Misty and me. (Photo by my wife, Laurel Cummins.)

My third book — Misty the Cat…Unleashed — has just been published! It’s partly factual and partly fictional, so I guess it’s partly a novel. Along with being partly a memoir, told in Misty’s comedic voice. (A voice you’ve occasionally experienced here when that commendable kitty has guest-blogged about literature.)

In the 242-page book, asthmatic feline Misty slips his harness during one of his daily leashed walks and gets lost in Montclair, New Jersey. To pass the time and try to control his fear, Misty cracks MANY jokes, reminisces about his life, imparts information about his species and human family (mine!), discusses his favorite novels and music, gets philosophical, fantasizes about things, and more.

This NOT-a-children’s book includes 11 cartoons of Misty amid the text, and has paperback and Kindle editions. (Links in the boldface paragraph near the end of this post.) If you end up buying and reading the book, an Amazon review would of course be very welcome. 🙂

I came up with the idea for a memoir “by” Misty several years ago, but couldn’t quite figure out a good plot to hang the story on. Then, in 2022, Misty slipped his harness one morning in real life and was lost for about 16 hours. We were frantic and devastated before finally finding him after much searching and much leaving of our contact information with neighborhood residents. A few months later, it belatedly occurred to me that I had a plot for my (Misty’s) book.

Then came the writing and rewriting, from March to September 2023. After that, I figured I’d make a long-shot attempt to find a literary agent — researching agency web sites and sending out 88 individually crafted queries whenever I had some free time in late 2023 and early 2024. I received some nice responses, but not an offer of representation.

So, I decided to again enter the wonderful world of independent publishing, as I had done with my 2017 Fascinating Facts literary-trivia book after going the small press route with my 2012 memoir Comic (and Column) Confessional. After all, Misty and cats in general are all about independence. 🙂 (But they are of course very loving creatures, too.)

“Misty the Cat…Unleashed” can be purchased on Amazon in a paperback or a Kindle edition.

In addition to this weekly blog, Dave writes the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about a final Council meeting, a beloved independent stationery store closing, and more — is here.

Photo from Getty Images.

Nearly nine years ago, I wrote a post focusing on some of the most prolific dead and living authors. Today I’m going to do a similar piece, this time focusing only on living authors. Most obviously now have more novels to their name than they did in 2015, and I’ll include a number of living authors I didn’t mention back then because they had yet to be on my reading radar.

As noted in the earlier post, prolific can be defined in a way that not only involves churning out many novels; authors can also be prolific in the sense of writing less-frequent-but-long novels. But for this post I’m sticking with those authors who have high numbers of separate titles.

Of course, there are novelists who produce lots of books by co-authoring some of them, running a “writing factory” of sorts, putting out short-story collections, writing nonfiction in addition to fiction, etc.

It’s also worth noting that authors whose output is at least partly comprised of series rather than stand-alone novels have an advantage in not having to dream up a new protagonist each time.

Below is an incomplete list that only includes prolific living authors I have read one or (in some cases many) more novels by…

James Patterson has written, co-written, or otherwise had his name on more than 200 (!) novels in the 48 years since 1976.

Dean Koontz has produced a whopping 144 novels since 1968.

Janet Evanovich has, since 1987, written or co-written more than 70 novels — including the series with numbered titles starring bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.

Stephen King has gone the route of 66 novels — quite a Carrie-over since 1974.

Joyce Carol Oates has also penned more than 60 novels, dating back to 1964.

Walter Mosley has authored about 55 novels since 1990, including one — Every Man a King — I’m currently reading and enjoying.

David Balducci: more than 50 novels since 1996.

John Grisham: nearly 50 novels since 1989.

Michael Connelly: 39 novels since 1992.

Harlan Coben: 37 novels since 1990.

Lisa Scottoline: 35 novels since 1993.

Joy Fielding: 31 novels since 1972.

Lee Child: 28 Jack Reacher thrillers since 1997; the last few co-written with his brother Andrew.

Kristin Hannah: 25 novels since 1991.

Isabel Allende: 22 novels since debuting with The House of the Spirits in 1982.

Nicholas Sparks: also 22 novels, since 1996.

Diana Gabaldon: 19 novels since 1991, including nine lengthy Outlander books.

Margaret Atwood: 17 novels since 1969, along with lots of poetry, nonfiction books, and other works.

J.K. Rowling: 15 novels (some quite long) since 1997, along with other works. As is occasionally the case with authors, some of Rowling’s books appear under a different name — Robert Galbraith for her Cormoran Strike/Robin Ellacott crime fiction.

Liane Moriarty: nine novels since 2004, not including several children’s books (as some other adult authors also write on the side).

Any prolific living authors you’d like to discuss?

Dave’s literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, Dave writes the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about another election and a new municipal budget — is here.

Friday’s edition of The New York Times. (Photo by me.)

With the corrupt Donald Trump deservedly convicted this past Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his ultimately successful 2016 presidential campaign, it’s time to change some book titles!

The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee — history’s first former Oval Office occupant to ever be convicted — also faces three future trials for taking home classified documents and fomenting the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol building after falsely claiming he won the 2020 election he clearly lost.

Anyway, on to the revised titles…

Portnoy’s Complaint becomes Stormy’s Complaint. (As in Stormy Daniels, the woman with whom the married Trump had sex and then paid off to keep silent.)

Death Comes for the Archbishop becomes Seth Comes for the Archvillain. (If Seth was one of the jurors’ names.)

Their Eyes Were Watching God becomes Jury’s Ayes Were Splotching Don. (From Hurston to hurts him.)

The Age of Innocence becomes The Age of Guiltiness. (Hmm…we have Edith Wharton, even as Trump is a Wharton School alum.)

Gone with the Wind becomes Don Who Has Sinned.

The Secret Life of Bees becomes His Overt Life of Sleaze.

The Shipping News becomes The Stripping News.

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands becomes Donald Flawed and His Three Wives. (Plus many paramours.)

Don Quixote becomes Don’s Felonies.

The Count of Monte Cristo becomes The 34 Counts of Don T.: Bozo.

Fahrenheit 451 becomes Fahrenheit 34.

Catch-22 becomes Catch-34.

The Catcher in the Rye becomes He Was Caught in the Lies.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man becomes A Portrait of the Adulterer as a Con Man.

The Book Thief becomes The Crook Chief.

A Painted House becomes A Tainted Louse.

Devil in a Blue Dress becomes Devil in a Blue Suit.

A Clockwork Orange becomes A Clocked Jerk, Orange. (Referring to Trump’s makeup color.)

The Mill on the Floss becomes A Chill on the Boss.

Winesburg, Ohio becomes Whines Big, Anywhere.

The Old Man and the Sea becomes The Old Man and the Glee. (Yes, many are happy with the verdict against the 77-year-old Trump.)

Crime and Punishment becomes Crime and Hopefully Major Punishment.

A Passage to India becomes A Passage to Incarceration. (If only…)

A Gentleman in Moscow becomes A Charlatan in Hoosegow. (Slang for jail. If only…)

One Hundred Years of Solitude becomes A Few Years of Solitary. (If only…)

From Here to Eternity becomes From Here to Uncertainty. (Trump’s 2024 presidential prospects.)

Any other revised titles you’d like to suggest?

Dave’s literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, Dave writes the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about topics such as a too-big project approved again — is here.