It’s not unusual for authors to use a pen name, particularly if they’re known for one genre and want to publish work in a different genre. But Mary Francis Shura, who was born February 23, 1923, may own the world’s record. She was born in Kansas and attended Maryville State College, and wrote over 50 novels. Her output is even more remarkable when you consider that she didn’t even start until 1960, when she was 37.
She started writing children’s novels as Mary Francis Shura, and published more than one per year starting in 1960. Then in 1973 she branched out into gothic novels, and published four as Mary Craig. In 1979 she tried romance novels, and published two as Alexis Hill, one as M.S. Craig, three as Mary Shura Craig (her married surname was Craig), and one as Mary S. Craig. Then she wrote four young adult romance novel, and published it as Meredith Hill.
She returned to children’s literature in 1986, but used the pen name M.F. Craig. Also in the 1980s, she wrote four mystery novels, which are attributed to M.S. Craig.
Overall she used at least eight different pen names and published novels in at least five different genres. Although the bulk of her work was not in mysteries, she was elected the president of the Mystery Writers of America in 1990.
In spite of being very prolific, Shura’s books never seemed to become widely popular; as far as I can tell none of them are still in print.
