The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[Apache]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

From what little I know about James Patterson, I wasn't even sure he was a real person.

I know of at least one nonexistent author. "Lauren Brooke", who wrote a juvenile horse-fiction series called Heartland (this later was adapted into a popular television series by CBC) was actually a handful of ghostwriters under the company Working Partners.

There's also a weird case in V.C. Andrews, who wrote maybe half a dozen books before dying but now she has a zillion ghostwritten books to her name.

Don't forget Frank Dixon, the writer of The Hardy Boys. Or Carolyn Keene, the writer of The Nancy Drew Series.
Apache

[ownedbycats]

Wasn't Carolyn Keene just the penname for Mildred Benson?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Wasn't Carolyn Keene just the penname for Mildred Benson?

She was the first but there were others. See Carolyn Keene for more information.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I know of at least one nonexistent author. "Lauren Brooke", who wrote a juvenile horse-fiction series called Heartland (this later was adapted into a popular television series by CBC) was actually a handful of ghostwriters under the company Working Partners.

There's many of those. They're called house names.

There's also a weird case in V.C. Andrews, who wrote maybe half a dozen books before dying but now she has a zillion ghostwritten books to her name.

As far as I know, all the Andrews books not written by Andrews were written by Andrew Neiderman.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Wasn't Carolyn Keene just the penname for Mildred Benson?

No, she was just one of the original employed writers by Stratemeyer. Franklin Dixon, Laura Lee Hope and others were house names for their series. Maybe one of their best writers.

Edward Stratemeyer or his wife may have written the first volume of some their series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratemeyer_Syndicate (may contain inaccuracies). Of course it was decades and post-internet that I discovered that Franklin Dixon, Carolyn Keene and Laura Lee Hope were not even pen names like Cordwainer Smith or John le Carré or Leslie Charteris, though Charteris, like Patterson, eventually employed ghost writers for The Saint.

[JSWolf]

When I was a lot younger and I did read The Hardy Boys books, I had no idea that Franklin W. Dixon was just a name for a stable of authors.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

There's many of those. They're called house names.

Another horsey juvenile example is Bonnie Bryant. She wrote all the Saddle Club books (and yes, this also got adapted into a TV show...) up until around the 30th book - if you have anything after that you'll see a note at the beginning expressing "special thanks" to the ghostwriters for their "help in the writing of this book."

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Another horsey juvenile example is Bonnie Bryant. She wrote all the Saddle Club books (and yes, this also got adapted into a TV show...) up until around the 30th book...

At their peak, I was sure that Goosebumps' R.L. Stine was a house name. I was surprised to find he's a real person (who also wrote the novelization of Spaceballs!) and actually wrote all of those books.

[Quoth]

People thought Enid Blyton was a factory of writers. She just sat with a plank on her knees outside in good weather and simply typed them out. Really only planed and had notes for the school series. Could produce a book in 2 weeks. Invented the Google Bun in 1950s.

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by Quoth

People thought Enid Blyton was a factory of writers. She just sat with a plank on her knees outside in good weather and simply typed them out. Really only planed and had notes for the school series. Could produce a book in 2 weeks. Invented the Google Bun in 1950s.

Well that's a phrase I've never heard before ("Google bun"). I guess I didn't read much Blyton as a kid.

Andrew

[ownedbycats]

Vent & Rant: Cozy mysteries. I love them, but they're so hit-and-miss when it comes to the quality. So many obnoxious protagonists. It's rare when I continue past the first book in a series.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Well that's a phrase I've never heard before ("Google bun"). I guess I didn't read much Blyton as a kid.

Andrew

Maybe in the Faraway Tree or sequel... checks Calibre FTS. There are more Googles than I thought. Not read some of these yet.

Google Buns: Magic Faraway Tree & The Folk of the Faraway Tree

Google (a man): Circus Days Again

Google (as nonsense) Boys’ and Girls’ Circus Book

Witch Google: The Holiday Book

…I don’t often make them—and I tell you they’re a treat!” “Google Buns!” said Bessie in astonishment. “Whatever are they?” “You come and see,” said Moon-Face, grinning. “They’re better than Pop Biscuits—aren’t they, Silky?” “Much,” said Silky.

He drove a van, with a caravan towed behind it. “What’s in the van, I wonder?” said Lotta. “That motor-car of his that falls to bits!” guessed Jimmy. “What fun! Do you suppose it’s Google driving the van? He’s got a dear little dog with him.” It was Google. But Google out of the circus-ring was quite a different person from Google…

…He didn’t know that Pip could imitate any noise in the world! Both the chimpanzees stared at Pip in delight. “Orra-burra, boo! Google, oggle, yah!” they cried, dancing about round Pip, and digging him in the back with their fingers. “Oggle-yah, yah!” “They’re saying that I’m a fine fellow and they like me!” grinned Pip.

…He was talking to himself. “I haven’t enough geese,” he was saying. “I need three more, because I sold two to Witch Google the other day, and one to Mister Yum. I must make some more.” “Did you hear that?” whispered Bubble to Squeak, in excitement. “He said ‘make some more!’ We shall see how he makes them if we keep quiet!” So they…

So Enid Blyton fitted in so many books because she had a time machine.

Over 760 books between 1930s and her death, selling 600 million copies.

… sometimes producing fifty books a year in addition to her prolific magazine and newspaper contributions. Her writing was unplanned and sprang largely from her unconscious mind; she typed her stories as events unfolded before her. The sheer volume of her work and the speed with which she produced it led to rumours that Blyton employed an army of ghost writers, a charge she vehemently denied.

—Wikipedia

[ownedbycats]

A googolplex of Googles.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Vent & Rant: Cozy mysteries. I love them, but they're so hit-and-miss when it comes to the quality. So many obnoxious protagonists. It's rare when I continue past the first book in a series.

I've read some of the Hannah Swensen series by Joanna Fluke and they are pretty good. Plus they come with recipes if you like to bake. Here are the first six.

1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
2. Strawberry Shortcake Murder
3. Blueberry Muffin Murder
4. Lemon Meringue Pie Murder
5. Fudge Cupcake Murder
6. Sugar Cookie Murder

[ownedbycats]

Wishlisted the first one!