Support H-Net | Buy Books Here | Help Support the NBN and NBN en Español on Patreon | Visit New Books Network en Español!
- African Studies
- African American Studies
- American Politics
- American Studies
- American South
- American West
- Asian American Studies
- Australian and New Zealand Studies
- British Studies
- Canadian Studies
- Caribbean Studies
- Central Asian Studies
- Chinese Studies
- East Asian Studies
- Eastern European Studies
- European Politics
- French Studies
- German Studies
- Iberian Studies
- India Studies
- Indian Ocean World
- Iranian Studies
- Irish Studies
- Israel Studies
- Italian Studies
- Japanese Studies
- Korean Studies
- Latino Studies
- Latin American Studies
- Mexican Studies
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Native American Studies
- Pacific Studies
- Polish Studies
- Russian and Eurasian Studies
- Southeast Asian Studies
- South Asian Studies
- Turkish Studies
- Ukrainian Studies
- Western European Studies
- World Affairs
- Animal Studies
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Business, Management, and Marketing
- Media
- Critical Theory
- Disability Studies
- Drugs, Addiction and Recovery
- Education
- Economics
- Finance
- Geography
- Gender Studies
- Genocide Studies
- Higher Education
- Human Rights
- Journalism
- Language
- Law
- LGBTQ+ Studies
- National Security
- Philosophy
- Policing, Incarceration, and Reform
- Political Science
- Politics & Polemics
- Public Policy
- Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work
- Sociology
- Sound Studies
- Sports
- Urban Studies
- Big Ideas
- Celebration Studies
- Co-Authored
- Cover Story
- Historical Materialism
- History Ex Silo
- Invested Investor
- Landscape Architecture
- Mormonism
- NBN Book of the Day
- NBN Seminar
- Postscript
- Practical History
- Preparing for Life After Grad School
- Psychology and Climate Change
- Interpretive Political and Social Science
Aug 4, 2014
Virulent
Summary
It wasn't until Shelbi Wescott was deep into her career as a high school teacher that she published her first novel, Virulent: The Release (Arthur Press, 2013). The inspiration for the story came during a class for students who weren't reading at grade level. "Part of my job in that class is to get students excited about literature," she says. But one student remained disengaged despite her best efforts:
I had to call him after class one day and say 'You actually have to give some of these books a shot. You might like them.' And he was like 'I bet you could even write a better book' than the one we were currently reading. And I said, 'I'll take that challenge. Sure. OK.'
She handed the student a piece of paper and asked him to write down 10 things he wanted to see in the book. And then she sat down and wrote it. "That happened when he was a freshman and Virulent was published his senior year. That was a pretty exciting graduation present for him."
It's a heart-warming anecdote, one that belies the apocalyptic nature of the novels it inspired. Virulent: The Release, which became the first installment of a trilogy, starts with a bioterrorism attack that kills almost everyone. The story focuses largely on a handful of survivors hiding, and subsequently trapped, in a high school that, as Ms. Wescott explains in the podcast, is remarkably similar to the one in Portland, Ore., where she teaches. The narrative also draws on her experiences as a parent, exploring to what lengths parents might go to save their own children, even if others--perhaps even billions of others--suffer as a result.
On her web site, Ms. Wescott describes herself as "author, mother, teacher" but she could add "publisher," having published her books independently. In her interview, Ms. Wescott discusses her experiences as an "indie" author and the fast-evolving world of self-publishing.
You can learn more about Ms. Wescott at Shelbi Wescott and Rob Wolf at http://www.robwolf.net/.