Word: novelization
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Luckily, one of his fans grew up to be a book agent who specializes in young-adult novels. So when Steven Malk, 33, used his job as an excuse to talk to Dr. Frank, as Portman is known, after a show, he was surprised when Dr. Frank said yes, sure, he would write a novel for teenage boys. That novel, King Dork, is far more successful than all the songs Portman has ever written put together. Already in its sixth printing, it has been showered with positive reviews. Will Ferrell's film company just bought the film rights...
Still, writing a novel is not like writing songs, and it took Portman a while to adjust. Beverly Horowitz, publisher of Bantam Delacorte Dell's young-readers division, said he had to do a lot of revisions to clarify and simplify his manuscript. "Frank was able to come to understand that there's a difference between writing a novel and music," she says. "You can't stand next to it and say, 'This is what I meant in Chapter...
Even after the cutting and streamlining, the book is deeply nuanced--a teen novel in the way that Mark Twain wrote teen novels. Or J.D. Salinger. In fact, the punk conceit of King Dork is that the main character rails against "the cult of Catcher in the Rye." The cover of King Dork is a faux red Catcher cover, with the title and Salinger's name erased and replaced by Portman's. "I always felt a lot of people might have been faking the adulation of it, to impress their parents or their teachers," says Portman. Plus, he knew that...
Portman is already deep into his next teen novel, which takes place in the same location as King Dork--a fictionalized version of the Bay Area town he grew up in. This one centers on a group of girls who are obsessed with fortune telling. So Portman has put aside his lifelong dream of rock stardom. "I'm focusing on books right now," he says. "It's a much better...
...Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer assigned to the Middle East, is the author of See No Evil and, most recently, the novel Blow the House Down