The chase spanned almost a whole block from Washington Street towards Jackson Street on the rootops of 1302 to 1360 Taylor Street" (Courtesy Reel SF)

In the dramatic nighttime opening sequence detective John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson (James Stewart) trails a policeman chasing a suspect across a series of rooftops. Scottie slips and ends up hanging perilously from a gutter causing him to suffer a severe case of acrophobia – a feeling of vertigo. The chase spanned almost a whole block from Washington Street towards Jackson Street on the rootops of 1302 to 1360 Taylor Street” (Courtesy Reel SF)

The view from today, Brocklebank Apartments, featured later in the movie, and behind it the Fairmont Hotel Tower, not there when Vertigo was filmed." (Courtesy Reel SF)

The view from today, Brocklebank Apartments, featured later in the movie, and behind it the Fairmont Hotel Tower, not there when Vertigo was filmed.” (Courtesy Reel SF)

Scottie in front of St. Paulus' German Evangelican Lutheran Church. The church has since burned down and now the lot is vacant at the corner of Gough. (Courtesy Reel SF)

Scottie in front of St. Paulus’ German Evangelican Lutheran Church. The church has since burned down and now the lot is vacant at the corner of Gough. (Courtesy Reel SF)

Hear more from an KQED interview about a walking tour of “Vertigo” location highlights featured on The California Report which highlights the Scribd excerpt below it.

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2013 James Beard Foundation Book Award Winners

Posted on May 7, 2013 by | Leave a comment
Scribd's collection of publications that took home prizes at last evening's 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards.

Scribd’s collection of publications that took home prizes at last evening’s 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards.

Last night, the James Beard Foundation presented their annual awards to celebrate the best of the culinary world, from world-famous chefs and restaurants, to authors and photographers.

These awards are the penultimate honor for restaurateurs and chefs, and while those are typically the most recognizable aspect of the annual awards, some of the best are represented across the printed medium.

The latter categories are well-represented within the rank of books and publishers on Scribd. Of the thousands of publications that are a part of the Scribd library, there are few that match that beautiful design, imagery and layout better than our culinary titles.

They are refreshingly engaging and represent a perfect example of evergreen content that rarely needs to be shelved. Whether you are looking for dinner inspiration, or to tackle a far more complex culinary challenge, like fermenting or baking, these publications offer the opportunity for both.

Below is a list of the James Beard award-winning titles that are currently published on Scribd. You can also check out a variety of our premium publisher cookbooks that are available on our new homepage as well as food & wine titles.

Best Reference and Scholarship – The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World
Author: Sandor Ellix Katz
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

The Art of Fermentation is the most comprehensive guide to do-it-yourself home fermentation ever published. Sandor Katz presents the concepts and processes behind fermentation in ways that are simple enough to guide a reader through their first experience making sauerkraut or yogurt, and in-depth enough to provide greater understanding and insight for experienced practitioners.

Read it now!

Best International: Jerusalem: A Cookbook
Author: Yotam Ottolenghi & Tamar Sami
Publisher: Ten Speed Press / The Recipe Club

Jerusalem: A Cookbook is a collection of 120 recipes exploring the flavors of Jerusalem from the New York Times bestselling author of Plenty, one of the most lauded cookbooks of 2011.

In Jerusalem, Yotam Ottolenghi re-teams with his friend (and the co-owner of his restaurants) Sami Tamimi. Together they explore the vibrant cuisine of their home city—with its diverse Muslim, Jewish, Arab, Christian, and Armenian communities. Both men were born in Jerusalem in the same year—Tamimi on the Arab east side and Ottolenghi in the Jewish west. This cookbook offers recipes from their unique cross-cultural perspectives including Charred Baby Okra with Tomato and Preserved Lemon, Braised Lamb Meatballs with Sour Cherries, and Clementine and Almond Cake.

With five bustling restaurants in London and two stellar cookbooks, Ottolenghi is one of the most respected chefs in the world; Jerusalem is his most personal, original, and beautiful cookbook yet.

