By Brian Zanzonico
At the time, the prospect of carving out a future with her writing seemed little more than a teenage fantasy.
"How would a working class girl like me be a writer?" said Hoffman, 54, who grew up on Cypress Street in Franklin Square.
A lot has changed since those insecure years. Her 16th novel is scheduled for release early next year and the fourth big screen adaptation of one of her books, "Aquamarine," is currently in theaters.
As a precocious teen, Hoffman graduated from North a year early in 1969. Eschewing further education for life in the work force, she got a filing job at the Doubleday publishing house in Garden City (which would one day serve as her publisher). She lasted less than a day, unwilling to adhere to rigid rules that barred women from wearing slacks and required permission to use the bathroom. Later that day, she signed up for night classes at Adelphi, and three years later graduated with a bachelor's degree in English and Anthropology.
From there, she was accepted into the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, graduating in 1974 with a Master's Degree in Creative Writing.
While at Stanford, Hoffman wrote a short story for a class which was published in a magazine called Fiction. American Review editor Ted Solotaroff read it, and contacted Hoffman to ask if she had a novelized version. Knowing this was her shot, she fibbed and said she did, then began the process of writing a novel for the first time.
"I worked in a department store in California," Hoffman said. "I had to write like crazy."
Solotaroff then put Hoffman in touch with literary agent Elaine Markson, who has represented Hoffman ever since. Published at age 21, her first novel, "Property Of," about a girl who seeks closeness to the leader of a gang, was critically hailed and launched her career.
She has since written books for teens - "Local Girls," "7th Heaven" - adults - "Practical Magic" (made into a film starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock), "The Ice Queen" - and children, including "Moondog," which she co-wrote with son Wolfe Martin.
A lot of her material has been culled from her experiences growing up on Long Island. The main characters in "Local Girls," a series of stories centered around four females, is a compilation of girls she grew up with. "7th Heaven," set in Long Island in 1959 and 1960, chronicles a single mother raising her two young children. Hoffman spent much of her youth in a single parent home.
Hoffman often marries the real world with magic and the supernatural, which stems from her love of fairy tales and books on magic as a child. "Practical Magic," is about sisters who lead otherwise normal lives but come from a long line of witches. "Aquamarine," is a fantasy about a mermaid who winds up in a beach club swimming pool after a storm, To write "Aquamarine," Hoffman called on her summers at a similar club as an early teen.
"That's a time between childhood and adolescence," she said. "No school, no work. Just a kid out on its own."
Her time in teen territory, however, appears to be over. Hoffman's next young adult project, a historical novel about the Spanish Inquisition, is likely her last. She said she will focus on more adult themed fare like "Skylight Confessions," about how deceased loves ones continue to influence people. "Skylight Confessions" is due out in January 2007.
Though she resides in Boston, Hoffman, who is married with two sons, hasn't ignored her roots. She partnered with Adelphi University to established the scholarship-based Adelphi University Alice Hoffman Young Writers Retreat, an annual four-day, intensive writing workshop comprised of exemplary high school students.
"She supports the effort in an advisory role, by suggesting contacts in the publishing world who may also lend support, and by visiting the retreat some summers to meet with the young writers and discuss the craft of writing," said Dr. Rob Linne, an associate professor at Adelphi and one of the retreat's coordinators.
Reflecting on her time in Franklin Square, Hoffman said she feels lucky to have grown up in a place that has spawned such creative minds, which includes filmmaker Steve Buscemi, of Valley Stream.
"I once met Alice McDermott, the novelist from Elmont, and it turns out we went to the same dances at St. Boniface," she said. "Franklin Square, Elmont, Valley Stream. This is a very rich area for creativity. I think on Long Island we have this dream of making it in the big city. It's so close to us."
Dream mixing with reality. Sounds like an Alice Hoffman book.
Comments about this story? Fseditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
