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[DEI99]

 I have a juvenile novel by John Sylvester titled "The Flying Saucer".
Searching in Internet I have discovered that the real name of this writer was Hector Hawton, who under the pen name of John Sylvester was one of the regular contributors to the boys’ adventure magazine Chums, writing several SF stories for it. These included a serial, “The Master of the World” which began in the May 1930 issue, clearly inspired in Verne (and in George Allan England’s The Flying Legion). It was published as a SF novel for adolescents in 1949, followed in 1952 by “The Flying Saucer”.

So I wonder if his second novel "The Flying Saucer" was also previously serialized in "Chums", supposedly sometime after the flying saucer mania in 1947. Can anybody help?

Regards,

[paw broon]

Hello DE199, you're correct that Hector Hawton's real name is John Sylvester.  He wrote romantic serials for British newspapers, the Daily Mirror, Daily Star and Daily Herald, pre WW2.  He also wrote for Thriller.  As for Chums, you might want to take a look at this site:-
http://blog.crystal-knights.co.uk/2009/01/17/chums-19067-and-19323/

Still trying to tie the 2 bits up but you've got me curious.

Modifying this to admit to a senior moment - lost concentration and got the names wrong way round.  So, confirming that Hector Hawton is the real name and John Sylvester is the pen name.

It also occurs to me that you might want to post the query on comicsuk:-
http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/index.php

I've made the huge assumption that you're not already aware of comicsuk or you could be a member.  If so, apologies.

Another link:-
http://john-adcock.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/chums.html
Only had a quick scan but can't see either name there.

[Captain Audio]

Did this author's stories ever appear in the U S Scouting magazine "Boys Life"?
I can remember a favorite serialized story involving youngsters finding a flying saucer, which turns out to be a time machine from a far in the future human civilization.

PS
Heres a link to the Boys Life site where you can read the archived issues online.
http://boyslife.org/wayback/#issue=TVGeB4AU0_4C

Now that I've found this I'll be going through those back issues for weeks.