“I had also the advantage of a movie sale of my first book (Strangers On A Train) to Alfred Hitchcock, though for a sum so small no one believes it when I quote it, so I won’t here. My life was all right for about a year and a half; I went to Europe in a modest way, and began a second book on a freighter on the way back. But the going was very rough for three years after that; I did not have the comforts I had grown used to while doing hack work...”

From Plotting And Writing Suspense Fiction by Patricia Highsmith (1966).

Hack work? While it’s not often discussed, before Strangers On A Train propelled her career as a novelist, Highsmith used to write comic books back in the 1940s sweatshop days.

From 1942-1949, Highsmith wrote comic books on staff for Nedor, Standard, Pines, Fawcett and Western Comics, including Captain Midnight, The Black Terror and Spy Smasher. Strangers On A Train was published in 1950. At one point, she even had a date with Stan Lee.

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[Artwork: The Black Terror]