By Mary Jo
Today's Ask A Wench was inspired by a question from regular reader Pamela DG, who wanted to know why authors use pseudonyms. I said the answer was complicated and worthy of a blog. For asking the question, Pamela will get a book from me.
Writing with a pseudonym, a name not one's own, can occur for any number or reasons. The Wenches explain why:
From Nicola
I’ve never written under a pseudonym. This was not a conscious decision. I was literally so naïve when I was first published that it did not cross my mind to consider it. This seems remarkable to me now but I had had no experience of the publishing world other than a godmother who wrote religious books under her own name. I quickly came to regret my naivety. For a number of years I wrote historical romance for Mills & Boon alongside working as an academic registrar in a university. One day a mischievous colleague read out a passage from one of my books in a meeting, which was quite embarrassing. I wasn’t ashamed of the books or that I had written them but I didn’t want my writing and my other work life to cross over.
Once I started to write full time it didn’t matter at all and it’s never really given me any problems since. There has only been one odd occasion when a publisher kept referring to Nicola Cornick as my pseudonym and refused to accept that it wasn’t! That said, if I was starting over again knowing what I do now, I’d probably use a pseudonym. I don’t dislike my name but it does give you the opportunity to call yourself something you’ve always wanted to be! One of the reasons I like my Czech editions is that I love being called Cornickova!
Pat Rice explains:
Way back in the mists of time, I was a CPA working for two Baptist deacons when I sold my first steamy historical romance. I requested a pseudonym, even included it on the title page of the manuscript. I cannot remember what I chose but it was certainly not the big Pat Rice they emblazoned across the cover. In hot pink, if I remember correctly. I had to tell my bosses that I sold a book, and it would be coming out under my name. They didn’t blink. I’m not entirely certain they believed me. I doubt they ever read it.
So that was the last thought I gave to pseudonyms until I started writing urban fantasy. By that time, I’d been in the biz for a long time and had established a reputation for certain types of romance, which in no way resembled those urban fantasies. As much out of curiosity as anything, I decided I wanted to play with a new name and see if I could start a new career as a fantasy writer. I sat down with Mary Jo and Susan King and we worked out the best letters in numerology and came up with Jamie Quaid. I don’t think numerology works. <G> I love the name and the books did reasonably well but starting a second career was more work than I can manage. (The image is the latest cover, when I quit pretending to be anyone else)
Susan King next:
Most of my books are written under my own name (married version), though I have used two other names, one a full pseudonym and the other a partial pseudonym. Like Nicola, in hindsight I wish I had known more about writing under one's own name when I started out as a very naive newbie writer a million years ago (okay, 27). I'm enough of an introvert that I would have felt better protected among family, friends, and locals. I know some authors who write only under their own names, others who write using two or more names, genuine plus invented, and a few who so fiercely protect their pseudonyms that only a few close friends know who really writes those books. That anonymity has a certain appeal sometimes.
My first 14 books were written as Susan King, but when I changed publishers, I decided to use a pseudonym--Sarah Gabriel--since at the time I was also writing my first mainstream hardcover historical for Random House. It made sense to separate the simultaneous releases in different genres. When I completed the manuscript for Lady Macbeth: A Novel under my own name, the editorial committee asked me to use three names for a more "academic" feel. I suggested adding my maiden name, which is Italian. My editor came back with "Do you have something else?" The committee felt that my Italian name was a bit unusual, and readers might have trouble remembering it or googling it.
So I chose Fraser from my mother's family; my great-aunt, born in Scotland, had been a Susan Fraser, and that felt like a no-brainer--so we agreed on Susan Fraser King. Now that my Sarah Gabriel books will be released in new ebook editions, I've been converting them back to my own name, Susan King. Two more will be released this year, with gorgeous covers and newly edited text, and I'm looking forward to telling you more about those soon!
Christina Courtenay explains:
When I first started writing, I knew I wanted to write historical romance and timeslip – as a history buff, there was never any question about that. Looking at my favourite authors within those genres, I could see that they all had long flowing names that sounded somehow right and slightly old-fashioned. My real name is anything but – depending on which incarnation I use, it’s either weird (and no one can pronounce or spell it) or short and modern sounding.
I was christened Pia-Christina, but I’ve always just been called Pia (which even my spell checker thinks should be Pea). My maiden name was Tapper and my married surname is Fenton – together with Pia, either of those are really short. So I figured I’d invent something a lot more ‘historical’ and came up with Christina Courtenay. The Courtenay part is from the Dorset village my ancestors came from – Iwerne Courtney – which went well with Christina. And that way I could be a whole new persona too, instead of little old me. Great, right? Wrong!
