Carl Hovey Popular Books

Carl Hovey Biography & Facts

Sonya Levien (born Sara Opesken; 25 December 1888 – 19 March 1960) was a Russian-born American screenwriter. She became one of the highest earning female screenwriters in Hollywood in the 1930s and would help a number of directors and film stars transition from silent films to talkies. In 1955 she received an Academy Award for her screenplay Interrupted Melody. Early life Sara Opesken (Sonya being the Russian diminutive) was born in Panimunik, a small village, now part of Kaunas, Lithuania, in the Pale of Settlement on 25 December 1888 (later changing the date to 1898.) The oldest child to parents Julius (b. ca. 1863) and Fanny (b.ca. 1865), Sonya had two brothers, Arnold and Max. During this period, Russian authorities kept a watchful eye over citizens, especially Jewish people with radical affiliations. Sonya's father had a remote connection with a radical newspaper as well as agreeing with the anarchist ideas of Prince Peter Kropotkin. Julius Opesken also joined a Narodnik study circle before being arrested and put to work in the Siberian mines. While their father served his time, the Opesken family moved in with Julius' father, a rabbi, who stressed the importance of language to a young Sonya. Her grandfather instructed her in Russian, French, German, and Hebrew as well as encouraged her to read from the Talmud and the Shulhan' Aruk on a daily basis. In 1891, her father escaped exile and made his way to America, choosing to take on the surname of his German rescuer, Levien. He brought the rest of his family over in 1896, where they joined him on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They were not the only Russian Jews between 1891 and 1900, in these nine years over 150,000 Jews came to New York alone. Once settled in America, her parents had two more sons, Edward and Nathan. The family received their naturalization papers in 1905. All of the children in her family worked through school to help with expenses. Sonya worked in a feather-duster factory throughout her teenage years, making four dollars each week. During her formative years in America, having grown up in poverty, she joined a group of socialists. Sonya, like many other European immigrants in America, went to a public grammar school. After she finished in 1901 or 1902, she was unable to continue to high school due to financial issues. She took out a loan for $36 in order to learn stenography and get a job as a secretary. It took her four years of work to repay this loan. During her time as a secretary she also became acquainted with settlement work and labor unions. Sonya also managed to take some classes at the Educational Alliance where, in 1903, she met Rose Pastor. Not only did Pastor hire her as a secretary, she was also a member of the Socialist Party and the Women's Trade Union League, giving Sonya access to a whole library of texts on these subjects she could read. Levien began to write her own work by sending in short comedic squibs to Life and with these earnings was able to contribute to her college tuition and her family's well-being. By fall 1906, she enrolled at New York University Law School for a Certificate of Law, seeing it as a more practical job option than writing, however she still wrote short scenes for productions at her university. Just a year later, she was hired as a secretary to the editor of Success, Samuel Merwin. Here, her duties began to span more than secretary jurisdiction. She also read manuscripts, rewrote articles, sometimes even collaborated with an author. In 1909, she went for admission to the New York State Bar Association, but discovered she was too sympathetic in character to work in a court of law. Instead she chose her work at Success and received a promotion to fiction reader. Success had its last publication in December 1911 and Levien's next employment came from The Woman's Journal, a publication interested in the women's suffrage movement. She worked there in 1912 as an assistant editor and business manager. Towards the end of 1912 she sent a short story to Carl Hovey, who was a co-editor at the time, and began work at The Metropolitan. Having retained a connection with her roots, Sonya helped out at the People's Institute, an organization which helped supply immigrants with the skills they might need to join the workforce in America. She also worked on the National Board of Censorship as an Educational Secretary. However, when World War I commenced, Levien was working in London covering the British Suffragist movement for fourteen months in 1913 and 1914. Here she wrote editorials urging women to demand for more than just suffrage and ask for education, as well as other institutional reforms and better living conditions. Career Sonya returned to America in 1914 and focused her creative efforts on writing. She sent stories to a number of publications including Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Harpers, Cosmopolitan, Atlantic Monthly, and Century. She then moved onto writing melodramas, although her success in this endeavor was not immediate. In 1919 she received her first credit for an original story, the film Who Will Marry Me? Her second credit came in 1921, and incidentally Cheated Love followed a Jewish immigrant, named Sonya who is in love with a doctor above her social standing. She did additional story on this project. By the end of 1921, Famous Players–Lasky bought two of her stories "The Heart of Youth" and "Baby Doll" paying her $2500 and $3000 respectively. Feedback for Baby Doll was mixed, but was eventually made into the film The Top of New York. These stories gave Sonya the opportunity of a contract: she would receive $24,000 her first year there and receive a raise of $5000 each year for five consequent years. This led her to move west, to Hollywood, leaving her family behind in New York. She worked tirelessly and received three Hollywood credits for The Snow Bride, Pink Gods, and The Exciters. Yet, by 1923, she missed her young son Serge and felt she had the duty to support her husband's career over her own, so she broke her contract by Famous Players–Lasky and returned to her family. Here she received an editorial position at McClure's Magazine. Shortly after, in fall of 1924, Famous Players–Lasky requested she adapt a novel, Salome of the Tenements, for the screen, the story of which actually paralleled Sonya's own life story. She made a great many changes to the plot, however reviews for the film highlighted the directing and not the script work. Next, she did scenario editing work at Samuel Goldwyn Pictures. For this job, she attended Broadway plays and would find ways to adapt them into films. By this time, her husband's editing work had ended and they decided to move together this time to Hollywood. He would edit stories for C.B. DeMille and Sonya would write scenarios. Unfortunately Carl would not do so well in Hollywood, unable to find another job after DeMille. Sonya found herself with regular .... Discover the Carl Hovey popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Carl Hovey books.

