Fiction Authors facts

While investigating facts about Fiction Authors, I found out little known, but curios details like:

In an attempt to make his spy novels feel more authentic, author John Le Carré is credited with coining a number of terms for his fictional intelligence agency (terms like mole, honey trap, pavement artist, asset babysitter) which have become common terms used in real intelligence agencies.

In 1987, a high school boy triangulated where fantasy author Piers Anthony lived using fictional maps from his novels, ran away from home to live with him & his family, and was welcomed into PA's home for the day, spent the night there, and PA listened to him for ~4 hours and gave him advice.

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 50 of the best facts about Fiction Authors I managed to collect.

1. The "Tiffany Problem". Tiffany is a medieval name—short for Theophania—from the 12th century. Authors can't use it in historical or fantasy fiction, however, because the name looks too modern. This is an example of how reality is sometimes too unrealistic.

2. A writer was caught for a murder only after a detective read his book about a fictional murder which contained similarities and details to the real life murder that only the killer would know about. Authorities also learned he was also planning to commit another murder to write book about

3. The novel and movie "Deliverance" were based on an actual canoe trip the author took in the Georgia mountains, including running into moonshiners. Unlike their fictional representations, the real-life mountain men helped the canoeing party out of trouble.

4. Term “robotics” was accidentally coined by science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1941.

5. Most authors in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction (1920-39) agreed to a set of "Ten Commandments," which banned lame plot devices like secret twin brothers and hidden passageways.

6. Reading fiction can help boost your empathy by practicing your ability to see the world through other people’s eyes, whether it be the author’s or a character’s.

7. The Bad Sex in Fiction Award, presented annually to the author who produces the worst description of a sex scene in a novel. The award is "to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it".

8. Gene Wolfe, a mechanical engineer turned author known for science fiction and fantasy novels, developed the frying device that cooks Pringles potato chips.

9. Roald Dahl, author of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and other famous children's novels, was also a renowned Adult Fiction author, even having written for Playboy.

10. In 1964 famous science fiction author and biochemist Isaac Asimov made a prediction on what the world would look like in 2014. Asimov, who died in 1992 at the age of 72, came very close in his predictions for the future on everything from culture to technological advances.

What is true about fiction authors?

You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.

Clive Cussler's first non-fiction book published, The Sea Hunters, earned him a Doctor of Letters degree. In 1997 the State University of New York Maritime College's Board of Directors accepted the book in place of a Ph. D thesis, and gave him the degree.

Chinua Achebe also wrote many short stories, essays, criticisms, poetry, political commentary, and works of non-fiction.

William S. Burroughs published writing included novels, long fiction, non-fiction, letters, short stories, novellas, collections, collaborations, as well as recordings.

Dean Koontz writes in a variety of genres including thriller, horror fiction, suspense, and science fiction.

Some of the non-fiction titles written by Gary Paulsen include The Grass-Eaters: Real Animals (1976), Hiking and Backpacking (1978), Eastern Sun, Winter Moon (1993), and Father Water, Mother Woods (1994).

Although he wrote only five novels, Dashiell Hammett wrote a large number of short stories in the detective genre. He essentially created the detective sub-genre of fiction and his characters were so compelling they were portrayed not only in his books, but in film and television, by some of the most famous actors in Hollywood including Humphrey Bogart.

Daphne du Maurier also wrote several works of non-fiction including Gerald: A Portrait (1934), The du Mauriers (1937), The Young George du Maurier: a selection of his letters 1860-67 (1951), The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte (1960), Vanishing Cornwall (1967), Golden Lads (1975), The Winding Stair (1976), Growing Pains (1977), and Enchanted Cornwall (1989).

George Eliot also wrote poetry, and published a variety of non-fiction translations.

Felix Salten, author of one of the most notorious and depraved works of erotic fiction in world literature ("Josefine Mutzenbacher") also wrote the book on which Disney's "Bambi" is based.

George Orwell wrote six novels in his lifetime including Burmese Days, A Clergyman's Daughter, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Coming Up for Air, Animal Farm, and Nineteen Eighty-Four. He also wrote three non-fiction books including Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier, and Homage to California.

When Nora Roberts moved to Putnam in 1992 the publisher could not keep up with her high novel output and encouraged her to publish under a pseudonym so they could publish more of her work. Nora began to publish under the Name J.D. Robb. The books under this name were romantic suspense novels and later the In Death futuristic science fiction police novels.