By the time I got published, I had already been a member of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association for many years and everyone there knew me as Pia. So when I had a book out as Christina, they were all very confused and had no idea who that was. I ended up having to use a Twitter handle with both names, which totally defeated the object of myself and hiding behind a pseudonym. Then a few years later I wrote a couple of YA stories set in the present, which meant Christina Courtenay was too old-fashioned, so of course I had to revert to my real name. And now? I answer to just about anything! The moral of the story for me? I should have just been myself!
Anne Gracie's turn:
When I sold my first book (to Harlequin UK) the general advice to new authors was to use a pseudonym. My own name is pretty common, and there are quite a few women with the same name in public life in Australia and elsewhere. I wanted a pseudonym that would be distinctive enough but also easy to remember and spell. I suggested using my grandmother's maiden name — Rose Annie May — but my editor rejected it as "too L'il Abner" — which would have horrified Nana. She was a very elegant and quite snobbish lady. (The picture is of her and my grandfather.)
The decision to keep my own first name was made during a workshop run by a published historical romance author whose books I'd read and admired. She set us writing exercises, but when people called out her name she kept forgetting to respond to it.
My editor was getting impatient so when I was attending a band rehearsal, I discussed the various choices with my fellow band members. We had our rehearsal, consuming a few drinks in the process, and hours later, as I was about to leave, I recalled my task. When I asked them which name they liked, they could only recall one — Anne Gracie, which is a Scottish name from my father's side of the family. So that was that. These days it doesn't even feel like a pseudonym, but who I really am.
Andrea is complicated!
Who am I? I think I can be forgiven for occasionally getting confused in my writing life, as I’m the Wench with the most pseudonyms. It’s a long, long story . . . I sold my first book to the Signet traditional Regency romance line, and as a clueless newbie author, I nodded my head vigorously and said “of course, of course!" when my editor nixed my real last name, saying people wouldn’t be able to pronounce it correctly and so I needed a pseudonym. So, Andrea Pickens came into being.
I chugged along nicely under that moniker until Signet closed the traditional line, and I moved to another publisher to writing Regency historicals (in those days, that term indicated there would be sex scenes.) I did an Andrea Pickens trilogy there . . . and then, a new editorial director came in and had a Big Idea. She decided to “relaunch a number of us historical romance authors with new names, along with some pr hoopla that the ‘exciting” change was to indicate our books were going to be sexier than ever. So, I needed a new name.
I decided to have some Jane Austen fun and pay homage to her by choosing Darcy Eliot (ha, ha.) NO! came the answer. Darcy was deemed too androgynous. The editorial director came back with some names she liked—including Martina. (Really!) After tussling with a number of choices, I finally agreed to Cara . . .and became Cara Elliott (they liked the alternative spelling of Eliot.) So, I now had Name #2.
In the meantime, I really wanted to branch out into historical mystery, as I love doing character driven stories, rather than bedroom scenes. I soon sold my Lady Arianna Regency mystery series to Signet. But as I was writing as Cara Elliott for another publisher, I needed yet another new name (plus, as a different genre, it was deemed important not to use my "romance” name.)
So . . . Andrea Penrose was born. (It was such a relief to have my real first name back! I never got used to reacting to Cara at conferences.) These days, I’m writing solely mysteries, so I’ve happily settled into my Penrose nom de plume. And when I got the rights back to my first three Lady Arianna mysteries, I was able redo the covers to fit my idea of what the originals should have looked like when I self-published them. It’s so nice to have total editorial control! (That said, I adore the covers Kensington is doing for my Andrea Penrose Wrexford & Sloane series.)
Mary Jo winds it up:
When I started writing back in the '80s, pseudonyms were pretty common. I rather liked the idea of a pseudonym so I could hide behind the curtain. Like Christina, I thought that I should come up with a flowing historical sort of name so I sent my first manuscript in with the name "Justine Kingsley." Kingsley is a family name, and I thought that "Justine" sounded suitably Regency, plus I'd respond better to a name with a "J."
My new agent and editor persuaded me that was neither necessary nor desirable. (An advantage of writing under one's own name is that it's yours and they can't take it away from you.) So Mary Jo Putney I was and stayed. Putney is an English name and suitable for a writer of Regency historicals.
But I since then I've written several books as M. J. Putney. This was an open pseudonym, meant to indicate that I was the writer, but that it was a different kind of book since I used that name for my stories that had fantasy and magical elements. I'm continuing to use M. J. Putney as I reissue older work so that readers who aren't fond of fantasy can know that an M. J. Putney story is not a straight historical.
When I know a writer under both her real name and her pseudonym, my mental gears get stripped when I meet them in real life and can't remember which name to use!
Do you have any opinions about pseudonyms? Would you use one?
Mary Jo