Scott Bechtel Smith (July 13, 1965) is an American author and screenwriter, who graduated from Columbia University. He has published two suspense novels, A Simple Plan and The Ruins . His screen adaptation of A Simple Plan earned him an Academy Award nomination.
Scott B. Smith was born in Summit, New Jersey in 1965 and now lives in New York City. After studying at Dartmouth College and Columbia University in New York, he took up writing full time. He wrote the screenplay for his book A Simple Plan starring Billy Bob Thornton. This film was nominated for numerous awards, including two Academy Awards, one for Best Adapted Screenplay. The screenplay won numerous awards, such as a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and a National Board of Review Award. Billy Bob Thornton also won numerous awards for best supporting actor for this film.
Scott Smith recently finished his long awaited second novel, The Ruins, which Smith recently adapted into a film, released on April 4, 2008. Stephen King claims The Ruins is "The best horror novel of the new century." Stephen King also declared that Smith's other novel, "A Simple Plan" is "simply the best suspense novel of the year."
When asked about his plans to write another book, Smith claimed that he did in fact start a novel after "A Simple Plan." Although Smith spent substantial time on the novel, it was never finished. Some of his time is also taken up when he writes screenplays. Smith says he is planning on writing a new novel but isn't sure if it will fall into the horror category.