Their novels are certainly great, but what was going on behind the scenes?!

Let’s take a sneak peek into the crazy lives of some of our favourite writers! You might discover something you never expected...

Let’s dive in!

Interesting & Weird Author Facts

1. George Eliot was actually a woman

Also known as Mary Ann Evans! She was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She used the pen name George Eliot as women were not as highly regarded as men. Her many famous novels are known for their realism and psychological insight.

2. Cormac McCarthy used the same typewriter for 50 years

Don’t throw away what isn’t broken, right McCarthy?! In 2009 his well-loved typewriter sold for $250,000!

3. JRR Tolkien worked for the Oxford Dictionary

Master of words, Tolkien spent two years researching the etymology of words beginning with W! His most famous additions are “waggle” and “walrus”.

4. Jane Austen almost died at the age of seven

Jane and her sister Cassandra caught diphtheria whilst living in Oxford. Jane’s cousin Miss Cooper sent a letter to Jane’s mother. When she arrived she cured the two girls with a herbal remedy. Thank goodness for that!

5. Virginia Woolf was related to William Thackeray

… the author of Vanity Fair. Writing really did run in this family! Thackeray’s daughter, Minie, was the first wife of Virginia’s father.

6. Arthur Conan Doyle was good friends with Harry Houdini

Creator of the Sherlock Holmes series, Sir Arthur Doyle was great friends with the illusionist Houdini! Apparently, Houdini heard that Doyle believed in spiritualism. He overheard Doyle saying that he thought Houdini had real magical powers... the friendship was soon to end. What a shame!

7. Daniel Defoe once tried to sell a perfume made from the secretions of cats’ bottoms

The Robinson Crusoe author had some seriously unsuccessful business ventures before he became a novelist. His cat perfume might be the strangest though...

8. James Joyce didn’t set foot in Ireland after he turned 30

Joyce was keen to leave Ireland - the place he spent most of his career writing about. He didn’t even return home for his Father's funeral in 1931.

9. James Joyce was an astraphobic

Another fact about Joyce’s weird and wonderful life. Joyce suffered from astraphobia which is an intense fear of thunder and lightning!

10. Percy Shelley was a vegan

The romantic poet was one of literature's first vegans. He was persuaded to start this diet after he read the work of John Frank Newton. Shelley then wrote brochures of his own promoting veganism.

11. Toni Morrison didn’t start writing until her thirties

She was very happily working as a professor at Howard University. In her spare time, Morrison joined a writing group. She then wrote a story about a little black girl who wished she had blue eyes. She divorced her husband not long after and decided to bring the novel back out. Her book The Bluest Eye was published when Morrison was 39 years old.

12. Lord Byron had many pets

10 Horses, 3 Monkeys, 3 Peacocks, 5 Cats, 8 Dogs, a Crane, a Falcon, a Crow and an Eagle. He was some animal fan! These beautiful creatures could all be found roaming around Byron’s estate in Venice.

13. Truman Capote enjoyed a comfy setting

The wonderful author of In Cold Blood only wrote while reclining on a sofa. He reportedly wrote in pencil using his spare hand to smoke, drink a cup of coffee or sip a spot of sherry. What a life!

14. Virginia Woolf and Edith Wharton both hated James Joyce’s ULYSSES

Poor James Joyce! Woolf apparently said, “I don’t believe that his method...means much more than cutting out the explanations and putting in the thoughts between dashes.” Harsh!

15. F. Scott Fitzgerald received $55,000 for a short story

Wow! In 1920 F. Scott Fitzgerald earned $4,000 per story from The Saturday Evening Post. That is equivalent to $55,000 in today’s money! He received his top fees for his works “The Bridal Party” and “Babylon Revisited”.

16. D.H. Lawrence climbed mulberry trees... naked

That’s right! Apparently, this was a method used by Lawrence to inspire his imagination. Well... it clearly worked!

17. Eugene O’Neill was born in and died in a hotel room

O’Neill’s famous last words were, “I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room – and God damn it – died in a hotel room.”. The American playwright was born in a hotel room in New York and died in a hotel room in Boston. It started the way it ended!

18. George Orwell borrowed the plot for 1984

From a novel called ‘We’ by Yevgeny Zamyatin. It is a dystopian novel that Orwell reviewed in 1946. Orwell didn’t like the plot so he thought he would spice it up a bit... leading to his most famous work 1984.

19. Samuel Pepys celebrated his bladder stone surgery every year

The English diarist was reportedly very happy after his successful bladder stone surgery in 1658! He decided to celebrate the event every year after the surgery! He clearly was very relieved.

20. Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for his sexuality

The genius Oscar Wilde was tried for sodomy by Sir Alfred Douglas (the father of his lover) when Wilde was 45. He was convicted in 1895. After spending years in Prison undertaking hard labour, Wilde sadly contracted meningitis and died a few years later.

21. William Thackeray wasted his father’s inheritance

The creator of Vanity Fair spent £20,000 on gambling and risky investments! It’s a good job Vanity Fair became so popular...

22. William Blake claimed he saw god at the age of 4

Blake said he saw God through a window when he was a child. He also believed in Angels and continued to incorporate them into his poetry and art.

23. Saul Bellow didn’t know his own birthday

Bellow’s parents had just arrived in Québec when he was born in 1915, and they forgot to record whether the Canadian-American author was born on June 10th or July 10th. Maybe he celebrated his birthday twice?...

24. Tennessee Williams choked to death from inhaling a small plastic cap

The American playwright, unfortunately, swallowed a small plastic cap, reportedly from a nasal spray. He choked to death in 1983.

I hope you enjoyed these crazy author facts! I certainly did.

Which is your favourite?!

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