Best Seller Carl Hovey Books of 2024

  • Law of Attraction synopsis, comments

    Law of Attraction

    Jordan Hollis

    How to Finally Overcome the Hurdles of Manifesting Proven, effective and enjoyable ways to help you manifest faster… Right now, think of something that makes you successful. If you...

  • Inception of Gold synopsis, comments

    Inception of Gold

    Lexy Timms

    Things are not as bad as they seem. They are worse. Being the personal assistant to a narcissistic actress who just happens to own the key to my family's undoing isn't ex...

  • His Girl Next Door synopsis, comments

    His Girl Next Door

    Khardine Gray

    From USA Today Bestselling author Khardine Gray comes a sizzling hot single dad romance you won't want to miss. No strings attached fun with the ubergorgeous single d...

  • Escape, A New Life synopsis, comments

    Escape, A New Life

    David J Antocci

    To save herself, she had to lose everything. Trapped in a tropical paradise with no memory of how she got there, Abby is thrust into a fight for her life. Hunted by a madman, and c...

  • The Honeymoon Homicide synopsis, comments

    The Honeymoon Homicide

    J. R. Mathis & Susan Mathis

    Enjoy this SmallTown Murder Mystery Featuring A Unique Sleuthing Couple I'm Father Tom Greer, a Catholic Priest in a smalltown parish who never expected this . . . When I came...

  • Caught Up with the Captain synopsis, comments

    Caught Up with the Captain

    Kait Nolan

    Can a retired naval commander and the love he left behind overcome a 34yearold secret to find their way to a second chance? Captain Mitchell Greyson is a man who believes in duty. ...

  • Always Yours synopsis, comments

    Always Yours

    Claire Raye

    Some things are just meant to be... Ellen Somerville and Will McIntyre met by accident and under unusual circumstances. Getting sprayed by a skunk in a parking lot wouldn’t normall...

  • Tempting the King synopsis, comments

    Tempting the King

    Jessa York

    An escaped Mafia Queen, hiding from her past. A Mafia King who wants to claim her… Giselle They think I'm lostbut I know better. I can never be found. The path I've creat...

  • School of Potential synopsis, comments

    School of Potential

    W.J. May

    USA Today Bestselling author, W.J. May brings you a continuation of the international bestselling series, The Chronicles of Kerrigan! Come back and enjoy the famous characters, or ...

  • Never Enough synopsis, comments

    Never Enough

    Lexy Timms

    Be good enough never is... Anthony Accardi is a man on a mission: make his father's watch company a success while bringing in millions of dollars. To do that, he needs an assi...

  • The Icing on the Cake synopsis, comments

    The Icing on the Cake

    Linda Seed

    She’s a baker without a kitchen. He’s got a double oven to spare. It’s a recipe for success, until his mother starts stirring up trouble … Cassie Jordan has a sweet dream to open a...

  • Christmas in Sweetbriar Cove synopsis, comments

    Christmas in Sweetbriar Cove

    Melody Grace

    Celebrate the holidays in Sweetbriar Cove with this festive romance collection, containing two sizzling smalltown holiday stories perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Sophie Kinsella...

