His adult stuff is packed with scary adults

Still on a high from the new Tom Perrotta, and now it seems he was a hired gun to scare..
well, little children.

"I read on your website that in 1993 you ghostwrote a teen horror novel for a best-selling series?

I took an oath of non-disclosure — that's what we called it. It was a very prominent [series]. I would get up in the morning and I wrote some part of Election, then I'd have lunch, and then I'd write my teen horror novel. Now when I think about it, that's when I became a writer. It's good to take the romance out of writing. And that certainly did it for me! [Laughs] Money was a real issue at that point in my life and it was very comforting to think, if nothing else, all these years I've spent trying to be a writer have given me a skill that I can make money with. The fact was, I got $5,000 for writing that teen horror novel. When my first book got published, I got zero.
Five grand — and your name's not even on it.

No. And thank god! It's the stupidest book. The series is no longer in existence. It was before Harry Potter and it was basically an attempt to feed the same audience. Kids like to be scared. So it's like Stephen King with training wheels."

Stephen King with training wheels. I'm stealing that line.

Posted by Dave