WHO IS RAPHAEL?

RAPHAEL SIMON

Short version

Yes, the rumors are true. After years of hiding, Raphael Simon has finally come out of the closet!

Despite all claims to the contrary, he is Pseudonymous Bosch, the no-longer secret author of the New York Times bestselling Secret Series and Bad Books, as well as the Unbelievable Oliver chapter book mysteries.

Last year, for the first time, Raphael published a book under his own name: The Anti-Book, a middle grade fantasy novel about a boy who wants the world to disappear.

A California native, Raphael lives in Pasadena with his husband, two kids, and two dogs.

RAPHAEL SIMON

Longer version

Want more? Only if I can write it in first person. It’s easier.

So, as I was saying, I, Raphael Simon, am Pseudonymous Bosch. Or rather, he is I. Can I prove it? Well, no...But trust me, I wrote all those books. Okay, maybe I had a little help from a friend or editor here or there, but my point stands. Also I wrote that last book, The Anti-Book, the one with my own name on the cover. Or did you think Raphael was just another pseudonym?

(Side note: I use the name Raphael so rarely—most people call me Rafi—that I recently had to ask my mom how to pronounce it. I also have a lot more trouble signing the name Raphael than I do signing the name Pseudonymous. Analyze that, Armchair Psychologists!)

Pseudonymous Bosch was born when I volunteered as an elementary school “writing partner.” I wrote my first book, The Name of This Book Is Secret, in installments that I sent in the mail (the old kind of mail) to a fourth grader named May. Per the program’s rules, I was supposed to remain anonymous until the end of the year. Hence the pseudonym. As for the particular pseudonym, I guess I’m very literal-minded. Also, there’s a wacky, slightly disturbing artist from the 15th century named Hieronymus Bosch. And I like puns.

Having a pseudonym was unexpectedly liberating—and fruitful—for me as a writer. The Name of This Book Is Secret was published in 2007, and was even nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award for best juvenile mystery. Soon enough, I had a five-book series, and I was traveling the country in sunglasses and a trench coat, playing a mysterious author with a weakness for chocolate and a fear of white gloves.

What else? Before writing books, I wrote screenplays for film, television, and video games, and (despite being extremely un-sporty) I was a staff writer on Nickelodeon’s animated extreme sports show Rocket Power. I also wrote articles for newspapers and periodicals like the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly. These days, I contribute semi-semi-regularly to the New York Times Book Review.

I’ve taught creative writing at Occidental College, a queer mystery class (“Closet Cases”) at CalArts, and composition at UC Irvine. The creator of the infamous “StoryBall” group story-making event at YallFest and YallWest YA book festivals, I am YallWest’s official middle grade maestro.

Outside of writing, I have few interests, talents, or hobbies. But I am very good at procrastinating, snacking, and otherwise wasting time. Like Bosch, I love chocolate and loathe mayonnaise. I do not, however, live in the jungle, or even in Greenland. I live in Pasadena, which is in California. And sadly I have no penguins, trained or otherwise, only my husband, Phillip, our twins, India and Natalia, and our two big shaggy poodles, Hunter and QuiQui.

I grew up not very far away, in Laurel Canyon, as one of two sons of two writers. Despite being in a house full of books, I didn’t learn to read until I was seven. But I soon made up for it, reading nearly a book a day for years—probably because we had no TV in our house, and they hadn’t invented the internet yet. Books helped me escape the boredom and anxiety of being a closeted young person, and also helped me discover who I was. I only wish there had been more queer-themed stories for me to read in those days.

I got my BA at Yale, where during my freshman year I came out (yay!), and I have an MA in Comparative Literature from UC Irvine, where I decided that rather than studying other people’s stories I would write stories of my own.