  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes synopsis, comments

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    An Apple Books Classic You get not one, not two, but 25 gripping mysteries in Arthur Conan Doyle’s first of five collections of Sherlock Holmes short stories. Follow the brilliant ...

  • Eternal synopsis, comments

    Eternal

    W.J. May

    She will fight for what is hers. When the king is murdered, Katerina, his only daughter, must flee for her life. She finds herself on a strange and dangerous path. Alone for the fi...

  • A Christmas Carol synopsis, comments

    A Christmas Carol

    Charles Dickens

    An Apple Books Classic edition. It’s Christmas Eve in Victorian England. While some families don’t know where their next meal will come from, Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his large hom...

  • Dracula synopsis, comments

    Dracula

    Bram Stoker

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Few characters have seized readers’ imaginations quite like Count Dracula of Transylvania, the hero of Bram Stoker’s classic. The 1897 novel put vam...

  • Dream Psychology synopsis, comments

    Dream Psychology

    Sigmund Freud

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Written by the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud’s 1899 book is the definitive text on learning to interpret dreams. Freud’s groundbr...

  • The Odyssey synopsis, comments

    The Odyssey

    Homer

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Homer’s eighthcentury epic poem is a companion to The Iliad . It tells the story of Odysseus, who journeys by ship for 10 years after the Trojan War...

  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz synopsis, comments

    The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

    L. Frank Baum

    An Apple Books Classic edition. You’ve seen the iconic 1939 movie, but do you know about the talking field mice, the Winkies, and the Witch of the North that appear in the original...

  • Hot Off the Press synopsis, comments

    Hot Off the Press

    Lexy Timms

    "This is what really happened… reported by a free press, for a free people…" Wes Shaw leads a secret double life. As the secret owner of a billion dollar newspap...

  • Get Lucky synopsis, comments

    Get Lucky

    Lila Monroe

    Fall for the hot and hilarious romcom spin on 'The Hangover', perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Ali Hazelwood, and Emily Henry! What happens when you wake up in a hotel s...

  • Becoming Lady Dalton synopsis, comments

    Becoming Lady Dalton

    Carrie Lomax

    A dance of desire and deceit... In the glittering world of London's ton, Mrs. Viola Cartwright revels in her newfound freedom as a lady of leisureuntil a series of jewel theft...

  • The Scarlet Letter synopsis, comments

    The Scarlet Letter

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Hester Prynne lives in infamy. After committing adultery and bearing a child with a man whose name she refuses to divulge, the heroine of Nathaniel ...

  • Man In The Water synopsis, comments

    Man In The Water

    Jon Hill

    An attempted murder. A missing spouse. And an international conspiracy that could change the world. Jack Green has always been skeptical of socalled facts. Though he's forced ...

  • Dark Psychology and Manipulation synopsis, comments

    Dark Psychology and Manipulation

    Margaret Morrison

    THE MENTAL MANIPULATOR WILL NO LONGER KEEP SECRETS FROM YOU! Are you fed up with the wool being pulled over your eyes?Are you prepared to stand up to those who believe they can man...

  • Pretty Little Lies synopsis, comments

    Pretty Little Lies

    Ivy Thorn

    Four years ago, Nicolo Marchetti took my innocence. But he left me with something else Nicolo almost took everything from me. My virginity, my reputation, and very nearly my future...

  • A Green Kind of Witch synopsis, comments

    A Green Kind of Witch

    Sierra Cross

    Cinderella crossed with Mean Girls.   That's what Hazel's daily existence feels like. Born to a family of elegant yet shallow Beige Witches, seventeen y...

  • Think and Grow Rich synopsis, comments

    Think and Grow Rich

    Greg Habstritt & Napoleon Hill

    Think and Grow Rich is one of the most popular success book of alltime, having sold more than 60 million copies since it was first published more than 70...

  • Whiskey Girl synopsis, comments

    Whiskey Girl

    Melissa Belle

    They'll do anything for each other…except commit. Logan Wild isn’t just the hottest broncriding cowboy in Texas. He’s also my best friendwith benefits. And that’s all we’ll ev...

  • Holy Bible synopsis, comments

    Holy Bible

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

    The 2013 edition of the Holy Bible contains all of the study aids contained in the 1979 edition and includes revisions to the study aids, several new photos, updated maps, and adju...

  • Silver Santa synopsis, comments

    Silver Santa

    Lacey Silks

    Trapped together on Christmas, their unintended onenight stand becomes a lifechanging encounter amidst the snow. Laura Young's professional role as a security guard at the Sil...

