NEIDERMAN, Andrew 1940-

(V. C. Andrews, pseudonym)

PERSONAL: Surname is pronounced "Ny-der-man"; born October 26, 1940, in Brooklyn, NY; son of George and Anne (Malisoff) Neiderman; married Diane Wilson, February 8, 1964; children: Melissa Gay, Erik Richard. Education: Attended Hunter College, Bronx Campus (now Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York), 1958-60; State University of New York at Albany, B.A., 1962, M.A., 1964. Politics: Liberal Democrat. Religion: Hebrew.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Robin Rue, Writers House, 21 West 26th St., New York, NY 10010; Bruce Vinokour, CAA, Los Angeles, CA. E-mail—Neid1@aol.com.

CAREER: Fallsburgh Central School, Fallsburgh, NY, English teacher, 1964—, audio-visual director; writer. Town historian, Fallsburgh, 1977.

MEMBER: New York State Teachers Association, Sullivan County Teachers Council (president, 1971-72), Fallsburgh Teachers Association (president, 1969).

AWARDS, HONORS: Pin was nominated by Mystery Writers of America as best paperback original of 1981.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Sisters, Stein & Day (New York, NY), 1971.

Weekend, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1980.

Pin, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Brainchild, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Someone's Watching, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Tender Loving Care, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1984.

Imp, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Child's Play, Zebra (New York, NY), 1985.

Night Howl, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1986.

Love Child, Tor (New York, NY), 1986.

Teacher's Pet, Zebra (New York, NY), 1986.

Sight Unseen, Zebra (New York, NY), 1987.

Playmates, Berkley (New York, NY), 1987.

Reflection, Worldwide Library (London, England), 1987.

Surrogate Child, Berkley (New York, NY), 1988.

Perfect Little Angels, Berkley (New York, NY), 1989.

The Devil's Advocate, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Bloodchild, Berkley (New York, NY), 1990.

The Immortals, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Sister, Sister, Berkley (New York, NY), 1992.

The Need, Putnam (New York, NY), 1991.

After Life, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

The Solomon Organization, Putnam (New York, NY), 1994.

Duplicates, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.

Angel of Mercy, Putnam (New York, NY), 1995.

The Dark, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1996.

The Devil's Advocate, 1997.

In Double Jeopardy, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Neighborhood Watch, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Curse, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Amnesia, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Dead Time, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Under Abduction, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Baby Squad, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Deficiency, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2004.

NOVELS UNDER PSEUDONYM V. C. ANDREWS

(With the original V. C. Andrews) Garden of Shadows, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Fallen Hearts, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1988.

Gates of Paradise, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1989.

Web of Dreams, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Dawn, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Ruby, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Secrets of the Morning, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Twilight's Child, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Midnight Whispers, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Darkest Hour, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Pearl in the Mist, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1994.

All that Glitters, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Hidden Jewel, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Tarnished Gold, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Melody, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Also author of The Sesquicentennial of Fallsburgh Township, 1976, and of the screenplay for The Runaways. Contributor of short stories, poetry, short plays, and articles to periodicals, including English Record, Interaction, Prairie Schooner, Cimarron Review, Scholastic Magazine's Voice, Media and Methods, and Campaign Insight.

ADAPTATIONS: Pin was adapted for film in 1988; The Devil's Advocate was adapted for film in 1998; film rights to The Dark have been sold to TriStar; film rights to several novels written under the name V. C. Andrews have been sold to Jaffe/Braunstein Films; Tender Loving Care has been opted by Trilobyte for a CD-ROM interactive movie.

SIDELIGHTS: Andrew Neiderman is a prolific writer of horror novels and thrillers. In addition to his own novels, Neiderman has published many bestselling novels under the name of the late author V. C. Andrews.

Neiderman collaborated with Andrews on the novel Garden of Shadows. After Andrews died in 1986, Neiderman went on to produce fourteen novels under Andrews's name and based on story outlines developed by her. These novels have proven to be consistent bestsellers. Neiderman explained to Lisa James in the University of Albany Magazine, "Writing is very personal, so it takes a great deal of study and attention to be able to write in someone else's voice. . . . I feel successful at it because the V. C. Andrews books are growing in power, they are sold all over the world, and most people don't know where V. C. Andrews stopped and I started. That, to me, is a good testament."

