Fun facts about the Saint and his creator, the author Leslie Charteris
The Saint – aka Simon Templar – is a well-known character, both on television and in countless books. But who created him? The author behind the Saint, Leslie Charteris, is as interesting a figure as his most famous fictional creation.
Fun facts about Daphne du Maurier, author of Rebecca
1. A number of classic films owe their existence to Daphne du Maurier. Quite a few of the novels and short stories of Daphne du Maurier (1907-89) have been turned into popular films – Alfred Hitchcock was especially a fan of her work and adapted Jamaica Inn, The Birds, and Rebecca for the big screen. The Nicolas Roeg film Don’t Look Now (which is now being remade) is also based on a Daphne du Maurier short story. The 1952 film My Cousin Rachel, starring Richard Burton, was also based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier.
Some interesting trivia about the Biggles books and their author, Captain W. E. Johns
The Biggles books, detailing the adventures of fictional pilot James Bigglesworth, were hugely popular in the mid-twentieth century. Ever since the young pilot’s first appearance – in a story called ‘The White Fokker’ in 1932 – he has been delighting and entertaining readers. His creator, Captain W. E. Johns (1893-1968), was a prolific author and wrote over a hundred Biggles books in total.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
1. Harper Lee based the character of Dill from To Kill a Mockingbird on the boy who lived next door to her as a child. That boy was Truman Capote.
Harper Lee would later work as Truman Capote’s assistant on his novel In Cold Blood, and served as the model for one of the characters in Capote’s first novel, the 1948 work Other Voices, Other Rooms.Â
Five fun Stephen King facts – including phobias, pseudonyms, and mistaken identities
1. Stephen King threw away early drafts of the manuscript of his first novel, Carrie. His wife retrieved it, encouraged him, and it was later published. King’s fiction has repeatedly centred on the loner, the figure who is bullied at school, who fails to ‘fit in’. His first novel, Carrie (1974) – about a girl who has telekinetic powers which she uses to exact revenge on her school bullies – perfectly exemplifies this. But King had doubts about the first few pages of the novel’s draft, and abandoned it; it was only down to his wife’s faith in the idea that he persevered with it. Indeed, Tabitha, King’s wife and a novelist in her own right, has come to the rescue in King’s career a number of times. For instance,