Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Do You Know These People?

I don't watch a lot of TV and when I do it is rarely any of the popular reality shows.

I do however read GalleyCat each and every day. (You should to if you are a writer.)

How are these two related you ask?

GalleryCat has been leading the charge to get an author selected for Dancing With the Stars. They have been gathering votes via Facebook and plan to start a page advocating the inclusion of the winner ala the way Betty White finally got her chance to host Saturday Night Live.


It appears as of Claire Cook the author of such novels as Must Like Dogs and Life's a Beach will win.

I hope they pull this off as authors certainly deserve as much fame and attention as Nicole Ritchie and that Kate gal with the screwy hair-do. After all, writing a book takes more talent than loading up on fertility drugs and having an octopi of little chitlins in one pop.

The whole possibility got me to thinking ... even I ... as a lifelong avid reader ... a devoted writer ... a studier of the publishing world, wouldn't recognize more than a handful of well known authors. Sure i know Stephen King and J.K. Rowling by sight. As well as the writers I have met at conferences and what not over the years.

And there are a few others ... Sedaris, Richard Russo cause he's one of my favorites. Hemingway, given the fact he's dead he doesn't really count. Though if Ernie's ghost is hovering about and read this I wouldn't mind a little supernatural help nudging literary agents in recognizing the potential of both The Feedstore Chronicles and my impending career. 

Back to the anonymity of authorhood. I decided to see how well my readers would do identifying best selling contemporary authors.


1.


2.


3.


 4.


5.


6.



7.


 8.


 9.



 10.

Time to guess. Yeah there is a prize, but the winner is gonna have to be patient to cash in. the prize is the very first autographed copy of The Feedstore Chronicles mailed directly to you wherever you are in this world. Yeah I suppose it is presumptuous on my part to speak as if my manuscript will one day be a full fledged book, but I believe in the tales and I am confident the tales will see the light of day. The power of positive thinking can be a powerful force and damn it I'm ready to tap into it.

So get to guessing. should there be more than one person to get all ten or if there is a tie for correct answers the names of those claiming the top spots will go into a random drawing. So this little author test will serve two purposes. One how recognizable authors are, and two, how many of my readers have faith that The Feedstore Chronicles will find a home. Otherwise all of you are playing for what little Johnny shot at ... Nada.

19 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Er.... er....

Any clues?!?! :-)

take care
x

Janna Leadbetter said...

I know 4 for certain, and some others look familiar, but to come up with their names...

Great idea! And another funny post.

Loralie Hall said...

I recongize one. Maybe two...I don't know if I'd want people to recognize me if I ever have my picture on a dust jacket. I want to be the person in the airport smiling quietly because someone has their nose buried in my book and doesn't realize it's me next to them in line.

AvDB said...

I don't recognize any of them, but I'm fairly certain it's because I haven't read any of their work. I'm usually pretty nosy and have to look up the author's image online if there's no back jacket photo. I guess I'll have to see if I'm wrong when everyone else figures it out for me.

AvDB said...

Oh, I lied. I recognize one of them!

Alyssa Goodnight said...

I only know about half (Franzen(?), Patterson, Roberts, Evanovich, Collins, Kinsella), but I'd sure like to see you on Dancing With the Stars! ;)

Anonymous said...

Claire Cook
?
Nicholas Sparks
Nora Roberts
James Patterson
(really familiar)
?
?
Janet Evanovich
?

WordVixen said...

Considering that the only best sellers that I haven't hated were Harry Potter and Memoirs of a Geisha, I don't feel bad over not recognizing any of them. Although 7 looks a bit like Nora Roberts, and 2 looks like he should be Stephen King's nephew, I don't think either one is an author that I'm familiar with.

Oh yeah, in addition to HP and Memoirs, I did like Nora Roberts' books, but after you've read one, you've read them all.

Depressed -> hate + lust -> angry + lust -> trapped + lust -> sex -> sex -> sex -> problem solved -> married

WordVixen said...

Whoah- I thought Evanovich was Roberts when Roberts was above? *lol* Well, I've only seen back cover shots on her old books, so that's my defense.

Phats said...

Thanks for guest picking! I think you should be the author on DWTS! haha :)

5- James Patterson love his books

10- Suzanne Collins- The best books ever the Hunger Games! :)

After that I am tapped haha I read a lot but I don't pay attention to the authors face. I thought one was Sandra Brown, but I don't think it's her

dee said...

I have to say only one stumped me...here they are:
1. clair Cook (whose blog started the DWTSauthor thing)
2. Johnathon Franzen - whose over hyped book freedom I havn't read yet
3.Nicolas Sparks - love his stuff
4. Nora Roberts - can drink anyone under the table and was smart enough to marry her contractor!
5. James patterson - can teach all authors something about building an empire
6. Elizabeth Gilbert - who wrote eat pray love which I still have yet to read
7. STUMPED
8. Sophie Kinsella - the shopaholic books
9. Janet Evonovich - stephanie plum novels
10. Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games
So there you go....

Jeanette Levellie said...

I have no idea, but I'll bet one is JK Rawlings. Most of the books I read don't have the author on the cover, and the one I read most, no one has ever taken a photo of that Guy.

Clever post!

McKoala said...

I only know three of them! (I think).

But I am sure that none of them is JK Rowling or Stephen King. That's all from me!

Ricky Bush said...

They all look like Stephen Kind to me.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I know 4 is Elizabeth Gilbert and 9 is Janet Evanovich, and that's it. A few others look familiar.

B.E. Sanderson said...

Is #7 Ken Follett? It looks like a picture where he might've gained a few pounds, but I still think it looks like him.

Sadly the only other author I recognized was James Patterson - and that's only because he's done commercials. How lame am I?

Lana Gramlich said...

I see Patterson in there, but I definitely can't see him on Dancing with the Stars...

alex keto said...

#7 is Ken Follett

He ranks up there with Frederick Forsyth but just below John Le Carre on the divinity scale

Charles Gramlich said...

I'm thinking Koontz maybe. I do have faith in The Feedstore Chronicles.