Famous Authors You Probably Didn't Know Are Related

For some famous authors talent definitely runs in the family, but due to pen names it is not always apparent who are related. It is not surprising that every so often famous authors marry each other, but sometimes they also have children or siblings who are just as good with words. Here are just a few famous authors with connections to each other.

Stephen King and Joe Hill

With more than seventy books under his belt, Stephen King is one of the undisputed kings of the horror genre. Many of his books, like The Shining, Needful Things, Carrie, The Lawnmower Man and The Shawshank Redemption have even been turned into movies. Stephen is not the only writer in the family though, as his wife Tabitha has also published numerous novels, short stories and poetry. However, his son, Joseph Hillstrom King, publicly confirmed himself to be the author Joe Hill, after a magazine uncovered his identity. His first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, reached number eight on the New York Times bestseller list. He has also followed in his father's footsteps with his second novel, Horns, which received a film adaptation.

Alice Walker and Rebecca Walker

Alice Walker wrote Meridian and The Third life of Grange Copeland, but it is her novel The Color Purple that got the most acclaim. It won both the Pulitzer Price for Fiction as well as the National Book Award. Her daughter, Rebecca Leventhal, changed her surname to Walker after her parent's divorce and, like her mother, also began writing. After publishing a range of nonfiction titles, Rebecca published her first novel, titled Adé: A Love Story, in 2014.

H. G. Wells and Anthony West

Herbert George Wells wrote numerous books, but he is best remembered for his science fiction novels such as The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds and The Island of Doctor Moreau. His contributions to the genre have earned him the distinction of being one of the fathers of science fiction and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature a couple of times. Despite being married at the time, Wells had an affair with Rebecca West (photo above), another author who Time in 1947 described as the world's number one woman writer. Anthony West was born out of this dalliance and went on to become a critically lauded author himself with books like The Vintage and the biography he wrote about his father, called H.G. Wells: Aspects of a Life.

Margaret Drabble and A. S. Byatt

Just because siblings share a literary talent, doesn't always mean they see eye to eye. Dame Margaret Drabble is a famous British novelist who won the John Llewelly Rhys Memorial Prize for her novel The Millstone and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Jerusalem the Golden. Her sister, Dame Antonia Susan Duffy or A. S. Byatt, as she is known, also achieved acclaim with her writing. She's been named on the Times newspaper list of greatest British writers since 1945 and won numerous prizes and awards for her work, such as Possession: A Romance and The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye. A feud over a family tea set resulted in the siblings refusing to talk or even read the other's books.

Antonia Fraser and Rachel Billington

Antonia Fraser, known as Antonia Pinter prior to her husband's death, is famed for her historical fiction, Jemima Shore mystery novels as well as numerous non-fiction works. She penned novels such as A Splash of Red, Your Royal Hostage and The Cavalier Case along with other works like Mary Queen of Scots and King James VI of Scotland, I of England. The literary bug definitely runs in her family as several of her family members, including Rachel Billigton (who wrote A Painted Devil, Occasion of Sin and Tiger Sky) are authors.

Nick Hornby and Robert Harris

They might not be related by blood, but the novelists Nick Hornby and Robert Harris are brothers-in-law. Hornby is a bestselling author and many of his books like High Fidelity, About A Boy, and A Long Way Down were turned into movies. Harris, who is a former journalist and television reporter, started out writing non-fiction books, but became famous for his historical fiction books like Fatherland, An Officer and a Spy, and Imperium.

Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon

Fantasy novels and fantasy artwork goes hand in hand, so it should come as no surprise that Mercedes Lackey married Larry Dixon. Lackey is a fantasy author who wrote numerous novels, including Exile's Honor, Take a Thief, Winds of Fate and Magic's Pawn. Her husband, Larry, is a fantasy artist who worked with his wife as illustrator on books like Storm Breaking. He is also a novelist and co-authored book such as The Black Gryphon, Chrome Circle and Owlknight with her.