‘Descendants’ author keeps new prestige in perspective

Local author Kaui Hart Hemmings says having her name mentioned in the same breath as Oscar winners George Clooney and Alexander Payne hasn’t changed her daily life much, except for new travel opportunities.

It’s been about five years since her first novel, "The Descendants," was published, and almost four months since the movie based on her book was released by Fox Searchlight. The film drew several Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and last month took home the Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

Hemmings attended the awards ceremony in Los Angeles, in close proximity to some of the biggest movie stars on the planet and even getting a shout-out from director Payne and his screenwriting partners Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, who called her "our beautiful Hawaiian flower" during their acceptance speech.

Besides the travel and making public appearances like the two readings she did Friday at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, Hemmings said she has kept the whirlwind activity surrounding the film in perspective.

Her Oscar experience wasn’t as glamorous as one might think, she said.

"I did my round of awards shows leading up to it," she said. "On the night of the ceremonies, it was just myself, as I only got one ticket. My husband ended up at the viewing party the studio was putting on, and for the red carpet I wore something I had just bought at Neiman Marcus."

Relegated to what she said were "the bleachers" during the Feb. 26 ceremony at the Hollywood & Highland Center, Hemmings watched from a distance as the screenwriters went onstage to accept the golden statuette for best adapted screenplay.

She said her routine of writing at home has remained the same since publication of "The Descendants."

As to the possibility that her second novel — set in Breckinridge, Colo., where she lived for a time after college — would be picked up by filmmakers, and whether that will affect her storytelling style, Hemmings said she will write with the same care and attention to detail that got her first novel noticed.

"I remember seeing the cinematic possibilities in ‘The Descendants,’" she said. "I knew that the characters would be great for dramatization for the screen, and I love how they were captured on film. … It also amplified the scenery, where you could see the swath of land on Kauai’s south shore and Hanalei."

Hemmings said that when the novel was released in May 2007, it got nowhere near the attention it is now receiving.

In a bag at the table where she signed books Friday were foreign editions of "The Descendants" in Spanish, Italian and German. A Japanese translation will be out soon, and Hemmings said 20 translations will be on the international market.

"I’m happy that it’s being read by a wider audience. I think more people in Hawaii are now reading it and liking it. I’m so grateful that the experience of seeing the film has gotten people here to read the book."

As for her immediate plans, "I’ll be back at my alma mater, Colorado College (a liberal arts college in Colorado Springs), next week for a visit, and I’ll be in China for the summer, helping the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop work with writers there.

"I’ve basically said yes to every opportunity that has arisen since the movie’s success. I’m a curious person open to new opportunities, and I love to talk to people about writing books."