Laura Hillenbrand Quotes

The following Wednesday, I opted to go with Random House.

For me, being a writer was never a choice. I was born one. All through my childhood I wrote short stories and stuffed them in drawers. I wrote on everything. I didn`t do my homework so I could write.

I am disabled, so I can`t travel, and I have not been to any development meetings, but Gary and the others affiliated with the film keep me updated on everything.

I spoke to my agent and learned that a Hollywood scout had seen my proposal in one of the publishing houses, and had faxed it to Hollywood, where it was generating a lot of interest.

I was starstruck and completely confused; making a film of this story hadn`t even occurred to me, and I hadn`t written a single line of the book yet. I had no idea how this man knew anything about my book proposal.

My work was entirely nonfiction.

I think if I had been writing fiction, where the work is entirely dependent on the writer`s creativity and the potential directions the narrative might take are infinite, I might have frozen.

I lived for four years in the 1930s with these individuals and the only time that I wasn`t thinking about dealing with physical suffering is when I was working on this book. I`ve never been more alive as when I worked on this book.

But with nonfiction, the task is very straightforward: Do the research, tell the story.

I have vertigo. Vertigo makes it feel like the floor is pitching up and down. Things seem to be spinning. It`s like standing on the deck of a ship in really high seas.

I had been writing professionally since 1988.

My agent and I put out my proposal one Thursday afternoon in August, 1998. Publishers started bidding immediately, and that process progressed for a few days.

In terms of writing about horses, I fell backwards into that. I was intent on getting a Ph.D., becoming a professor, and writing on history but I got sick 14 years ago when I was 19. Getting sick derailed that plan completely.

Books on horse racing subjects have never done well, and I am told that publishers had come to think of them as the literary version of box office poison.

And at that point, I think my experience in covering the subject helped me. I think editors felt comfortable with the idea of me telling this story because I had demonstrated that I know this business pretty well.

Since signing with Universal, I have been working closely with Gary Ross, the director, producer and screenwriter. We have spent many hours on the phone, and I`ve been sending him information and items that have been useful to the writing process.

I identified in a very deep way with the individuals I was writing about because the theme that runs through this story is of extraordinary hardship and the will to overcome it.

Having a lot of people suddenly depending on me to get the job done was a marvelous motivator. The book and movie deals seemed to flip a switch in my head, and off I went.

I look at the film as an opportunity to see some bountifully creative minds do something that I could not do - tell the story with images. I can`t wait to see what they do.

Honestly, I expected to get a cold reception because of my subject matter. But when editors took a look at the story I had to tell, and saw that this was not a parochial story at all, they really warmed to it.

The biggest problem has been exhaustion. I`ve spent about 6 of the last 14 years completely bedridden.

I am actually in poor health due to chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome, and my ability to work is greatly diminished right now, so I have to get better before I can start another big project.

I spent one frenzied day interviewing producers, and ended up choosing Universal and Larger Than Life productions. It all happened in two days.

It only worked for a little while; the morning after I agreed to go with Universal, an article came out in the Hollywood trade papers, and the secret was out.

I think authors can get into trouble viewing the subject matter as their turf.

People think I must have been turning cartwheels on the night I sealed the movie deal - which was only two days after sealing the book deal - but I was really quite terrified.