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| Hearsay: |
It appears that at least one of James Patterson’s slave writers may have made a daring escape attempt. Appearing sallow, gaunt, and in desperate need of an iron, a reportedly “high-strung” man has made it as far as the corner of somewhere and soandso without being torn to shreds by the pursuing hounds.
Before branching out on his own, Mr. de Jonge (pronounced da JONG) spent several years on that assembly line, as co-writer of the Patterson novels “Miracle on the 17th Green,” “The Beach House” and “Beach Road.” He was the pioneer, so to speak — the person who first gave Mr. Patterson the idea that he could write more than one book at a time — though the two men have differing recollections about how the collaboration started.
Mr. de Jonge, who is tall, slender and a little high-strung, recalled recently that he was hiding in his office at J. Walter Thompson, where he was a copywriter, when one day Mr. Patterson, with whom he had played golf occasionally, stuck his head in the door and asked if he could talk to him for a minute.
“It was a very frightening moment,” Mr. de Jonge said, explaining that at the time Mr. Patterson was the chairman of J. Walter Thompson. “He wasn’t my boss — he was way above my boss.”
It writes the book or it gets the hose.
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May 8th, 2009 at 11:29 am
“Assembly line…” Huh. It’s interesting how the idea of collaborative writing is completely acceptable for TV shows – even ones we like such as “The Wire” and “The Sopranos,” but still hasn’t gained any respectability in novels.
May 8th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I think in this case it’s a shot taken at the particular material. There are some examples of literary collaboration, even among respectable authors.
May 8th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Umm…. collaborative writing might be one thing if both authors got billing. I’m sure most Pattersonians aren’t aware of the process behind the books. Not to say that acknowledged collaborative writing is particularly common, but I’m not sure it’s considered unacceptable either.
May 8th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
It’s been going on since A. Dumas fils.