Nancy Farmer's official home page

dear ms.farmer,
I loved all of your books! they were amazing! I was just wwondering a few things about you, sorry it's alot.
Do you have any advice for people who want to become authors?

What is your personal favorite of the books you have written?

How many books have you written, of those how many have won awards?

Have you ever written a book that did not get published?


Do you enjoy writing, or do you think of it as a job?

When did you start writing and when was your first book published?

About how long does it take you to write a book?

Is how old are you a personal question?? I am really not trying to be rude I was just very interested.

Mrs. Farmer,
I have seen your posts about a second 'House Of The Scorpion!'

I can't wait!

But I have a question....

Do you plan to get rights for a movie for the first one? It may be hard and all to go through the years, but the movie would be very popular!

I got 'House of The Scorpion' yesterday, and I'm already done! It is well-written, and I think you did a great job writing it! I can't wait to dive in to more of your stories!

A BIG Fan,

Billy

Agh, the House of the Scorpion was a fantastic book. I haven't plowed through a book like that in six months (John Grisham's novels, quite addicting). Shame I have library fines outstanding and am poor, but my aunt gave me this book and I might be getting The Prince (Niccolo Machiavelli) from my Spanish teacher soon.

I am also curious to know what your true view of illegal immigrants are. Myself, I am sympathetic, I was thoroughly convinced by one of my friends at the age of 12 and I realized that the illegal immigrants (as I've been studying spanish), especially Northern Mexicans and Chicanos, take a lot of loanwords from English, and that our country has more of a cultural impact on Spanish with our language then theirs. I don't see it really as a problem, especially considering if you can fit 150 million people into the four main islands of Japan, you can easily fit a billion here (and then some).

While our opinions may differ, ultimately I am to say: you are a fantastic writer and oddly remind me of my own mother, with the life story and such.

Keep on writing, when I am richer, I shall proudly add your books to my personal library right along side other fantastic writers. Most of which you already know. Addicting writers are a time a dozen, and if you don't believe me, try getting through the borefest of the Rasputin biography (such an interesting character butchered by such a landweilig y cabron writer).

Ms. Farmer,
This is a preliminary request about your availability to visit our school as a speaker this spring. We have 545 students grades 6-12. If yes, what dates might you be available? Where will you travel from? Would you need transportation and accommodations? Do you charge an honorarium?

We look forward to hearing from you. I have a Mar. 1 deadline to write my grant proposal for an author visit.

Thank you.
Eileen Rice

hey i really like your books so ya u r cool

I have a student who'd like to send you a letter. Would that be possible?

Dear Nancy,
I'm doing you & your books for my Women's History report at Canyon School on March 19. I was wondering if you could tell me your favorite childhood* memory. Some of the books you have written I am quite partial to including:Sea Of Trolls, The Land of Silver Apples, and The House of the Scorpion. These books are amazing!
Ben Miller Berkeley CA.

*ages 5-16

Dear Nancy,
I am on the author committee from the Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA). Would you please email me so that I can check on having you speak at our annual conference?
David Hogan

Dear Mrs. Farmer,
We are huge fans of yours! You see, we are three students doing a report on you. We go to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School in Redwood City, and we are assigned to read two of your books each. Part of our project includes writing you a letter. and we did. Unfortunately, we could not find your address, so we are sending you this instead. We were wondering if you had the time to visit any bookstores, libraries or schools. We would love to have you visit, and are confident in saying that our classmates would be thrilled to meet a real Newberry Award winning author! Also, if we could get another address to contact you with, it would be very helpful.

Thanks so much, and keep writing books!

Dear Mrs. Farmer,
Thank you so much! We all swear that we will not tell a soul about your other email address. Thank you very much for offering. We understand your need to write away from the public. We hope that when you do emerge from your enchanted island, you will consider Mount Carmel for one of your school visits.
Thanks again, and God bless!

hi my name is muksbhud ahamed and i have a author project and im having a hard time finding aswers to my questions so some of my questions are wher were you born and what year wered do you currently live (dont have to be spific thank i have many more questions and could you please send the replies to cooldudemukshud@sbcglobal.net thank you for even looking at this message.

