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The Nivens: Mother, daughter are acclaimed writers
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Published: November 16, 2009
Updated: 11/16/2009 12:30 am
Penelope Niven, a writer-in-residence at Salem College, is a teacher, scholar and biographer of literary luminaries.
If her daughter Jennifer has her way, Niven may soon find that she is the basis for a TV character.
Jennifer Niven, whose books The Ice Master and Velva Jean Learns to Drive have earned her widespread acclaim, is working on a TV pilot based on her coming memoir, The Aqua-Net Diaries.
The memoir is a humorous look at her high-school days in small-town Indiana in the 1980s.
"I learned some things I had no idea about," Penelope Niven said with a laugh. "And I thought I was an attentive and involved parent." As with most memoirs, Jennifer Niven has had to change some names to protect people from potential embarrassment.
"My mom said, ‘Maybe you should change my name,'" she said with a laugh.
The TV pilot is among the multiple projects that Jennifer Niven is currently juggling. She will talk about balancing her work during an appearance Tuesday at Shirley Recital Hall on the campus of Salem College. The talk will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Since 2001, Jennifer, 41, has been jumping genres -- from nonfiction to fiction to script writing.
Her first two books, The Ice Master and Ada Blackjack, were true stories set in the Arctic. Based on the success of those books, one might conclude that Jennifer Niven had found her niche.
But she said she needed a break.
"The experience was wonderful but exhausting," said Jennifer Niven, who was talking by phone from her home in Los Angeles. "I thought I was in danger of being known as ‘Arctic Girl.' I wanted to see what else I could do. Not everyone agreed, but my mother and my agent were tremendously supportive."
As a fellow writer, Penelope Niven said she urged her daughter to follow her creative impulse. As a mother, she wanted her to pursue what made her happy.
"I see so many artists who repeat themselves. They do something successful and do the same thing over and over. It's wonderful to watch her trying these new things," Penelope Niven said.
Jennifer Niven applied the same discipline to writing Velva Jean Learns to Drive that she did with her nonfiction books. She made detailed outlines and had a good feel for how the novel would flow. A week or so into writing the book, Penelope Niven asked her daughter how it was going.
"Oh my god," Jennifer said. "I have to throw it out. The characters are doing what they want."
Her mother replied: "Welcome to fiction."
As she was wrapping up Velva Jean, Jennifer Niven began working on her memoir, The Aqua-Net Diaries. She had no set writing schedule, but would work on each project based on her mood and each book's deadline.
In between those two projects, she and a good friend successfully pitched a TV series to WB Comedy based on The Aqua-Net Diaries.
Jennifer, who is single, is tweaking some of the scripts and promoting Velva Jean. She also recently agreed to write a sequel to Velva Jean and she is always on the hunt for good ideas that could be turned into another nonfiction book.
Her mother, who has written a highly regarded biography of Carl Sandburg and is nearly finished with a Thornton Wilder biography, has remained a constant and supportive presence. They talk daily and critique each other's work.
"I trust her absolutely to tell me the truth," Penelope Niven said. "And she feels that way, too."
As for their next projects, mother and daughter may team for a book on the adventures they've taken to such places as Scotland, France and Switzerland to research their books. "We have had wonderful and hilarious adventures," Penelope Niven said.
lo'donnell@wsjournal.com. 727-7420
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