Read it now!

Best Writing & Literature: Yes, Chef: A Memoir
Author: Marcus Samuelsson with Veronica Chambers
Publisher: Random House, Inc.

It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations.

Marcus Samuelsson was only three years old when he, his mother, and his sister—all battling tuberculosis—walked seventy-five miles to a hospital in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Adaba. Tragically, his mother succumbed to the disease shortly after she arrived, but Marcus and his sister recovered, and one year later they were welcomed into a loving middle-class white family in Göteborg, Sweden. It was there that Marcus’s new grandmother, Helga, sparked in him a lifelong passion for food and cooking with her pan-fried herring, her freshly baked bread, and her signature roast chicken. From a very early age, there was little question what Marcus was going to be when he grew up.

Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson’s remarkable journey from Helga’s humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a coveted New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson’s career of “chasing flavors,” as he calls it, had only just begun—in the intervening years, there have been White House state dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs and, most important, the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fufilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room—a place where presidents and prime ministers rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, bus drivers, and nurses. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home.

Read it now!

Best Baking & Dessert: Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast: The Fundamentals
Author: Ken Forkish
Publisher: Ten Speed Press / The Recipe Club

From Portland’s most acclaimed and beloved baker comes this must-have baking guide, featuring scores of recipes for world-class breads and pizzas and a variety of schedules suited for the home baker.In Flour Water Salt Yeast, author Ken Forkish demonstrates that high-quality artisan bread and pizza is within the reach of any home baker. Whether it’s a basic straight dough, dough made with a pre-ferment, or a complex levain, each of Forkish’s impeccable recipes yields exceptional results. Tips on creating and adapting bread baking schedules that fit in reader’s day-to-day lives—enabling them to bake the breads they love in the time they have available—make Flour Water Salt Yeast an indispensable resource for bakers, be they novices or serious enthusiasts.

Read it now!

Best Single Subject: Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard
Author: Nigel Slater
Publisher: Ten Speed Press / The Recipe Club

Britain’s foremost food writer Nigel Slater returns to the garden in this sequel to Tender, his acclaimed and beloved volume on vegetables. With a focus on fruit, Ripe is equal parts cookbook, primer on produce and gardening, and affectionate ode to the inspiration behind the book—Slater’s forty-foot backyard garden in London.

Intimate, delicate prose is interwoven with recipes in this lavishly photographed cookbook. Slater offers more than 300 delectable dishes—both sweet and savory—such as Apricot and Pistachio Crumble, Baked Rhubarb with Blueberries, and Crisp Pork Belly with Sweet Peach Salsa. With a personal, almost confessional approach to his appetites and gustatory experiences, Slater has crafted a masterful book that will gently guide you from the garden to the kitchen, and back again.

Read it now!

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The Marketplace for Books

Posted on April 30, 2013 by | 8 Comments

In the pantheon of publishing, there are so many tools for authors and publishers. The ability to get noticed by a literary agent, or even a basic audience is one of the utmost goals of authors these days. It actually becomes a bit more difficult given the large number of options that authors across the globe are confronted with.

One of those tales of success is from Scribd author, Mary Yuhas, who has contributed her works — including select chapters of her memoir, Quit and be Quiet, about her growing up with a mother who had mental illness.

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“My chapters received well over 40,000 reads and convinced me there is a place for my book. I also published a short story about my father, which is included in the back of the book. It received over 1,000 reads in less than 24 hours − respectable by anyone’s standards,” Yuhas said in an article that appeared in the Harvard Square Edition.

Yuhas also found tremendous value in the Scribd community. With millions of publishers, readers and users, the Scribd community is a vast place to discover writers on virtually any subject. By publishing content, the users are able to discover written works and publications, share them with their Scribd community and even share them with the rest of the major social networks. By commenting and annotating publications, the users actually are able to engage in an entirely new layer of discussion about a whole plethora of topics.

