Presented on Plates II, III, and IV are reproductions of the covers of three books which had each been entered in the Fire Hall Writers’ Competition of 1982.  None of these titles won the competition in question, though one was immediately optioned for several thousand dollars by a film studio from the Northeast.

What is surprising is the fact that all of these books were published, although by presses of varying repute.  I collected these three copies due to the fact that their titles had sounded familiar at the time I stumbled across them in various used book stores.  After all, I was one of the judges in the competition mentioned above, having had decided at the time that none of their very disparate stories was of a quality to merit the competition prize.  However, upon second perusal, so many years later, all three had held some interest for me, due perhaps to what follows…

Once the books had found their way to the large table in the middle of my library (prior to being shelved – an activity which is sometimes put off for years!) I found myself absent-mindedly glancing over their covers.  I was immediately struck by the unmistakable resemblance between the authors pictured on the books’ back covers.  There was no doubt in my mind (and I remain doubtless) that the authors depicted on all three covers were one and the same person, despite the fact that the names and biographies varied.

The most striking element of all of this is that it is not simply a case of pseudonymous authorship, for the author, if having chosen to shield her identity would certainly not have had herself depicted on the publication’s very cover.  I leave it up to the reader to come to their own conclusion regarding this remarkable case of author resemblance.