Ross Kemp novelist haha

For clueless sorts (like me) could you give us a link? I have no idea who Ross Kemp is and why he's a novelist is somehow a bad thing, sorry to say.

ETA: I see that he's an actor and an investigative journalist. And I found a link to the news about his debut novel.

He most likely uses ghost writers if he is published. Nice work if you can get it.

?

Why shouldn't he write a novel? (How good it is will depend obviously). Random House is seeing a market - those who watched his series on gangs and on Afghanistan etc.

He was a pretty crap actor, but I've got to give him his due, he's got balls that bloody clank at times...and isn't above admitting his peed himself in fear first time he was shot at.

If Andy McNab can write a book, heck if I can write a book, why not him? From what I can gather, he's using his experiences in Afghanistan, writing what he knows. So what?

I wonder if the non fiction title he's signed for will be an expose of the time he was married to NOTW's Brooks?

IdiotsRUs said:

?

Why shouldn't he write a novel? (How good it is will depend obviously). Random House is seeing a market - those who watched his series on gangs and on Afghanistan etc.

He was a pretty crap actor, but I've got to give him his due, he's got balls that bloody clank at times...and isn't above admitting his peed himself in fear first time he was shot at.

If Andy McNab can write a book, heck if I can write a book, why not him? From what I can gather, he's using his experiences in Afghanistan, writing what he knows. So what?

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Wot Tank Girl said.

icenine said:

Ross Kemp is now a novelist.
Bloody ridiculous. Random House needs to get a grip.

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It's not ridiculous. It's business.

IdiotsRUs said:

?

Why shouldn't he write a novel? (How good it is will depend obviously). Random House is seeing a market - those who watched his series on gangs and on Afghanistan etc.

He was a pretty crap actor, but I've got to give him his due, he's got balls that bloody clank at times...and isn't above admitting his peed himself in fear first time he was shot at.

If Andy McNab can write a book, heck if I can write a book, why not him? From what I can gather, he's using his experiences in Afghanistan, writing what he knows. So what?

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Exactly. Who cares? If you don't want to read it, don't.

Quite frankly, I get a little tired of seeing complaints like this. Yeah, Hollywood bios by actors who are usually too blitzed to walk down the street are a pain in the ass, but I have no problem with an actor/journalist writing a novel.

How could I? Then I'd be complaining about myself.

That being said, seems to be a writer shouldn't really care who else is writing a novel or what their background is. Doesn't matter. All that should matter to any of us is our own stories, our own careers. All the rest is just bullshit distraction, and that's the last thing we need.

mscelina said:

That being said, seems to be a writer shouldn't really care who else is writing a novel or what their background is.

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Funny how we never get a thread about 'Random House is going to publish a novel by a housewife/lifeguard/accountant. Bloody ridiculous, haha'.

So an actor doesn't have the right to be a novelist? High school dropouts can write a novel. Factory workers can write a novel. The drug addict you pass on the way to work can write a novel. But an actor shouldn't?

Many, many actors make incredibly good writers. Why shouldn't they? They generally read more, are exposed to more good writing, and very, very often do much of the writing that goes into a film or TV series.

Random House has a grip. Readers determine who makes a good writer, not forums.

Jamesaritchie said:

Many, many actors make incredibly good writers. Why shouldn't they? They generally read more, are exposed to more good writing, and very, very often do much of the writing that goes into a film or TV series.

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[citation needed]

leahzero said:

[citation needed]

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Tina Fey - this is from Wikipedia, but I read it in her own book as well - which was a very good book.

While performing shows with the Second City in 1997, Fey submitted several scripts to NBC's variety show Saturday Night Live (SNL), at the request of its head writer Adam McKay, a former performer at Second City.[6] She was hired as a writer[28] for SNL

*snip*

In 2002, Fey suggested a pilot episode for a situation comedy about a cable news network to NBC, who rejected it. The pilot was reworked to revolve around an SNL style series, and was accepted by NBC.[48] She signed a contract with NBC in May 2003, which allowed her to remain in her SNL head writer position at least through the 2004–2005 television season.

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Michael J. Fox's memoirs are fantastic.

Porsha De Rossi's memoir is beautiful.

I can find more.

1) post about about actor/actress, obviously unqualified person, writing a novel
2) disparaging remark actor/actress, obviously unqualified, obviously used ghost writer
3) snark about actor/actress, obviously unqualified
4) refute
5) rebuttal
6) request for lolcatz
7) mod threat to lock thread, ban everybody, and sell domain name

Think about it. How the hell are YOU qualified to write a novel and Ross Kemp isn't?

I think what annoys people about celebrity novels is this imagined scenario:

Celeb (or ghost) writes novel.
Unknown writes novel.
Unknown's novel is of equal or greater quality.
Who's likelier to get published?

Celeb name on novel guarantees a certain amount of media attention and fan sales. And so the world spins on.

I don't really look at it like that. There are different markets out there - there are markets for celeb authors and markets for everyone else.

I could be wrong, but that's how I see it.

Now, I have to admit I've never read a fictional novel written by a celeb. I've read only memoirs, and only those I enjoyed after skimming the first page or two.

Oooh, Chelsae Handler. She was hilarious.

I agree with what others are saying. Why shouldn't Kemp have the opportunity to publish a novel just as anyone else. Or does a high profile career exempt you?

I like Kemp, he knows he's not the greatest actor. I did love Ultimate Force - especially the early series with the actor who was in Billy Elliot [name escapes me.]

From what I just read on Cranky's link, it doesn't sound like he's stretching too far from what he knows or from what he's known for. It might not end up being the best book in the universe, but if he writes it himself, I personally don't care. The only issue that gets up my arse about celebrities writing fiction is when they say they're a novelist and every word is ghost-written.

Alpha Echo said:

I don't really look at it like that. There are different markets out there - there are markets for celeb authors and markets for everyone else.

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This is correct. And it has been the case since the dawn of the publishing industry (at least in the English- and French- and Spanish- speaking worlds; the other industries I don't know so much about).

Of course, in the 16th century, the "celebrity authors" were generally aristocrats or highwaymen, but.

On the "actors who are good novelists" front, let me suggest Dirk Bogarde, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Dawn French, and Harley Jane Kozak.

Ooooh...I keep meaning to get Hugh Laurie's books. I love him.

I saw Ross Kemp on the One Show talking about his book and I honestly can't remember if he said he *wrote* it himself or not, but he was certainly heavily involved with the plotting. Either way, if that was my sort of thing, I look out for it. He genuinely knows about the subject.

Oh, and what Julia said, too.

icenine said:

Ross Kemp is now a novelist.
Bloody ridiculous. Random House needs to get a grip.

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so you'red his work then? and you have a stella publishing /writing / editing career and a track record that's longer than a mitchiner novel? in which case you, and only you, are qualified to have an opinion and can attest to the quality of the book and the writing?

my publisher publishes several celebrities, a couple of quite big names. The profits my publisher makes from those books mean that my publisher can invest in writers like me.

Think of it that way.

I've always liked Kemp.
Given that he's actually been to Afghanistan more than once and spent time with the troops out there, he'll have a bit more to offer than a writer who hasn't been to Afghanistan yet still attempts to write about it.

*points at self*