For Yuhas, she was able to parlay the large amount of reads that were accumulated by her publications and chatper excerpts, and show them to literary agents. This posed a huge step forward for her writing career and was bolstered by the support of her community on Scribd – people who were willing to write in with support and ideas.

“So whether you are looking for an agent or writing an e-Book, posting a few chapters of your book online is a great way to get started. It’s free, and you’ll quickly see whether you are striking a chord with readers or if you need to go back and do some revising,” Yuhas said.

We did a short interview with Yuhas earlier today and have published it below with a link to an embed view of her chapter published to Scribd:

Q. How did you discover Scribd?

I was reading about a newly published author. Unfortunately, I can’t recall her name. She said she started out by publishing on Scribd so I took a look and liked what I saw.

Q. In your search for literary marketplaces or products, what other sites do you rely on using?

I’m not using any other sites. I am a freelance writer and have written for many publications such as the Sun-Sentinel, USA Today and China Daily USA among others so I am well published. I also have several blogs. All that said, writing a book is very different from writing an article for a magazine or newspaper. I knew I had a strong story (Quit and Be Quiet is my memoir of growing up with a severely mentally ill mother.) I just didn’t know if I was a strong enough writer to tell it or not. Scribd convinced me that I am.

Q. Do you still maintain contact with the Scribd community? Who were the contacts that made up your social circle on Scribd?

Absolutely! It’s been fun watching everyone’s progress and sharing their successes. Barbara Alfaro, Dan Essman, Rolando Garcia, Molly Greene, Claire Hennessy, Sunny Lockwood, Laura Novak, Robin Rule, Carla Sarett, Laura Zera and Rose (I don’t know Rose’s last name.) .

Q. Do you still use Scribd to further your literary work, or did it provide a springboard into other avenues or mediums for publishing?

I take a quick look at Scribd every day but not longer post on it It was a wonderful springboard. Recently, I’ve ventured into multimedia and have a new website – pardon my shameless promotion here – Baby Boomers – the first reality blog. That has opened a whole new media world. Because TV and the internet are quickly become one, I wanted to get into video and it is so much fun! But publishing my book is still my dream!

Q. What is your current opinion on the literary marketplace for sites like Scribd and Amazon? As an author, are your seeing places that accommodate your work?

I haven’t worked on them firsthand, but I have talked to others who do. I think most authors are thrilled to be able to get their work out there and equally appreciate getting get honest feedback. Almost all of the sites offer that. The unique thing about Scribd is we became a Scribd family. As the song goes, “Those were the days my friend…” and they were.

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Meet the Author: Hugh Howey to Visit Scribd

Posted on March 15, 2013 by | 8 Comments

Scribd is very excited to announce that Hugh Howey, author of the New York Times bestselling thriller, Wool will be stopping by Scribd Headquarters in San Francisco this next Tuesday, March 19. Howey will be here from 3-4 p.m. to do a moderated Q&A, reading and book signing.

Wool is a post-apocalyptic thriller that has been receiving a ton of positive reviews this week. Howey is currently embarking on an 12-city national book tour, so it is quite exciting that he is able to stop into our corner of the publishing world.

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Aside from the praise the book has received, it has garnered significant attention for Mr. Howey’s back-story this week in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post. He got a unique start in publishing, writing third-shift while working 30-hours a week at a college bookstore. He initially sold his book for less than a dollar on Amazon and most recently, spurned seven-figure offers from all the major publishing houses in favor of Simon & Schuster as long as he could retain the digital rights to his work.

As if that were not enough, Ridley Scott bought the film rights and with recent success of “The Hunger Games”, it would not be surprising to see Wool serialized and built as both a book and film franchise.

If you have time during your busy day at 3 p.m., please come by and take part in this wonderful opportunity to connect and meet with a high-profile author.

To register, use the Eventbrite link below and share and spread the word.