  • Noxious synopsis, comments

    Noxious

    Lexy Timms

    Stop setting yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. Brady and Levi have been together since high school, since before he became famous and started thinking only about himself....

  • The Count of Monte Cristo synopsis, comments

    The Count of Monte Cristo

    Alexandre Dumas

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Alexandre Dumas’ classic paints a portrait of Edmond Dantès, a dark and calculating man who is willing to wait years to exact his perfect plan for r...

  • Finding Cinderella synopsis, comments

    Finding Cinderella

    Colleen Hoover

    #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Starts with Us and It Ends With Us writes a free novella about the search for happily ever after. A chance encounter in the dark leads ei...

  • The Holy Bible - King James Version synopsis, comments

    The Holy Bible - King James Version

    King James

    Holy Bible King James Version Few Sample Paragraphs from The Holy Bible eBook, Genesis (OT) 1 Gen. 1 IN the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was with...

  • How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days synopsis, comments

    How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days

    Lila Monroe

    The only thing more hilarious than the movies is… real life?! Fall in love with the sizzling grumpysunshine romantic comedy perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Ali Hazlewood! ...

  • The Three Little Pigs synopsis, comments

    The Three Little Pigs

    Mark Lesky

    Classic fairy tales, legends and folk stories in short version without violence retold with lovely illustrations in simple language. Perfect for reading aloud to small chi...

  • The Cupcake Cottage synopsis, comments

    The Cupcake Cottage

    Jean Oram

    NHL player Maverick Blades could fall in love with anyone... But he had to fall for a woman who falls under the Bro Code as untouchablehis best friend’s beautiful ex, DaisyMae Ray....

  • Saltwater Cove synopsis, comments

    Saltwater Cove

    Amelia Addler

    Second chances...and the secrets that sabotage them. At 48 years old, Margie Clifton never expected to be starting her life all over again. But when her brother gifts her a propert...

  • All Fired Up synopsis, comments

    All Fired Up

    Kathryn Shay

    Captain Jarek Zenko, a war veteran and firefighter, meets Lacey Roth at a bar one night. They don’t share their real identities, even when they retreat to a hotel. When they meet t...

  • Hard Love synopsis, comments

    Hard Love

    Peyton Banks

    He was football royalty. Legendary quarterback. A champion.  Reiner Strickland had led his team to three national championships and playing a knight in shining armor was a...

  • Coffee Girl synopsis, comments

    Coffee Girl

    Sophie Sinclair

    Mackenzie "Kiki" Forbes finds herself in a pickle. Either become her snarky sister's nanny, or move halfway across the country to work as assistanttothestylist of a ...

  • The Art of War synopsis, comments

    The Art of War

    Sun Tzu

    An Apple Books Classic edition. It’s believed that Sun Tzu wrote this Chinese military primer during the 5th century BChundreds of years before the Bible. The book’s 13 chapters ex...

  • Good Guy synopsis, comments

    Good Guy

    Kate Meader

    He's a Special Forces veteran making his pro hockey debut. She's a dogged sports reporter determined to get a scoop. She's also his best friend's widow . . . Fa...

  • The Target synopsis, comments

    The Target

    Lexy Timms

    When you seek revenge be sure to dig two graves… Revenge was the only thing I had going for me. It kept me awake at night and drove me into desperate situations in dive bars across...

  • Peace on Earth synopsis, comments

    Peace on Earth

    Maia Ross

    Crime never takes a holiday. Why should Irma? Irma Abercrombie is an energetic retiree with a shadowy past, a mean right hook, and a profound love of Christmas. Surrounded by seaso...

  • Nothing to Hide synopsis, comments

    Nothing to Hide

    Scarlett Finn

    Prize of a lifetime: travel the world with a celebrity billionaire. Come to LA with us, Roxie… It will be so much fun! We have tickets for a latenight talk show! What could possibl...

  • The Seduction Series Boxset synopsis, comments

    The Seduction Series Boxset

    Roxy Sloane

    “Sensual, thrilling and wild!”   Discover the bestselling series in one collection: THE SEDUCTION, THE BARGAIN, and THE INVITATION. Perfect for fans of Ana Huang, Sierra S...

  • Rogue Alpha synopsis, comments

    Rogue Alpha

    Kimber White

    One touch made her crave him. But the pull of fate could be the path to ruin. College student Laura Prince lands a plum internship deep in the Michigan wilderness. When she discove...

  • Meditations synopsis, comments

    Meditations

    Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius

    Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161–180 CE, setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy.