Now Read This

I have just read a book. It was a good book by one of my favourite authors, Tom Clancy. But it turned out that it wasn’t actually written by him. As the book’s title says, it’s Tom Clancy’s Chain of Command by Marc Cameron. Sadly, Tom Clancy is no longer around to write any more books; he died back in 2013. However, you can’t keep a good author down. Marc is the author of five new novels for the Tom Clancy estate.

Another popular writer, James Patterson, thankfully still alive but getting on a bit, is also publishing books written by James Patterson and, in very small letters, the real author, someone you have never heard of.

This is, of course, neither new nor unusual. Ghost-writers have been around for a long time. They do not receive any credit for their books; in most cases we do not know that they are there. Even one of the world’s greatest authors, William Shakespeare, is suspected of employing ghost-writers to help him churn out his 38 plays and more than 150 poems.

So, it is time to come clean. If you are reading a novel by any of today’s popular authors – I won’t name and shame them, you know who they are – the chances are that it’s one of my books. I suggest the plot, the characters and how many chapters I want, and sit back and wait for my book to appear.

I do make a major contribution to my books – I sign copies handed out at book fairs across the globe. If you want a signed copy, perhaps we could meet at the Calabash International Literary Festival on Treasure Beach, Jamaica, it’s coming up next month.

Lest there be any doubt in reader’s minds, I do not use a ghost-writer for my blogs. This blog is written by me.