On the rare occasion that I haven't been writing this past week, I have been devouring the first three books in The Shalean Moon YA series by J. Lilley - and am now champing at the bit to get the next one when it is released on Friday having pre-ordered it already - most of the books that make it onto my favourites bookshelf on Goodreads are YA paranormal fiction, so you can probably guess see that my heart lies in this genre.
Reading this series has really given my muse a wake-up call, like a massive great punch in the arm, and getting me all fired up again. If you've stopped by my Writing Zone at any point since I started this blog last year, you'll have seen my Young Adult trilogy stuck "temporarily" on hold. My characters are sorted, my world is sorted and I have the materials I need for the technical bit of it... so what's the hold-up? It's a combination of a few things really...
1) I'm still very new to writing, learning my craft and honing what skills I have gained so far, and all that... I'm actually really nervous and reluctant to start writing my precious YA story until I believe my writing can do my ideas justice. Does that sound ridiculous?
2) I know the beginning, I know a few major events and I know there is a final showdown but I couldn't quite pull everything together until I read The Shalean Moon. I now know exactly how to play it am very excited that it's not going to be a trilogy any more, but a series with maybe five or so books.
4) I can't quite decide what identity to write them under... do I write them as Aurelia or do I need another pen name exclusively for my YA stuff?
So... on that final note, I could use your advice...
Who else writes BOTH YA and romance (not erotica as that would be a no-brainer for me)? Do you do it all under the same name or do you write them under separate identities? Even if you don't actually write them, what would you do you if you were to crossover genres?
You know I do and I use a pen name for both. not that it is difficult to find both of them and 'me". I used a pen name for my adult erotic romance first and foremost, not to embarrass my kids. "You mean mum might have done some of that stuff? Euk." ( Not much :) I have a very good imagination and google is my friend.)
ReplyDeleteWhen my Ya was accepted I decided to go for the degrees of separation, and use another pen name. This one is easy to associate with me, if you know me, and I'm fine with that. In fact the line is distinctly blurry now. However i find it helps me to put on the 'specific hat' When I write.
so I have me, Ya me and Adult author me, and i find it works well.
Difficult one. I came up with a new pen name when I started writing erotic romance as I want to write contemporary romance as Susie and I didn't want to give anyone a heart attack if they picked up one of my erotic stories without realising! But it is hard work managing two identities. I know a lot of people just stick with one name, and write more than one genre, and it works for them. I suppose the main question is whether it will cause confusion and alienate readers. If your romance is suitable for YA then I'd be tempted to just keep one author name - when you have a publisher they could probably advise as they know what is beneficial/damaging to their sales.
ReplyDeleteThanks Raven and Susie.
ReplyDeleteMy romance ranges from closed door to heat level 2 so nothing particularly eye-popping. I think I'd rather do it under the same name, if I could, plus I think I'd be scraping the barrel trying to come up with another anagram anyway.
I know Kelly Armstrong gets away with it and now J.K. Rowling is having a go (not that I've read her adult one), and there's Sharon Sala of course, and many more I assume so there is definitely a precedent...
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I didn't mean to post twice - my first one disappeared so I tried again, and now it's back!! Don't you love technology?!
DeleteI came up with a new pen name when I had an erotic novel accepted as I want to write contemporary romance as Susie, and didn't want to alienate readers. It is hard work managing multiple identities though and I know a lot of authors write more than one genre under the same name.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd stick to one name if you can (if your romances would be suitable for YA readers) - when you get a publisher they could probably advise if you're undecided as they know what will help/damage sales.