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Andrew Shaffer (born in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...
, United States.) is an American author. Under the pen name "Fanny Merkin," he authored the ''
Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...
'' parody ''Fifty Shames of Earl Grey.'' His other books include ''Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love'', and ''Literary Rogues: A Scandalous History of Wayward Authors''. He is the founder and creative director of Order of St. Nick, a greeting card company. He resides in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
with his wife, novelist
Tiffany Reisz Tiffany Reisz is an American author. She is best known for the ''Original Sinners'' series of erotica and she has won the RITA Award and a Lambda Literary Award. Reisz is best known for writing the ''Original Sinners'' series, published by Harleq ...
.


Background and career

Shaffer attended the
Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wri ...
for a summer semester and studied comedy writing at Chicago's
The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...
. He reviews books for
RT Book Reviews ''Romantic Times'' was an American genre magazine specializing in romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between ...
, a magazine devoted largely to romance and erotic literature. He is also a columnist for the
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
where he covers news within the publishing industry and reviews new book releases.


Order of St. Nick

Order of St. Nick is a greeting card company whose irreverent cards have been featured on
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
,
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, and
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
. Shaffer started the company after a fruitless quest to find seasonal cards that expressed secular beliefs to send to atheists during the holidays. It was featured on the Colbert Report as 'Un-American.' And CBS's
The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from ...
featured Order of St. Nick's Depressing Times cards as one of the most prominent examples of the 'Great Depression chic' trend in 2009.


''Fifty Shames of Earl Grey''

Shaffer wrote ''Fifty Shames of Earl Grey'' under the pen name "Fanny Merkin." ''Fifty Shames of Earl Grey'' is a parody of
E. L. James Erika Mitchell (born 7 March 1963), known by her pen name E. L. James, is a British author. She wrote the best-selling erotic romance trilogy ''Fifty Shades of Grey'', ''Fifty Shades Darker'', and ''Fifty Shades Freed'', along with the companio ...
' popular trilogy, ''
Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...
''. Publishers Weekly suggested "The parody brings to life all of the arguments for and against 50 Shades, including the feminist concerns, portrayal of BDSM, roots in Twilight fan-fiction, and EL James's writing style." ''Fifty Shames of Earl Grey'' was a Goodreads choice 2012 semi-finalist.


''How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters''

In 2015, Shaffer's tie-in book to the Syfy channel's ''
Sharknado ''Sharknado'' is a 2013 American made-for-television science fiction comedy disaster film directed by Anthony C. Ferrante. It tells about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles. It is the first installm ...
'' series of films debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List.


''Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal''

Released on June 28, 2016, this ''Ghosts from Our Past'' is a tie-in book to ''
Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
'' (2016). Shaffer is listed as a co-author even though the other two authors, Erin Gilbert and Abby L. Yates, are the fictional characters in the
Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
film.


Bibliography

*''Great Philosophers who failed at love'', Harper Perennial, New York, 2011. *''Fifty Shames of Earl Grey: A Parody'', Da Capo Press, Massachusetts, 2012. *''Literary Rogues: A Scandalous History of Wayward Authors'', Harper Perennial, New York, 2013. *''How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters'', Three Rivers Press, New York, 2015. *''Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal'', Three Rivers Press, New York, 2016. *'' The Day of the Donald'', Crooked Lane Books, New York, 2016. *''Hope Never Dies: An
Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
Biden Mystery (Obama Biden Mysteries)'', Thorndike Press Large Print, 2018 / Quirk Books, 2018, *''Hope Rides Again: An
Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
Biden Mystery (Obama Biden Mysteries)'', Quirk Books, 2019, *”Secret Santa”, Quirk Books, 2020,


References


External links


New York Times Interview

Book Reviews Interview




{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaffer, Andrew Living people Writers from Lexington, Kentucky Year of birth missing (living people) Writers from Portland, Oregon Writers from Cedar Rapids, Iowa American male novelists Novelists from Kentucky Novelists from Oregon Novelists from Iowa 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American male writers HuffPost writers and columnists Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni American mystery writers