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The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon September 6th, 2010, 1:06 pm

[quote=""annis""]Posted by Misfit


Dumas also used "ghostwriters", other authors who would supply him with plot lines, and there's some controversy over how just much they contributed to his work. It seems to have almost been along the franchise model lines used by some series writers today, with the "name author" taking the billing. Don't know how much the ghosts received from Dumas' per word payments--

See this article published earlier this year[/quote]

I have heard that before, and one name in particular. It's been mentioned at a Dumas group at Goodreads.
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annis
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Post by annis » Mon September 6th, 2010, 5:57 pm

Auguste Maquet was Dumas' main ghostwriter and the subject of the above article - he got peeved and came out when Dumas was going through one of his broke periods and didn't pay him. This story has been dramatized in a movie called The Other Dumas, starring Gerard Depardieu as Dumas, and Benoit Poelvoorde as Maquet.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon September 6th, 2010, 7:16 pm

[quote=""annis""]Auguste Maquet was Dumas' main ghostwriter and the subject of the above article - he got peeved and came out when Dumas was going through one of his broke periods and didn't pay him. This story has been dramatized in a movie called The Other Dumas, starring Gerard Depardieu as Dumas, and Benoit Poelvoorde as Maquet.[/quote]

*smacks head*

Missed the link the first time around, sorry :o

I think I've heard another name kicked around, I'll have to do some digging. Later, can't get my nose out of the latest Marianne book at the moment ;)
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

annis
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Post by annis » Mon September 6th, 2010, 7:28 pm

Vive la belle Marianne!

Dumas used around 70 'assistantes' (such as Auguste Maquet, whose unhappiness about rewards for work on The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo resulted in an 1859 lawsuit), to manufacture first drafts that were then tweaked by the master and published in Dumas' name. This was well known at the time, and as I said, a similar system to series done by authors like James Patterson these days.
Last edited by annis on Mon September 6th, 2010, 7:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ash
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Post by Ash » Mon September 6th, 2010, 8:20 pm

Wow, I had no idea. So, what books were truly written by Dumas?

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Post by annis » Mon September 6th, 2010, 8:45 pm

I think it would be hard to say. Unlike Patterson (I'm the ideas man) who provides the plot-line for stories he headlines and gets others to write them up, Dumas got others to provide the ideas and wrote them up into final form himself, making it pretty much impossible to identify any difference in style. I don't think it takes away from the fact that Dumas was a brilliant storyteller--the alchemist who transformed ideas into bestsellers.

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