Have You Ever Seen a Ghost
Saturday, June 4, 2011 @ 10:35 PM
Ghost-writers, sometimes known as co-authors, are privileged to share the experiences of others. They do so with an understanding that is often emotionally draining. To express the writer’s feelings I put myself into the same situation, to in effect become the first person.
An author’s experiences as a young boy, after being sentenced to over four years in an Irish corrective institute run by the so-called Christian Brothers, was harrowing to the extreme. There were several times when his appalling experiences, whilst being re-written, were so distressing that I had to take a break to recover from the emotional turmoil. He later told me that I had written the perfect reflection of his own feelings.
Another biography told the story of a young German boy who was born in the wrong place at the wrong time; Hamburg, 1938. His father, an officer in the Wehrmacht, was captured on the Eastern Front. The account of his return home after many years in the Soviet gulag was heart-wrenching. Indeed the book was a chronicle of triumph over adversity. Dieter’s story provides a fascinating glimpse of a terrible period, war and occupation, through a child’s perspective.
One of the most nail-biting biographies I ever worked on was that of a young woman who married a man old enough to be her father. The marriage in itself was fine but her husband was inappropriately attracted to children. The mother had to keep one step ahead of the social services to keep her children safe from the possibility of being taken into care. Like father like son; to cap it all her stepson was later convicted of paedophilia.
The biggest ‘fictional’ biography I ever worked on was double the average paperback size but what a story. I can honestly say that for nail-biting emotionally draining drama it has no equal. The author's finished book has already attracted the interest of an internationally acclaimed Argentinean movie producer based in Hollywood.
I recall a writer who pushed several hundred Euros at me with the instruction that I just get on with his book and that was before I had even seen it. I refused until I had checked it out. It was in fact a wonderful story. Another client was an Iranian artist of rather Bohemian lifestyle who to my surprise had no wish for me to ghost-write her book; just editing was fine. Otherwise I edit, add flair and substance to all written content but give me a good book anytime.
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