Event Details:

Scribd Meet the Author: Hugh Howey
March 19, 3-4 p.m.

Event Link for Sign-up & Sharing: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5854177001#

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Tomorrow Should Never Happen: The Unique Publishing Deal Behind “Wool”

Posted on March 12, 2013 by | 2 Comments

In the annals of publishing, the power is starting to move from the publisher to the author.

Recently, Hugh Howey, author of post-apocalyptic thriller, Wool has reached a level of heightened success related to an unprecedented and innovative publishing deal.

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Today, Wool is being pushed to the masses and released at both brick-and-mortar bookstores around the country and online. But prior to today, Howey had already hit the jackpot with his successful franchise without the book being released.

Publisher Simon & Schuster agreed to the print publication rights while Howey negotiated the e-book rights himself. This is a novel idea in the world of digital publishing and has started to help the evolution of how authors and publishers deal with the digital space. Before the sun even rose this morning, Howey’s Wool had been labeled a success with over half a million copies sold, generating close to 6,000 reviews on Amazon. That is some serious noise.

After being courted by multiple publishers, Howey realized that the seven-figure deals were not as important as retaining the digital rights to his work. That may prove to be a gamble, but in the past two years, digital publishing sales has risen steadily. According to a report from the Association of American Publishers, February 2011 results indicated that e-Books enjoyed triple-digit percentage growth, 202.3%, versus February 2010. E-book sales for adult titles in fiction and non-fiction have grown 36% in the first three quarters of 2012. That is some hefty growth, while at the same time, sales for paperback and hardcover sales has been in decline, no doubt aided in the proliferation of digital publishing and the availability of titles on Amazon and Kindle.

Aside from the tumultuous state of the digital publishing industry, Howey also had some luck and fate on his side. He initially wrote the first version of the serial Wool in less than three weeks while working 30-hours a week at a university bookstore. He sold the first version on Amazon for less than a dollar and was shocked when 1,000 copies were sold. That was in 2011. At that point, he would have no idea that the serial versions of books like The Hunger Games would have such commercial success in both publishing and Hollywood. Now, as publishers work to ensure Wool enjoys fame in the publishing world, he has already negotiated the film rights to producer Ridley Scott.

Today, you can read an excerpt of Wool on Scribd, and at the same time, Howey is receiving plenty of attention in blogs, newspapers and other online press about the highly unusual deal.

According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal:

“I had made seven figures on my own, so it was easy to walk away,” says Mr. Howey, 37, a college dropout who worked as a yacht captain, a roofer and a bookseller before he started self-publishing. “I thought, ‘How are you guys going to sell six times what I’m selling now?’ “

It’s a sign of how far the balance of power has shifted toward authors in the new digital publishing landscape. Self-published titles made up 25% of the top-selling books on Amazon last year. Four independent authors have sold more than a million Kindle copies of their books, and 23 have sold more than 250,000, according to Amazon.

Publishing houses that once ignored independent authors are now furiously courting them. In the past year, more than 60 independent authors have landed contracts with traditional publishers. Several won seven-figure advances. A handful have negotiated deals that allow them to continue selling e-books on their own, including romance writers Bella Andre and Colleen Hoover, who have each sold more than a million copies of their books.

Howey himself further delves into the story of his unprecedented success in a dispatch on Huffington Post that reveals the intriguing nature and development of discussions that led to his unique deal with Simon & Schuster:

The problem was that publishers were willing to pay a lot of money to take all of my rights forever, but nobody wanted to do a print-only deal. Even major publishers (especially major publishers) could see in their balance sheets where the industry was heading. But there will always be a place for bookstores and great print editions, and I wanted to form that partnership without giving up a known living wage for an unknown jackpot. I just don’t have that ability to gamble (I never have).