May 21, 2009

Dear Nancy Farmer,

My name is Rajib Chowdhury and I live in Orlando, Florida. I recently read The Land of the Silver Apples because I found that the first book had a great plot line that fascinated me to read the sequel. I typically read fictional stories that contain a dynamic character who changes from an average person to a more heroic figure like Jack in the Sea of Trolls. I stumbled upon the Sea of Trolls in my 10th grade English class and chose it for a book project because I thought the cover of a ship looked intriguing and the synopsis in the back sounded like my kind of book. Luckily, I was right; the book kept persuading me to read more till each and ever page flew by instantly. The Sea of Trolls was one of my all time favorites because it conveyed the type of story which was interesting to me. I researched on the book and found out that The Land of the Silver Apples was a sequel to the first book and was available in my local library. Once I got the book I instantly opened it and began reading, observing, and thinking about the summary in the back. The Land of the Silver Apples made me feel rejuvenated because once again it conveyed pictures about Jack and his voyage to retrieve water from the Lady of Lake. The new characters was one of the many things I liked because they helped describe more of Jack’s inner feelings towards others like Pega the slave girl who displayed her singing abilities and that showed some of Jack’s jealous attitude. The sequel had a flow like the first one that attracted my attention and helped me catch onto every detail about all the characters. The Land of the Silver Apples had a better change within Jack’s roles in the book because he overcomes tougher obstacles and develops new powers. My favorite part in the book was when Jack summoned the earthquake which destroyed St. Filian well. This shows that Jack holds enormous power within him but failed to realize that he used the life force out of anger which caused the catastrophe between Thorgil in the cave and the problem arising. The book’s character is the main cause that influences me to learn more because each and every person represents something significant to the plot. For example, The Bard symbolizes wisdom and knowledge while Lucy expresses jealousy. Each character is fundamentally different but close in a way. The person that most relates to me is Jack because he is always curious and open minded to solutions. I find him being the problem solver among all the characters except the Bard because he is a quick thinker. His abilities to think of ideas that help him avoid dangerous situations is useful in his journey to the Elf land. This skill relates to my world because I can come up with quick ideas that help me get tasks done faster and easier. I’m also very curious and tend to linger on something that fills up questions in my mind. Some of these thoughts include questions about Jack and his journey to Elf land like what was his favorite part of the journey? What part was the hardest off all and why? Furthermore, the questions keep me a bit curious but didn’t degrade the books vivid detail and specific style of writing. The Land of the Silver Apples had wonderful use of word choice because it developed a clear image in my head of the events in the story. The part that was particularly described well was Elf land because it made me feel that the place wasn’t an illusion and the Elves were actually decent till they started mocking Jack and the others. When I read about the chapters that described how Elf land was like; I thought it seemed perfect of the way the book described it but the transformation from Elf land to a cave was worded nicely and distinguished this book from any other previous book I’ve read. One other thing that caught my attention while I was reading was the dialogue of each character. The dialogue was one of the most helpful ways I understood each characters behavior and role in the book. For example, Pega kept referring to “one of my owners,” when she talked about experience. This shows that, Pega visited many places and went through hardship while she was traded constantly. The dialogue and word choice is a main reason that helped me build up my understanding. The sequel had greater moments of tension and suspense then the Sea of Trolls because Pega, Thorgil, and Jack encounter harder obstacles. The most suspenseful scene for me was towards the end of their visit to Elf land where the demons attempt to collect their souls. The part built up tension for me because they get so close to getting killed until the hobgoblins rescue them. Another emotional scene was when Thorgil convinced the Yarthkins to help them and the Yarthkins talked about her mother. Thorgil’s love for her mother keeps her in a stunned state which is ironic because Thorgil’s usually active and head strong. The emotional part

Hi Nancy,
Just wanted to tell you I enjoyed both The House of Scorpion and A Girl Named Disaster; and enjoyed reading your bio on this website. I'm 61 and have become addicted to "ya" fiction. Thanks, you're on my list now!
Lorita

Greetings,
this is just to let you know that I read "The House of Scorpion" in Latvian (well, I read it a while ago... and I still remember it) and it was the most emotionally moving book I've read in a long time. The translation was very good too (it must be weird, thinking of your book translated in a language you don't know).
Oh, and my husband snatched it before I could and read it in the kitchen when I kicked him out of the bedroom on a premise that I have to go to sleep. :)

I am looking forward to the sequel.

Best regards,
Ieva

Hello nancy,
My name is ben. I am 14 years old and an aspiring film maker. And I'm absolutely not going to ask you for permission to write anything about you book. Although Sea of Trolls has peaked my interest to the highest extent, I know that I'm only fourteen and have not a penny to my name. But the actual reason I am commenting at all is because I was going to inquire if you were going to offer the rights to any of the big hollywood production studios. I would love to see a House of the Scorpion movie. Just wondering.

Hi Nancy,

I'm curious what you studied in college? Did you major in the sciences?

thanks,
Megan

dear nancy farmer

loved the house of the scorpians can't
for a sequel but will maria and matt
end up together married i mean in a happy ending of the sequel book?

thanks

kurtis

My wife and I were so glad to see "Islands of the Blessed" in our mailbox. Both of us had finished it by the next day.

I've always thought there was more to Pega than you were letting on. We were half-expecting to find out she was a hobgoblin changeling or the child of one of the many little mysteries haunting the British Isles. Did you consider making her a bigger part of the story? Is there a chance she will have more exposure in a later project?

Mrs. Farmer, i realize that your schedule must be busy, what with you working on a sequel for The House Of The Scorpion, yet, would it be possible to write a letter to you? I myself am in the process of writing a novel of my own, yet it came upon me that someone of your experience may be able to offer some helpful advice.

John

Dear Nancy I am a Teacher Librarian and I am about to embark on an adventure with a grade 7 class and their teacher through The Ear, The Eye and The Arm!!! We are thrilled!! I have a couple of questions: are all of the place names real places are all of the words, languages used real languages would our students be able to research the places and the vocab would you be available or interested in participating in our class blog site that will be used during the novel study unit?? Wendy Scharnhorst Pine River ES

I just finished your book (the hosue of the scorpion)witch was just an amazing book and thought me new things in life, anyway I'm doing a book report on you well more like a letter, and I need an adress to send, any adress is fine as long as you get my letter :) please send me one

p.s. your new fan!