# Who ACTUALLY wrote "Heat Wave", by Richard Castle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784 "2010-04-29T20:10:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/1 "2010-04-29T20:10:23Z")
On the TV show “Castle”, Richard Castle is supposed to be a mystery novelist. In the show, one of the books he recently wrote was called “Heat Wave”, introducing his new protaganist, Detective Nikki Heat. I was just in a book store and I saw on the shelf “Heat Wave”, by Richard Castle! The book plays it completely straight: Nathan Fillion, the actor who plays Richard Castle in the TV show, is shown as the author. The acknowledgment section lists his TV daughter and mother and the fictional NY detectives on the TV show. There never is a “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” that I could detect. My question is, who ACTUALLY wrote the novel? For those who have read the book, what’s your opinion? And just to broaden the thread, what other shows have actually put out books, etc. that were allegedly written by the TV characters? Thanks, J. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/2 "2010-04-29T20:29:58Z")
I don’t know who wrote it, but it looks like they’re going all out. Here’s the link on [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/Heat-Wave-Nikki-Richard-Castle/dp/1401323820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272572914&sr=8-1). Pretty decent reviews. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/3 "2010-04-29T20:35:51Z")
It’s just a WAG, but look up the writing credits of the show and you’ll probably have your answer. Either that or it was contracted out to an actual mystery writer to be ghostwritten, but I should think an existing successful writer wouldn’t want a book published under another name. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/4 "2010-04-29T20:57:36Z")
If you read the back leaf of the dustjacket it states that Castle’s first book received “the Nom DePlume Society’s prestigious Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature”. There’s a television writer named Tom Straw who has also written a mystery novel (_The Trigger Episode_); although he’s not on the credits for _Castle_ I have seen some online speculation that he’s the actual writer of _Heat Wave_. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/5 "2010-04-29T21:50:19Z")
> [@](#): > > And just to broaden the thread, what other shows have actually put out books, etc. that were allegedly written by the TV characters? I have a book of _The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition_, authored by Quark. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/6 "2010-04-29T21:54:58Z")
I have read it. It’s not bad, not great. It reads like episodes of the serie. Most of the characters are in it (except for Castle’s daughter). A fun way to spend a couple of hours. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/7 "2010-04-29T22:24:27Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > And just to broaden the thread, what other shows have actually put out books, etc. that were allegedly written by the TV characters? The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red was supposed to be written by a character in two Stephen King mini-series. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/8 "2010-04-29T23:35:16Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I have a book of _The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition_, authored by Quark. Fun book, too. The audiobook is read by Armin Shimerman, so you know it’s authentic. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/9 "2010-04-30T00:03:22Z")
I read The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer back when Twin Peaks was on TV. And the audiobook Diane - The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/10 "2010-04-30T00:25:02Z")
There were a couple “Jessica Fletcher” novels out in the late '80’s, based on the character from “Murder She Wrote” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/11 "2010-04-30T01:38:20Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > There were a couple “Jessica Fletcher” novels out in the late '80’s, based on the character from “Murder She Wrote” They’ve been publishing a new one pretty much every year since the show went off the air. There’s a good 20 or 30 books written by “Jessica Fletcher” now. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/12 "2010-04-30T03:41:45Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > And just to broaden the thread, what other shows have actually put out books, etc. that were allegedly written by the TV characters? **Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life** ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/13 "2010-04-30T10:28:08Z")
I’m not supposed to say but… it was me. Please don’t tell anyone. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/14 "2010-05-01T04:44:45Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I’m not supposed to say but… it was me. Please don’t tell anyone. Yeah, but I wrote The Book Of Love. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/15 "2010-05-01T11:56:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Yeah, but I wrote The Book Of Love. That made me grin this morning. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/16 "2010-05-01T13:43:47Z")
Then my work here is done. ---
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/17 "2010-05-01T19:05:44Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > And just to broaden the thread, what other shows have actually put out books, etc. that were allegedly written by the TV characters? God Hates Us All, by Hank Moody, is on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). I’m a big fan of the tv show Californication, but haven’t decided if I’m going to read the book. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/18 "2010-05-01T23:32:10Z")
There was a tie-in novel with _Lost_ the manuscript of which was supposedly found in the remains of the fateful flight. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life** For that matter, there have been a number of motivational books written by the Muppets in the past few years: _Before You Leap_ by Kermit the Frog, _The Diva Code_ by Miss Piggy\*, and _It’s Hard Out Here For A Shrimp_ by Pepe the King Prawn. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/19 "2010-05-01T23:34:59Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Yeah, but I wrote The Book Of Love. So are you [Laura Berman](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Love-Laura-Berman/dp/0756653207/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272756645&sr=8-1) or [Kathleen McGowan](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Love-Novel-Magdalene-Line/dp/141653170X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272756645&sr=8-2)? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784/20 "2010-05-02T00:40:23Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > And just to broaden the thread, what other shows have actually put out books, etc. that were allegedly written by the TV characters? Gary Troupe, the guy who got sucked into the engine in the pilot episode of Lost, came out with a book (the draft Sawyer was reading). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-actually-wrote-heat-wave-by-richard-castle/537784.md?page=2)