Jan 08, 2015 By Austin Trunick

When he started his career in fiction, writer Joe Hill didn’t want to coast in on his literary pedigree. As the son of author Stephen King, Hill worried publishers would overlook his work and only see the family name. It was important for him that he break in like any other writer, and for his writing to be judged by its own merits. He adopted the name Joe Hill—an abbreviated version of his given name, Joseph Hillstrom King—and honed his skills by writing and submitting works under the unassuming nomme de plume. It was a secret he managed to keep for more than a decade. Hill’s first two books—the short story collection 20^th Century Ghosts, and debut novel Heart-Shaped Box—were published to numerous accolades before his identity was eventually outed. More