Thanks muchly, Cao and Victoria! The more I know of how these scammers operate, the better equipped I am to avoid them (and, yeah, the stories fascinate me in a horrified way).
I spent a little while with google and bookfinder.com, and this is what I found:
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Abe, Toshihiko Japan's Hidden Face
Publisher also given as 'Trans-Atlantic Publishing'. I'll note that Jeanne Rejaunier is the co-author or translator (see below)
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Ashbach, Leonard Parkinson's Lifestyle and Cookbook
I get nothing from bookfinder.com, and google only gives me a faulty link to BookExpoAmerica, where he seems to have been. I tried alternative spellings for Ashbach as well.
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Ashby, Frank Western Novels
Here's the quote from the Orange County story : "Tuesday mornings at the senior center, one room is dedicated to literature: reading it, critiquing it, and above all, creating it. "This is such a unique class," said Frank Ashby, a participant since 1999. "There are not many creative writing classes."
the story itself is here:
<http://www.ocregister.com/community/orange_city_news/columns/archive/123004org_deffner.shtml>
Interesting! There's a
Franklin Ashby who's written a book (Embracing Excellence) with Arthur Pell (see below).
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Fox, Dennis M.D. CIG to Migraines and Other Headaches
co-authored with Jeanne Rejaunier (see below) - is this, like two authors for the price of one?
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Frawley, Michael Chief Deputy The Stalking
Alphabetically, he should come after Franks. Just saying. And I can't find any record of this as a published book, even vanity. Googling made me wonder if he's really "Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Frawley" in Ventura, but no mention of a book. I'm thinking he doesn't support himself solely by writing.
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Franks, Gary, fr.Congressman Searching for the Promised Land
Gary Franks's book Searching for the Promised Land was published in 1996 by Harper Collins, a real publisher, but since she describes him as a congressman, I kind of doubt he's supporting himself solely by writing, and I didn't spot any other titles to his name.
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Freund, Lee M.D. (estate) "Idiots Guide to Food Allergies"
Hm. Co-written with Jeanne Rejaunier (see below). And again, a Complete Idiot's Guide. Does (estate) mean the person is dead and the works administered for the estate?
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Getty, Mrs. J. Paul The Mark of The Eagle
Mrs. J. Paul Getty writes as Teddy Getty Gaston, and her book Mark of the Eagle was published by XLibris in 2002. She hasn't written/published anything else as far as I can discover.
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Gold, Don Line Producer "Diagnosis Murder"
His name and this credit found in the imdb. Various credits, but his only screen writing credit is from "Sex and the Teenage Mind" 2002. He's also written a book -
Producing for Hollywood, published by Allworth Press
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Green, Bill "Australian Writer of 26 novels"
His bio is here:
http://www.spoiledink.com/Bill_Green and his novels are published by Hodder and by Rigby in Australia. Seems to be real. Author and journalist, something of a stirrer by the sounds of it.
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Holtz, Herman Estate "How to Succeed As An Independent Consultant" 4th ED
I wonder why 'Estate' isn't lower-case and in parentheses here, as it is above? A brief bio from a website offering some of his books for sale: "Herman Holtz was one of the most prolific authors of books for the Consultant. He has authored over 70. Sadly, he passed away in Feb. 2001. His knowledge of consulting and business spanned the world of business and he shared it with the reader in his many books." Looks as if he was a real author, with over 78 books, published by McGraw-Hill, etc.
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Katz, Leon PH.D Professor Emeritus of Drama Yale, Sonya, Pinocchio
His website is here:
http://katzleon.com/ "the author of several dozen original plays and adaptations produced in the U.S. and abroad" so he may actually support himself by writing, though I suppose there's some spare change associated with the Emeritus position. He has written an adaptation of Pinocchio, but I couldn't find anything by him with the title Sonya.
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Lebowitz, Marlene co-producer "Beyond Forever" /Screenwriter
imdb gives me a big nothing for this title and for this person, even with variant spellings of Lebowitz. Google gives me this, from moviebytes.com:
Beyond Forever - Robert Hadley thought the past was buried until its unexpected resurrection brought problems anew. (Updated: 07/25/2003 @ 7:24 PM) Keyword: expatriate
I clicked on the link, but it's expired.
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Lefevre, Holly How To, I do: Planning the Ultimate Wedding
Well, the title is correct, though mispunctuated so that it looks wrong. It's published by HarperCollins, 2000. She's the owner of a wedding design and event coordination business, which you can read about in her bio here:
http://www.brideworld.com/plan/holly.htm
I'm thinking that's how she supports herself, not solely by writing.
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Miligan, E.T. "Crime Mystery Novel Series"
His name is spelt wrong here - it's Edward T. Milligan. He's a motivational speaker and retired military officer, according to his website.
Inclinations of Fear was published by Apollo (Winona MN) in 1984,
Looking-Glass Self by University Editions in 1991.
Past the Line is published by Unistar according to his website, but by ETMILLIGANBOOKS according to Amazon. Those are fiction.
On Linda, nonfiction, published by R&E Publishers 1992. I don't know any of the publishers, but the covers look amateurish, except for Past the Line, which is kind of okay.
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Mindell, Phyllis Ed.D. "How To Say it For Women", "How To Say it In the Executive Suite"
Second title is incorrect, it's
How to Say It For Executives. A couple of other books,
Power Reading and
A Woman's Guide to the Language of Success, published by Penguin / Prentice-Hall. Her website is here:
http://www.wellread.com/aboutus_new.html
She runs Well-Read, which does seminars on communication, so I'm thinking she supports herself by that more than solely by writing.
