Thu Sep 19 08:01:21 UTC 2024: ## Teenage Author Predicts First Woman President’s Campaign in 1984 Novel
Ellen Emerson White, author of the prescient YA novel “The President’s Daughter,” joined the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast to discuss her book, which eerily foreshadows Kamala Harris’s historic presidential campaign.
White began writing the novel, which imagines a young girl’s perspective on her mother’s first-term presidency, at the age of 19. She notes the uncanny similarities between a fictional presidential debate in her book and the real-life Trump-Harris showdown.
Despite writing “The President’s Daughter” in the shadow of the Reagan era, White’s fictional character, Katharine Powers, shares striking similarities with Kamala Harris, including a “likable, elegant swagger.” However, White acknowledges that Powers’s cool demeanor contrasts with Harris’s well-known warmth.
The podcast conversation also delves into White’s remarkable writing journey, which began while she was still a high school student. White credits her prodigious writing output to her busy schedule, which included multiple sports teams, extracurricular activities, and part-time jobs. She describes her late-night writing rituals, fueled by coffee and fueled by her drive to succeed.
White reveals that she sold her first two novels while still in college. She attributes her early success to a supportive agent and a serendipitous meeting with an Avon editor who was immediately impressed by her manuscript.
In light of Harris’s campaign, White says she hit “pause” on her current project to focus on the momentous political event. She even read excerpts from “The President’s Daughter” during the podcast, offering listeners a glimpse into her fictional yet surprisingly prescient account of a female president’s journey.
First Piper 