Just Erotic Romance Reviews

A Rose by any Name

Authors have been attributing their work with names other than their birth names since many centuries BC for reasons that are, most likely, unknown and varied. Many felt their identity was 'safe' having their work published under the guise of a fictitious name. Others, mostly female authors, felt there was no other option than to take on a male persona at times in history when female authors weren't accepted or praised for their work, nor was female creativity and opinion valued. As the literary market became more of a business rather than an art, publishers preferred to "own" an author's name so they could continue to sell books by said author long after the actual author quit writing for said publisher. Sounds complicated, huh. We all have reasons for writing under pen names, and the reasons are as diverse as the authors who choose them.

Before I mention the author's I've actually talked to, I wanted to show you examples of some of the famous authors who chose to publish under a pen name. A special thank you to Cassie Walder who found these for me.

The earliest she found was an eight century B.C. man named Smyrns of Chios who wrote as Homer. Maybe you've heard of him? In the sixth century B.C., there was Siddharta who wrote as Buddha - The Enlightened One. In the first century A.D., there was Saul of Taursus who wrote much of the new testament. You know him as Paul.

Other famous pen names include: Paul French writing as Isaac Asimov. Mary Ann Evans writing as George Eliot. K.R. Dwyer writing as Dean Koontz. Jonathan Ryder writing as Robert Ludlam. Eric Arthur Blair writing as George Orwell. Theodore Gessel writing as Dr. Seuss. Samuel Clemmons writing as Mark Twain. And the list could go on and on and on and on...

As an erotic romance writer, I personally didn't want my real name associated with my writing, as I have a "day job" where I wouldn't want it to be common knowledge. Most of us writing as a hobby, or not as the primary means of support, are in the same boat. Keeping our writing identity and our real life identity separate is the preferred situation...and often keeps us sane. We're able to separate and compartmentalize these different aspects of ourselves. By this I mean that we're able to let loose our creative diva and gain satisfaction in our accomplishments without it impacting on the lives of our loved ones.

Looking at those mainstream romance or other fiction genres, I found other reasons for pen names. A very common reason was crossing genres. If a hard-core science fiction writer suddenly switched to children's literature, his fan base might be a little culture shocked when they picked up his latest book only to find out their five year old loves it. Yes, that's a bit extreme, but you get the idea. From what I personally learned, a romance author doesn't always have this problem because she can write in any sub-genre she wants to within the romance main genre itself and her fans will most likely love it, or at least be willing to read this new material she's offering.

Still, there are very talented authors out there like Rachael Bo who write wonderfully, sinfully hot erotic romance, and actually do write children's literature as well. Obviously, she doesn't want her erotic romance name associated with her children's literature name. A child might try to look up his/her favorite author on the internet, only to discover something a child doesn't need to see. Rachael is very successful in both genres and this author admires her attention to detail in the matter of her name. It is also a good example of reasons for an author to choose a pen name that most of us might not think about.

There is also the fact of identity and brand association. When an author puts in the time and effort, not to mention their creative powers, in writing a book they want their investment to be accepted and praised on its own merits. And especially when a particular 'name' is associated with a particular brand of books. If an author finds they're drawn to both the erotic romance genre but also have a gift for writing children's stories, then its only feasible and sensible to separate the two identities, such as Ms. Bo.

Kate Douglas also has an interesting reason for not using her real name, and the way she chose her name is pretty cool as well. She told me she always said she would write under her grandmother's name, Jean Armstrong, in order to honor a woman she admired greatly. However, Kate soon realized that her books were a bit more sexy than her grandmother would have approved of and changed her mind. She also seriously considered using her real name, but there was already an author with that name in the same genre. Kate goes on to explain that in all her thirty plus years of marriage, her husband has supported her writing. Her husband's name is "Douglas," Kate's first name is, well, "Kate," thus Kate Douglas was born.

Kyla Logan had the same reasons for using a pen name as I did. But her approach to choosing one was a lot better than mine. She did a research for Scottish names. She chose "Kyla," meaning "lovely," and Logan," meaning "little hollow." How perfect for an erotic romance author!

Alice Gaines legal surname is just plain hard to spell. Every time someone tried to spell it, it came back different. She figured Gaines was much easier for people to remember.

I guess it's my turn, though I'm a bit embarrassed. There was a fantasy series that I loved when I was younger and a secondary character in this series intrigued me from the first she was mentioned. Her name was "Teeka," but I lengthened it to "Marteeka." Now, the last name is a bit different. I live in Kentucky - home of the redneck. Being the redneck family we are, we have many, many more cars in our driveway than we have people in our family. I affectionately call it "Carland." However, I have a bit of a superstitious streak and wanted my name next to my favorite author, a woman who has helped me more than even she knows as I searched for a publisher who would put up with me. In order to do that, I changed it to "Karland," and my name now appears right above Sahara Kelly's in the Changeling line up, by alphabetical order of course.

I personally never realized how many authors out there used pen names. From what I learned, a pen name is the rule rather than the exception. But does it really matter? Their work would still intrigue us, not matter what they call themselves. Shakespeare said it best, I think. "A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet."

The Coordinators at JERR would like to thank Ms. Karland for contributing this insightful and very welcome article on pseudonyms and wish her the best and huge success in the future.

Marteeka Karland is an author who followed her lifelong dream and became a published author last year. She has a steady stream of books being accepted for contract that will soon be gracing her website. Her credits already include the wonderfully sexy, captivating and passionate books Forbidden, Forbidden 2: Neighborhood Watch and Sealed With a Kiss. All these titles have garnered rave reviews. Watch out for Ms. Karland's contribution to Changeling Press's Firecracker series with her upcoming title through Born On the Fourth of July, released on July 1st.

Marteeka Karland makes her home in Kentucky with her family. Family has always been, and will remain, her passion in life. For the past eight years Ms. Karland has worked as an Emergency Room Technician. She has been writing for most of her life, but has only recently realized her potential when she found erotic romance. This genre opened up a whole new world of possibilities for her and she is thriving on the endless promise of what is to come. Science Fiction has been her favorite topic since she saw her first episode of 'Star Trek.' Now she combines Sci-Fi with erotic romance and feels she has found her place in the writing world.

Ms. Karland welcomes comments from her readers and can be contacted at mkarland@net-power.net. To celebrate Ms. Karland upcoming book, Born On the Fourth of July, she's giving one winner the opportunity to win an Advanced Reader Copy and to select one of several different formats. All you need to do is join her loop to participate by subscribing through marteekakarland-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Good luck.

Editor's Note: The competition is now over.

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