The Bestselling New York Times Author You Never Heard of

The Show Runner for Night Court and The Cosby Show

Suppose you had seven New York Times bestselling novels under your belt and still nobody knew your name. Can’t happen, you say?

But it did.

If you’re in the know in Hollywood, then you’ll recognize the name of Tom Straw, a veteran writer of numerous television comedies from “Night Court” to the “Cosby Show.” But I’ll bet you didn’t know about his seven New York Times bestsellers. And it’s not like he was hanging out at the bottom of the list. He actually hit number one.

So, where has Tom been all your literary life?

It just so happens that he wrote under the pseudonym of Richard Castle. Ring a familiar bell? Rick Castle (BTW, a great first name), is the fictitious novelist in the long-running television detective series “Castle.” The show ran for seven seasons and starred Nathan Fillion as Castle and Stana Katic as his romantic interest, New York City Police Detective Kate Becket.

In the series, Castle was a crime novelist seeking his muse. So he wrangled permission via New York’s mayor to shadow Beckett while she investigated crimes. While working with her, he created his “Nikki Heat” character for his novel series based on his experiences with Detective Beckett. Of course, this is a television show so there is no real book series.

But then…

Then, the show’s Executive Producer Andrew W. Marlowe approached Straw about actually writing the novels as a tie-in to the television show. He wrote seven novels anonymously during seven seasons “Castle” ran on the air and every one of them became a New York Times bestseller. So there you go. Tom Straw, aka Richard Castle, the most successful bestselling author you never heard of—until now.

Another NYT No. 1 Best Selling Author You May Not Know About

Jimmy Buffett, who died last week at 76, was one of only six writers to ever reach number one on both the New York Times fiction and nonfiction bestseller lists.

His books include A Pirate Looks at 50, Where Is Joe Merchant?, Tales From Margaritaville, and A Salty Piece of Land. He’s in the company of such greats as Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and William Styron who all attained the No. 1 position on both lists.

Of course Buffett was best known for his laidback island music and built a billion-dollar fortune around it (according to Forbes magazine). After Buffett’s death, singers Bob Dylan and James Taylor raved about Buffett’s song writing, especially many of his softer ballads. Because many of his songs are light and whimsical, and because he loved wordplay and bad puns when naming his albums, critics often dismissed Buffett’s writing. Yet, Dylan and Taylor know a thing or two about craft.

Buffett leaves behind literally millions of mourning fans throughout the world (including this writer) who loved the joy and reality his music conveyed in a world plagued by discord. This week I buried my toes in the sand, drank a beer, looked out over the ocean, and smoked an excellent Padron cigar with friends in his memory.

Sail on, Jimmy.

Fins Up.

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Rick Pullen is the author of the best selling thriller Naked Ambition, its sequel Naked Truth, and a stand-alone thriller The Apprentice.

Check our my website at RickPullen.com.