American author Alice Hoffman likes to keep a low profile, and considers herself a very private person, despite the fact that her novels have sold millions of copies.

Hoffman's storytelling has the air of a fairy tale or legend. She writes about relationships and intimacy, family and identity, and love and survival. She says her books take you places you would never go in real life, in which magic occurs.

Hoffman graduated high school in 1969, and attended Adelphi University, receiving a BA degree. She received a scholarship to Stanford University, and received a MA degree in creative writing. Hoffman wrote her first book at the age of twenty-five, and has written eighteen novels, two short fiction, and eight children's books.

Hoffman's books have been translated in over twenty different languages, and more than one hundred foreign editions. Her short stories have been published in a number of well known magazines. Hoffman is the original author of the screenplay for the film Independence Day, which was made in 1983. Hoffman is involved yearly at the Young Writers Retreat in Garden City, New York, which is a four day summer retreat, and admitted students receive a full program scholarship.

1. "Books may well be the only true magic"
2. "When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure"
3. "No one knows how to write a novel until it's been written"

• 1952: Born March 16th

• 1969: Attended Adelphi University

• 1973-74: Attended Stanford University

• 1977: Wrote first novel Property Of

• 1983: Wrote screenplay for the film Independence Day

• 1999: Helped create the Hoffman Breast Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts

• Note: Many of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• 1983: Independence Day - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 1989: Practical Magic - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 2004: Sudbury - IMDb Listing

• 2005: The River King - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 2006: Aquamarine - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews