Is it "right" that books are still being published under the name of V C Andrews almost 20 years after her death?
Like, morally right? She's more of a brand than an author. There are quite a few examples of author names being passed from one ghost writer to another in order to keep a franchise alive. I don't know if it's right, but it's certainly not unheard of.
Only ever read one of these books, My Sweet Audrina (1982), when I was pretty young. It appears this book was actually penned by Andrews, or at least while the author was actually alive. It seems most of the books under this author's name answer to the tune of you think your family's messed up...
I'm aware that celebrities such as Jordan didn't write their books, but I was unfamiliar with full-time authors doing this. Looking around the web, it's claimed that James Patterson does this. Certainly, his output dramatically ramped up in the year 2000, and now he writes 17 books a year, 'with' other authors. I'm sure an experienced author could sketch out a basic plot and characters in an afternoon and that a skilled ghostwriter could then finish the book in the first author's style and to a high standard. If this is done with the author's knowledge and permission while they are alive, then that's one thing. It just struck me as a bit odd to see it happen for a dead author. Of course I have no idea whether V C Andrews wanted this to happen or not; she may have requested it. But if an author is dead, have they had any influence on the process other than the basic setting and characters from previously written books? If there was a new book credited to Dickens, Austen, or Conan-Doyle, then that would most definitely be wrong in my eyes. BTW: 'Morally right' is one way that I was thinking, but am also interested in other ways in which this could be wrong or right.
Well, in this case at least it seems the writer did create their own sort of formula or format: The Incredibly Messed Up Family™. And not just regular messed up like alcoholism or divorce or someone has a drug problem, no. It's hide the kids in the attic until incest happens messed up, and in the case of the book I read, it was lose a child so just have another and pretend like she's the same child from before messed up. In this sense I think @BayView has a point in thinking of V.C. Andrews as more of a brand.
Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High, Babysitters Club, etc. - all ghostwritten, eventually. Tom Clancy. For a list of more adult books, see: http://www.abebooks.com/books/famous-ghostwriters-authors-jfk/top-10-ghostwritten.shtml Ghost writing is pretty common. To me, it's not a big moral deal - authors are personas anyway, so what's the harm in sharing the persona? I guess if the quality gets spotty there's an issue, but then you'd just stop buying the books....
It's interesting to see the other examples. Some, like Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy do say that the books are written by others, though the dead author's name is on the cover in much bigger letters. The 'author' of the Nancy Drew mysteries Carolyn Keene never actually existed. The books were written by ghostwriters right from the start. In the case of V C Andrews, the covers of the book suggests that they are written by Andrews. E.g. The "Hudson" series that contains this book only started in 2000, fourteen years after V C Andrews died. And there are many other V C Andrews series - let alone books - that commenced long after her death. I thought that Andrew Neiderman had started writing 'V C Andrews' books before her death, but other sources seem to suggest otherwise. It could be claimed that using a dead author's name is "passing off" if it's not made clear that the new book is written by the author named. The Tom Clancy novel makes it clear. The V C Andrews book maybe not so much.
It's annoying. Especially when you see the books on the bestseller list. But it's not a big deal. Like Bayview said her name is more a brand. I thought Andrew Neiderman was a better writer before he started in on the VC Andrews books. The first few series were okay but he's been milking a dry cow for years. I actually thought Virginia did a better job with her books - they were more down to earth, more 'messy' ( Neiderman tightened up the pacing but made it more formula allowing no real room to grow ), more creative - My Sweet Audrina was freakin bizarre. Neiderman never really comes close. But I doubt he's allowed to. I mean Virginia was the original so she could change her ideas. But Neiderman is locked in and doesn't really bring anything new to the world except to tweak the characters - Cathy can now be a vampire or a girl experiencing puberty at age 6 but she's still essentially Cathy.
Yeah, it was. The deal with the dad's toenails is one of those why do I remember this? memories that has stuck with me.
This is one of those moments where you do not elaborate on the details. Thank you. Seriously though, it wouldn't surprise me. If an author was big enough and people wanted more from him/her but he/she is kind of busy being dead, then ghostwriters would ‘take up the torch’ as it were and write under their name.
It is possible to continue series without using the late author's name. E.g. the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy book "And Another Thing".
Ohhhhhhhhhh VC Andrews. She gave me very fond memories. Me and my uncle watched Flowers in Attic movie together and man we had a blast. I mean we always had a blast when we did movie night, where we picked just random movies but that's one of the ones that stand out in my memory. We just spend the whole thing laughing at it and each other. No disrespect of course to anyone who likes it but we were just cracking jokes the whole time. Some very very immature jokes which I won't say on here out of respect. Obviously abuse isn't funny. We were hyenas though and totally relentless in our humor when watching movies we found 'not so good' Ya know? I was like fourteen-thirteen and he was just such a dad to me when he was alive. So when I think of that movie I think of being a kid again and relive those memories of laughing. I'm thankful to any creator....(even if it was just a movie that was based on a probably much better book) who makes me think of him with some specific standout memories. Makes me feel good.....sad of course but good that we had the time to spend together while he was here. And that movie got to be part of us spending time together even if just for a bit. I know that was off topic but I couldn't resist getting a little emotional about VC Andrews cause of the....well the memory
