After hearing last year about Boris Johnson’s thriller, then about Saddam Hussein’s romance novels, I got thinking about why people from all sorts of backgrounds are drawn to writing fiction. Reading them, I’m struck by two thoughts, firstly by how easy lots of professional writers make writing fiction look, and secondly by how much you can come to understand a person by the way they write.
Are there any novels you know of from unexpected authors? Have you found any that are decent as books apart from their creators? What is it about novels that draws non-writers that’s missing from, say, pottery or interpretive dance?
Tyra Banks wrote an absolutely unhinged novel called Modelland about a girl named Tookie De La Crème who is kidnapped and forced to attend a modeling boarding school.
Ivana Trump wrote romance novels.
Stacey Abrams writes romance under a pen name (Selena Montgomery) and thrillers under her real name.
Molly Ringwald wrote a book of short stories.
BJ Novak from The Office wrote a legitimately hilarious children’s book called “The Book with No Pictures.” Always a laugh riot when you read it to kids.
The Book With No Pictures is so fun! My son is six and just rediscovered his copy and it’s such a hoot. :)
F U C K i forgot about Tookie De La Créme and the doctors with roller-skates for feet
F U C K i forgot about Tookie De La Créme and the doctors with roller-skates for feet
Ringwald is an interesting case, she’s a bona fide french translator and writer now as a main career.
Lol at the Tyra Banks one. Thanks for letting me know that exists.
We coincidentally rented The Book With No Pictures from the library. It was only when we read it that I realized “oh, that BJ Novak!”
It was good. Would recommend.
It probably helps that he was a comedian first, then a scenario writer, and then an actor. So he was already shown to be talented at both being funny and writing, and didn’t have to get a book deal based purely on acting merits.
It probably helps that he was a comedian first, then a scenario writer, and then an actor. So he was already shown to be talented at both being funny and writing, and didn’t have to get a book deal based purely on acting merits.
The Book With No Pictures is so fun! My son is six and just rediscovered his copy and it’s such a hoot. :)
We coincidentally rented The Book With No Pictures from the library. It was only when we read it that I realized “oh, that BJ Novak!”
It was good. Would recommend.
Ringwald is an interesting case, she’s a bona fide french translator and writer now as a main career.
Book with no pictures is a classic.
“Boo boo butt” is standard lexicon in my household thanks to him.
Book with no pictures is a classic.
“Boo boo butt” is standard lexicon in my household thanks to him.
Bill Clinton and James Patterson wrote a couple books together, although knowing James Patterson he didn’t do much of the writing.
Millie Bobby Brown also slapped her name on a mostly ghost written book.
While I’ve never read it, I went down a goodreads rabbit hole reading reviews of modelland, and it was a fascinating experience.
Lol at the Tyra Banks one. Thanks for letting me know that exists.