It made it easy to say no, even though it was life-altering amounts of money being offered. The stability of a monthly income was more important, as was knowing that I would be miserable to sign my life away like that. I floated one final option, which gained zero traction. This was the idea of licensing the rights to the book for a finite period of time. This is how my foreign deals are structured. It seemed to me that this would eventually be the future of US publishing. But it wasn’t to be. A second round of interesting talks came and went.

As this week unfolds, it is a sure bet that publishing industry will be keeping their eyes on the sales at bookstores. Simon & Schuster released hardcover and paperback versions of the book simultaneously today, which essentially are competing with Howey’s digital publications. While the experiment unfolds, feel free to check out the digital excerpt below and available on Scribd’s homepage.

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The Queen’s Gambit

Posted on March 8, 2013 by | 2 Comments

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This brilliant historical fiction debut takes you into the heart of the Tudor court and the life and loves of the clever, charismatic Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s sixth and last wife. Discover the rich tapestry of history from author Elizabeth Fremantle. Widowed for the second time aged thirty-one, Katherine Parr finds she has fallen deeply for the dashing courtier Thomas Seymour and hopes at last to marry for love.

Widowed for the second time aged thirty-one, Katherine Parr finds she has fallen deeply for the dashing courtier Thomas Seymour and hopes at last to marry for love. However, obliged to return to court, she attracts the attentions of another: the ailing, egotistical and dangerously powerful monarch Henry VIII, who dispatches his love rival, Seymour, to the continent. No one is in a position to refuse a royal proposal so, haunted by the fates of his previous wives—two executions; two enforced annulments; one death in childbirth—Katherine is obliged to wed Henry Tudor and become his sixth queen.

Committed to religious reform, Katherine must draw upon all her instincts to navigate the treachery of the court, drawing a tight circle of women around her including her stepdaughter Meg, traumatized by events from their past that are shrouded in secrecy, and their loyal servant Dot, who knows and sees more than she understands. But with the Catholic faction on the rise once more, reformers being burned for heresy, and those close to the king vying for position in the new regime, Katherine’s survival seems unlikely. Yet as she treads the razor’s edge of court intrigue, she never quite gives up on love.

A must-read for fans of Philippa Gregory, Hilary Mantel, and Alison Weir, Queen’s Gambit brings to life the remarkable story of Katherine Parr as she battles with those intent on destroying her, but also with her own heart.

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The Demonologist

Posted on February 27, 2013 by | 3 Comments

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Fans of The Historian won’t be able to put down this spellbinding literary horror story in which a Columbia professor must use his knowledge of demonic mythology to rescue his daughter from the Underworld. Professor David Ullman’s expertise in the literature of the demonic— notably Milton’s Paradise Lost — has won him wide acclaim.

But David is not a believer. One afternoon he receives a visitor at his campus office, a strikingly thin woman who offers him an invitation: travel to Venice, Italy, witness a “phenomenon,” and offer his professional opinion, in return for an extravagant sum of money. Needing a fresh start, David accepts and heads to Italy with his beloved twelve-year-old daughter Tess.

What happens in Venice will send David on an unimaginable journey from skeptic to true believer, as he opens himself up to the possibility that demons really do exist. In a terrifying quest guided by symbols and riddles from the pages of Paradise Lost, David attempts to rescue his daughter from the Unnamed—a demonic entity that has chosen him as its messenger.

This is just a sneak preview of The Demonologist, the new literary thriller from New York Times bestselling author, Andrew Pyper. The novel comes in Coming in March 2013, but you can check out an exclusive sneak preview from Simon & Schuster and Scribd below.

Be sure to check out the book trailer here as well as some exclusive content and order details.

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The Third Bullet

Posted on January 15, 2013 by | 4 Comments

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Today, Scribd is proud to feature an excerpt for “The Third Bullet,” New York Times bestselling author Stephen Hunter’s explosive new novel published by Simon & Schuster. Bob Lee Swagger returns with a fascinating look at an alternate narrative that probes the lingering mystery of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Currently, the excerpt is available to Scribd readers where it’s currently featured on our homepage and can be accessed here.