Neiderman's first significant novel is probably Pin, wherein an emotionally unbalanced father comforts his rattled children through an imaginary human, Pin, capable of resolving all the children's problems and questions. When the parents die suddenly, the children maintain their illusion of Pin as the guiding adult in their lives. Don D'Ammassa, writing in the St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers, described Pin as a "very fine concept with understated horror." In the years since Pin first appeared in print, Neiderman has issued more than thirty other novels. He quickly followed Pin with Brainchild, in which a brilliant but undisciplined girl develops the ability to control the wills of fellow humans and animals. A child also serves as the central figure in Neiderman's 1985 novel Imp, wherein a spineless mother consigns her hideous child to a series of interconnecting tunnels beneath the family home. From this unlikely location, the child manages, as D'Ammassa reported, "to explore and cause hellish trouble for those he stumbles across." Still another demonic child dominates Sight Unseen, in which a telepathic boy undermines the lives of his neighbors, while in Surrogate Child a couple replace their late son with an adopted boy who soon exhibits peculiar behavior.

The Need is the story of a brother and sister existing within one human entity. After the vampire brother slays the object of his sister's affections, he finds himself marked for destruction. "The duel of wills that ensues," remarked D'Ammassa, "is the best writing Neiderman has yet produced."

Teacher's Pet concerns a malicious teacher who forces his students to do his evil bidding. In Perfect Little Angels, meanwhile, the seemingly gentle behavior exhibited by teenagers in a small town serves to conceal their considerable fierceness. And in Sister, Sister, Siamese twins with mutual telepathy use their mental powers to control others.

The Devil's Advocate, made into a film starring Al Pacino, ranks among Neiderman's better-known novels. Here an ambitious young lawyer signs with an impressive law firm only to learn that it serves evil. D'Ammassa explained: "The protagonist is flattered when he is asked to join a prominent law firm, but confused when he discovers that sometimes cases for the defence are prepared even before the crimes are committed. Ultimately he must decide whether or not to sell his soul, quite literally, in order to guarantee himself a prosperous future." Similarly, Neiderman's The Solomon Organization concerns a despairing fellow who approaches members of a secret group and then learns that he has consequently jeopardized the well-being of his friends and loved ones. Another of Neiderman's thrillers is Angel of Mercy, in which a homicide detective tries to apprehend a fetching private nurse and her retarded twin sister, both of whom are involved in a series of alleged suicides. The Dark concerns a group of psychiatric patients whose evil behavior can only be stopped by a priest using the traditional ritual against Satan.

Neiderman once told CA that he has been most influenced by Kurt Vonnegut. He added: "Mainly, today, I am concerned with the theme of violence. I am concerned with how we are driven to acts of violence by an imposing society and [an] entrapping environment."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1998.

PERIODICALS

Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), October 17, 1997, Dann Gire, "Pacino Stokes the Fire in Devil's Advocate," p. 36.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 1992; February 1, 1993; March 15, 1994.

Newsweek, October 27, 1997, Jack Kroll, review of film version of The Devil's Advocate, p. 70.

Publishers Weekly, May 29, 1995, Paul Nathan, "Tell Your Own Tale," p. 38; April 15, 1996, "For Andrews Fans," p. 29; May 27, 1996, Paul Nathan, "Shrinking Satan," p. 29; November 10, 1997, p. 71.

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), October 17, 1997, Robert Denerstein, "A Devil of a Time," p. 6D.

Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), August 24, 1996, "Al Pacino to Play The Devil's Advocate," p. 27.

University at Albany Magazine, spring, 1998, Lisa James, "He's a Soft-Spoken Author of Horror Novels."

Variety, October 13, 1997, review of film version of The Devil's Advocate, p. 77.

Washington Post, July 24, 2002, Linton Weeks, "The Plot Thickeners: Brand-Name Authors Hire Writers to Flesh Out Their Bare-Bones Stories," p. C1.

ONLINE

Andrew Neiderman Home Page,http://www.neiderman.com/ (June 6, 2003).