In The Previous Post,

I mentioned that Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS had written over 80 books,

so with book writing in mind here are a few titbits about authors,

Stephen King, above photograph credit Shane Leonard, was offered an advance of £26 million for a three-book deal in 1989

Jack London got a $2,000 flat fee for The Call of the Wild in 1903. The book sold so well that he lost upwards of $100,000 by giving up the royalties.

Copies of John Milton’s books were burned publicly in 1660 because he was critical of Charles II. He went on, of course, to write Paradise Lost, but after he died his widow sold the copyright of it for £8.

The Cistercian monk and theologian Thomas Merton was electrocuted by a faulty fan in his bedroom while attending a conference on Buddhism in Bangkok

After D. H. Lawrence died his wife Frieda had his ashes tipped into a concrete mixer and incorporated them into the altar of their private chapel.

Rudyard Kipling once painted his golf balls red so that he could play in the snow.

Dr Sigmund Freud suffered from agoraphobia and siderodromophobia, which is the fear of trains.

if titbits like these about writers appeal to you, they were taken from here, where there are a few more.