Stephen Hunter discusses the roots of Bob Swagger novel dating back to its inception as well as how he worked with some of the intricacies of the plot details. You can read the entirety of this interview here.

Q: The Third Bullet has some roots in the very first Bob Lee Swagger novel you wrote twenty years ago called Point of Impact. Tell us a little about the relationship between the two books.

A: Point of Impact was a very tough book to write—one problem was that it was inspired by and set to be about the JFK assassination. When I started it everyone believed in conspiracy. Halfway through I read Case Closed by Gerald Posner and I immediately ceased believing in conspiracy. Thus I was halfway through a novel whose whole intellectual premise had just been destroyed. So I patched and changed, and abridged and diddled, and in the end separated Point of Impact from the JFK assassination. But I am sloppy and I missed stuff, lots of stuff. Twenty years passed, new ideas came to me about this and that, and suddenly I saw an opportunity to do the JFK book of my dreams. I had a researcher go back and document all the connections to JFK that remained in Point of Impact, and I used those as a foundation for The Third Bullet.

Q: How did you connect the two plots?

A: The main problem I had with Point of Impact was the villain; he was too broad, encompassing both Special Forces experience and Washington intelligence culture smarts. I couldn’t get it to work. (I had obviously never heard of Richard Armitage!) Late in the process, I broke that character into two: Col. Raymond Shreck, a court-martialed Green Beret who’d become a freelance mayhem expert, and Hugh Meachum, an elderly (to me; I was in my 40s at the time) Ivy League old boy and Intelligence sprite of mysterious connections. It saved the book and it made The Third Bullet possible, because I was able to resurrect Hugh Meachum for a large role. I had great fun with Hugh and believe me, there’d be no book at all without Hugh’s voice and my wife Jean’s coffee.

Q: Point of Impact was made into the movie Shooter, starring Mark Wahlberg as a young Bob Lee Swagger. Speaking as a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic, who would you cast to play Swagger now, in The Third Bullet?

A: Mark was wonderful and delivered a superb performance—there was no movie without Mark. But for this book, we need someone older and wiser. I’d ideally cast Tommy Lee Jones whose face has collapsed into an Egyptian cataract of woe and melancholy. He’s the right age and in my humble opinion still vital and virile (he happens to be my age!)

We will leave you with some links to video interviews with Hunter as well as his take on the weapons that were used in the JFK assignation.

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The Allure Of Grain Trucks

Posted on November 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The allure of grain trucks – A rural expatriate’s struggle to reconcile family, home, love, and faith with the silence of the prairie land and its people Melanie Hoffert longs for her North Dakota childhood home, with its grain trucks and empty main streets. Beacon Press published her novel, read the first chapter below.

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North Dakota is a land where she imagines standing at the bottom of the ancient lake that preceded the prairie: crop rows become the patterned sand ripples of the lake floor; trees are the large alien plants reaching for the light; and the sky is the water’s vast surface, reflecting the sun. Like most rural kids, she followed the out-migration pattern to a better life. The prairie is a hard place to stay—particularly if you are gay, and your home state is the last to know. For Hoffert, returning home has not been easy. When the farmers ask if she’s found a “fella,” rather than explain that—actually—she dates women, she stops breathing and changes the subject. Meanwhile, as time passes, her hometown continues to lose more buildings to decay, growing to resemble the mouth of an old woman missing teeth. This loss prompts Hoffert to take a break from the city and spend a harvest season at her family’s farm. While home, working alongside her dad in the shop and listening to her mom warn, “Honey, you do not want to be a farmer,” Hoffert meets the people of the prairie. Her stories about returning home and exploring abandoned towns are woven into a coming-of-age tale about falling in love, making peace with faith, and belonging to a place where neighbors are as close as blood but are often unable to share their deepest truths. In this evocative memoir, Hoffert offers a deeply personal and poignant meditation on land and community, taking readers on a journey of self-acceptance and reconciliation.

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