Tag Archives: Victor Appleton

Why Young Adults Should Love Tom Swift

In a significant way, Tom Swift guided me toward a career in engineering, and also toward the genre of fiction I write. I wonder if authors of young adult (YA) fiction understand the seeds they plant in young minds.

First book in the Tom Swift Jr. (second) series 1954-1971

Tom Swift and Me

As a young boy growing up in the 1960s, I enjoyed reading the Tom Swift Jr. series, attributed to Victor Appleton II (a pseudonym for several contributing authors), and published by Grosset & Dunlap during the years 1954 to 1971. One of my aunts gave me the first book in the series, Tom Swift and His Flying Lab, as a gift. After that, my collection grew to include most of the thirty-three books in the series.

I loved reading about Tom Swift’s inventions and adventures. He built a nuclear airplane, a submarine, a spaceship, a robot, and earth-blasting machine, and many, many more. Each book fired my imagination. In my mind, I traveled along with Tom and his sidekick, Bud Barclay, in their amazing vehicles.

Tom Swift, I believe, influenced my later choice to major in engineering (specifically, Naval Architecture) at college. After serving in the military, I spent a career as an engineer and program manager at an engineering organization. However, I didn’t end up building my own nuclear airplane, submarine, spaceship, etc.

First book in the Tom Swift Sr. (first) series 1910-1941

The Senior Tom Swift

The 1960s-era Tom Swift series I loved followed an earlier series, published from 1910 to 1941. That first series of forty books showcased the father of Tom Swift, Jr. and his inventions and adventures. I’ve collected a few of them, but their racism makes them difficult to read now.

Tom Swift vs. Harry Potter

Not meaning to disparage the Harry Potter series, but I’d rank it a step below Tom Swift. You can’t become a wizard in real life, but you can become a scientist, inventor, or engineer. Yes, I understand Harry Potter inspires qualities besides magic, such real-life attributes as friendship, hard work, cleverness, and a willingness to confront and overcome evil. All of those virtues will serve Harry Potter fans well in their later working lives.

I also know, if I point out how unrealistic a magic academy is, you’ll counter with how unbelievable it is for an eighteen-year-old to be inventing the gadgets Tom Swift does. You’ll tell me how Tomasite plastic and Swiftonium nuclear material and “repelatrons” violate just as many laws of physics as Harry Potter’s magical conjuring does.

Still, Tom Swift inspires kids toward real lines of work, but Harry Potter doesn’t.

Tom Swift Reborn

Sixth book in the fourth series 1991-1993
First book in the third series 1981-1984

Modern authors have updated Tom Swift for today’s young readers. I know of five such series:

  • 1981-1984, Tom Swift III series, 11 books
  • 1991-1993, Tom Swift IV series, 13 books
  • 2006-2007, Tom Swift, Young Inventor series, 6 books
  • 2019-2022, Tom Swift, Inventors’ Academy series, 8 books
  • 2018-2023, Tom Swift Lives! series, by Scott Dickerson, 50 books

I hope one or more of these series gains in popularity and serves to steer many children toward science and engineering.

Past attempts to bring Tom Swift to the screen in movies or TV series have all failed. Perhaps with good screenwriting, realistic computer graphics to depict the inventions, and a strong focus on the target audience, a Tom Swift show could succeed.

Two to three decades ago, when society lamented how few women graduated in male-dominated fields, I considered writing a series of YA books about a female version of Tom Swift. I never wrote that, but now, women hold their own in most fields. You go, girls!

Perhaps someone could write YA novels featuring twins—a boy and a girl—working together on amazing inventions, and experiencing perilous adventures.

I offer that idea for free—go crazy with it. The world would have to wait a long time for those books to get written by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

May 31, 2026Permalink Leave a comment

12 Reasons to Change Your Name

Pen NamesAs a writer of fiction, you might choose to be published under a name other than your real one for a variety of reasons. The use of pen names, (or nom de plumes, literary doubles, or pseudonyms, if you prefer) is not uncommon. Although I’ve blogged about one reason for pen names before, I figured I’d provide a more comprehensive list of reasons today.

• The first three on my list have to do with Branding.
1. To separate your books into different genres or types or styles. For each name, readers know what to expect.
2. To give the reader the impression the book is an autobiography. You can adopt a character’s name as your pen name, as Daniel Handler did by choosing Lemony Snicket as a nom de plume in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
3. To share the same pen name with other authors, making it seem like a book series was written by one person. With the Tom Swift series of children’s books, several authors wrote under the single pen name, Victor Appleton.

• You may have reasons to shield your true identity.
4. To keep your real name in reserve until you’re a more established author. Eric Blair used the name George Orwell for this purpose, though it’s not clear what he was waiting for!
5. To protect your reputation. As a don at Oxford University, C. S. Lewis got published under the names Clive Hamilton and N. W. Clerk for this purpose.
6. To maintain your privacy. Enough said.

• There may be problems with your real name.
7. To choose a name more appropriate to the genre you write in. Pearl Grey chose the pen name Zane Grey for his Westerns.
8. To present yourself as the other gender. As a woman, you might feel your military adventure novels would sell better with a man’s name as the author, and similarly for you men who write romance novels.
9. To enable readers to more easily pronounce your name. Face it, some names are difficult to say.
10. To distinguish yourself from someone else. Your real name might spell or sound like another person (or thing). The British statesman and author Winston Churchill always wrote under the name Winston S. Churchill (I know, not much of a pseudonym) to avoid being confused with the then-famous American author Winston Churchill.

• Sometimes the publisher has reasons for suggesting a pen name.
11. To enable several of your stories to appear in the same magazine. Thus Robert A. Heinlein became also Anson MacDonald and Caleb Strong to avoid the appearance that a single author was monopolizing that issue.
12. To keep from saturating the market. If you write very fast, publishers might fear the public will see your name too often and tire of your novels too quickly. For this reason, some of Stephen King’s books were published under the name Richard Bachman.

Sure, there might be additional reasons for using a pen name. You don’t really need a reason, after all. It’s a personal choice and nobody’s business except yours and the publisher’s. (You’ll want your publisher to know your real name so they send those huge advance and royalty checks to the right account!)

Other good sites or blog posts that list reasons for pen names include this one, this one, and this one.

Oh, yeah, in case you were wondering, my real name isn’t—

Poseidon’s Scribe

September 14, 2014Permalink