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Ott, True Ph.D. Minerals For Life, DNA Studies
Name incorrect again - it's A. True Ott, and googling him is scary. Along with titles like
Secret Assassins in Food : the Ninjas of Taste! (published by Manna) and
Wellness Secrets for Life (published Cedar Mountain 1999), there's an interview with him about how Masons and Catholics sacrifice babies. And no, that wasn't an exaggeration for comic effect. Runs an online nutritional supplement company called Mother Earth Minerals, and you can read his bio here:
http://www.motherearthmineralsinc.com/431370.html
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Pell, Arthur Ph.D. "Managing People 3rd Ed", "Christian ED", "Spanish", "Human Resources"
The first and last are
Complete Idiot Guides. He's also written some Dale Carnegie books. My guess is that "Christian ED" refers too
The Christian Family Guide to Managing People, and "Spanish" may refer to a Spanish translation of that title or another - but really this is an abysmally arranged list. Here's his bio "Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D., has written over 40 books on management, career planning, and human relations, and is a nationally known lecturer on HR management. He worked as a personnel
director early in his career and has served on the faculties of NYU, CUNY, and St. John's University." He might support himself solely by writing, but I suspect the faculty positions count for more.
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Raab, Bernie "The Book of Humor" "I Lived to Tell"
Coming up blank, other than a joke contributed to a UConn site by a Bernie Raab : Question: What did George W. Bush say when he was asked how he felt about Roe v. Wade? Answer: He said it was the most important decision George Washington had to make before crossing the Delaware.
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Rejaunier, Jeanne "Idiots Guide to Headaches", "Idiots Guide to Food Allergies"
Hm, the titles are wrong again -
Complete Idiot's Guide to Migraines and Other Headaches (see Dennis Fox, above), and co-author of
CIG to Food Allergies. Penguin website says "Jeanne Rejaunier is the author of eight books and a freelance screenwriter. She lives in Florida." She seems to be the co-author or translator of Abe's book
Japan's Hidden Face (small world, hey?) as well as co-author of a couple of books on astrology. Don't know if she's the same Jeanne Rejaunier who wrote
The Beauty Trap (1969) and
Affair in Rome (1981).
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Talent, Ronnie "Dook Series on The Business of Hair Care"
Bookfinder gives him as the author of
The Vending Jackpot, a book on creating and running a vending machine business. It's published by Llumina or Media Creations, or Lightning Source, also as an ebook from Fictionwise (but, but, it's not fiction!).
Aha! Amazon gives him as co-author of
Home Hair Salon, a downloadable book by BooksOnStuff. "Ronnie Talent offers years of experience in Management, Sales and Marketing with both Hair Club for Men and Bosley Medical Group . He has done Over 6000 Hair replacement and Hair restoration consultations, and has seen thousands of men and women reach their hair restoration goals." "Ronnie and Tarye own an exclusive salon in Charlotte, NC"
And yes, it is the same guy, his bio is here:
http://www.bosleymedicalcharlotte.com/bio.html
At any rate, I don't think he'd have time to support himself solely by writing, what with the salon and the vending machine biz.
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Terrill, Marshall celebrity books, Steve Mcqueen, Norton, Stuntman, Elvis
This one I might believe was supporting himself as a writer - reporter, and celebrity bios. There's a short biography of the man himself here:
http://cherylhosmervignettes.blogspot.com/2006/01/featured-bio-biographer-marshall.html - short enough that I can quote it here: "Writer Marshall Terrill resides in
Tempe, Arizona, with his wife Zoe. He is a reporter for Tribune Newspapers as well as the author of eight books, including the best-selling biography,
Steve McQueen: Portrait of An American Rebel (Donald I. Fine, 1993). His more recent works include
Sergeant Presley (ECW Press, 2002) and
Skywalker (Sports Publishing Inc., 2003). Terrill recently finished the definitive biography of basketball legend "Pistol" Pete Maravich, which will be published in April 2005 by Sport Classic Books and
Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business, with Sonny West."
Which makes me wonder if BK really is his agent?
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Vandertigchel, Armand Chef and Author "Wings Across America"
Hm, his name is spelt wrong as well. It's Armand Vander
stigchel, and he appears to be a professional chef. One book
Adirondack Cuisine published by Berkshire House 2002, and this one,
Wings Across America (chicken wing recipes) by Kensington, 2004. Also not supporting himself by writing, I'd guess, but by cooking. His website is here:
<http://www.chefarmand.com/> (and now I'm hungry ...)
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Walters, Lillet How to Start a Speaking Career
Her website is here:
<http://www.paidpublicspeaking.com/>
Looks as if she supports herself by public speaking, not by writing, but she does have 4 or 5 other books on public speaking, published by McGraw-Hill and Prentice-Hall, from 1992-2002.
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Ward, Brendan Ph.D "Mother Courage" with Tyne Daly
The actress Tyne Daly performed in the Bertolt Brecht play 'Mother Courage in 2001. Brendan Ward is the name of an actor, but he doesn't seem to have been in this play, ever. Maybe this is an interview or article? An audio book? Or a figment of BK's imagination?
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White, Jane A Few Good Women
published by Prentice Hall in 1992, subtitle is
Breaking the Barriers to Top Management. Also wrote
Employee Benefits for Small Business, Prentice Hall 1991. Doesn't seem to have published since, couldn't find a website.
What's with the insistence on PhDs and so on? Does that matter? And what a mixed bag of authors!
-Barbara