Carter becomes a novelist

He’s a former president of the United States, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Now add something new to Jimmy Carter’s resume: novelist.

“The Hornet’s Nest,” a historical novel set in the South during the Revolutionary War, is to be published by Simon & Schuster this fall.

“This book teaches us much about what people in the colonies of that region endured during the Revolutionary War, and because it’s a novel, Carter is free to re-create their feelings and imagine their pain and joy,” Alice E. Mayhew, editorial director of Simon & Schuster, said Monday.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Carter is believed to be the first president to publish a novel, although there have been rumors that former President Bill Clinton was considering one. Numerous politicians in recent years have written fiction, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Sen. Barbara Mikulski and former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld.

From Associated Press