New Author Goes from Market to Millionaire
Supermarket manager Clive Woodall's debut novel creates stir in the United Kingdom
By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 5/1/2004
Could U.K. supermarket manager Clive Woodall be the next J. K. Rowling? That's what one small publisher is banking on. And so far, so good. Released in March, Woodall's bedtime story has taken England by storm, with enthusiasts hailing the 47-year-old first-time novelist as the next publishing phenomenon. Disney has already laid down $1 million for the film rights to Woodall's fantasy tale, One for Sorrow, Two for Joy (Ziji/Gerald Duckworth), which was brokered by filmmaker Franc Roddam, who also published the book.
"I'm up on on cloud nine," Woodall told the Guardian. "It feels very surreal and lovely at the moment." Yet Woodall hasn't quit his day job managing the Sainsbury market in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, choosing instead to cut back to three days a week. He says nothing's changed much, except perhaps for the special display featuring copies of his book.
Woodall's epic story is set in the magical world of Birddom, ruled by evil magpies. Enter the heroic little robin Kirrick, who is forced to battle dark forces to save Birddom.
Woodall began concocting the story in 1993 as a bedtime tale for his two sons, then 10 and six. As his kids begged for more, Woodall was inspired to write every night until he finished the novel in 1995. Numerous rejections from publishers followed, until Woodall's second wife, Tricia, took the manuscript to the manager at the bank where she worked. The bank manager passed it to Roddam, who was immediately taken with the book. "The story has a timeless beauty and a haunting morality, which transcends age and society," says Roddam, best known for directing the 1979 film Quadrophenia. Roddam set up his own publishing company, Ziji, to produce the book, then worked his Hollywood contacts to secure the Disney contract. Berkley Books will release One for Sorrow, Two for Joy in the U.S. in January 2005 under the Ace imprint.
