A friend recently told me that established fiction writers of thrillers and detective mysteries use other authors to pen for them. The famous authors have ghost-writers doing the chores for them while they have a break from writing. The reason for this is so that the publishers can carry on cashing in on a “big name”. The ghost writes in the same style as the previous books to give credence to the novel.
This diabolical invention has made me think twice before reading a book in case it is false. Just how long this shady practise has been going on is anybody’s guess. And it has spread to other literary outlets. It is now commonplace for blogs to be written by a ghost. Here again, the ghost apes the unique manners of the real blogger. You can never tell what is what in cyber space. For all you know, this blog could be the work of A.N. Other and not me. Doubt has now been formed, no doubt about it.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Do you think they do the same in sport?
I mean, was that the real Barcelona the other night or a bunch of lookalikes giving the ‘superstars’ a night off?
I suspect some of our regular charioteers do it. 😦
Bom dia Janus. I always reckoned Backside writes most of your stuff anyway. 😀
OZ
No different to franchising a brand.
I guess that when a author achieves brand status they can afford to pay someone else to do the work, much like chippendale did with furniture.
Haven’t you noticed how the later books of any successful novelist always become hideously mechanical and formulaic?
Pretty bloody obvious, just time to give them a miss and try someone new.
If I didn’t think that she’d sue the hell out of me I would be tempted to suggest that J K Rowling might fall into this category.