May 11, 2025
Refills and reasoning
It’s been a quieter week - something I’ve definitely needed. I’ve spent a lot of time doing what my fellow author friends and I call “refilling the well”. I’ve been reading, mostly. Devouring books - some I’ve read before, some new ones, and catching up on a few TV shows.
I’ve also been getting words down on Storm’s Witness. (As you can see, Chess still demands petting breaks while I’m working.)
Originally I had planned on writing a steamier story along the lines of Ashes to Ashes - no supernatural/paranormal/whatever in it - and using a different penname since it would be woo-woo free.
Yeah, that’s not happening. It’ll be under TK Eldridge and it already has a ghost that showed up. A lot of author advice recommends doing a separate penname when you write different genres. I can see that making sense if you write young adult under one name and dark romance or erotica under another - but all of my stories are similar enough to stay with one penname. You get found family, good guys eventually winning, some romance and relationship stuff, LGBTQ+ characters, crimes or murders, and often a ghost/shifter/witch/vampire/whatever tossed in. Not always - but most of the time. Ashes to Ashes and the Hughes Investigations series are the only books that don’t have supernatural/paranormal anything in them - and I LOVED writing those stories. Yes, just as much as I love writing the same kinds of stories and tossing in something otherworldly.
I was warned that my readers wouldn’t like that I had both kinds under one penname, but I trust that you, my readers, are smart enough to know what you want to read. And, honestly, it’s a TON of work to market, brand, promote two different pennames. Not worth the effort for such a minor difference, in my opinion.
Anyway - I said I’ve been doing a lot of reading. What have I been reading?
-Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series
-JC Andrijeski’s Black series
-JD Robb’s In Death series
-Lady Tan’s Circle of Women (by Lisa See) (Book club selection for this month)
I’ve been watching Tracker, FBI/International/Most Wanted, The Irrational, Rookie, Equalizer - just started watching The New Look and Etoile - both are very good.
What have you been reading? watching? Leave a comment and let me know. I’m always open to good recommendations!
Ace has been enjoying the porch even in the cooler weather we’ve had this week. Isn’t he a majestic old man?
Oh, Kickstarter update. Yes, it’s over. Yes, there are still late backer options (and two sets of the autographed hardcovers available). Thank you, everyone, that participated!
Check out Jaelle’s free book below!
My name is Nola Redmond and I'm no stranger to hardship. As a precognitive psychic I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly that life has to offer. Mostly the bad and the ugly. In fact, I survived the apocalypse. Hey, it's easy when you see it coming.
What I wasn't prepared for living in this dangerous and wild realm of Tellus is Truex, the intense Fae warrior claiming to be my destined mate. He's promised me safety and our own happily ever after at his home in Summer's Veil, but I've been let down by those I love before. Can I trust Truex with my heart, or will I wind up the star in another broken fairytale?
Hey, thanks so much for the mention - and dang that puppy is cute! I totally get the back and forth lure of pen names. I'm experimenting with one this year, but I struggle with it too. I have a pretty strong voice so I think my stuff can all work under a single pen name, too (personally), but I'm branding this new series very differently and it's a different ENOUGH genre that it might help me with the algos, if nothing else. That said, it's not a secret pen name. I plan to be open about it. I might even put both names on Amazon (haven't decided that part yet - I might need to do more research first on how that would affect searches, etc.).
If you want an example of pen names done right then J. D. Robb and Nora Roberts are a fine case to study. I have devoured both print and audio versions of the In Death series and never been let down. I was not really aware that it was a pen name for a while and may have been scared off if I had made the connection right away but now I might actually give one of the Nora books a chance. As for Anita Blake by Laurel Hamilton also an excellent series .Did you know she also wrote a faerie story about a fae princess living on earth with a whole crew of hot magical bodyguards and all the hijinks that ensue. The Meredith Gentry series ran for at !east five or six very hot books. Another similar series is Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking (15 and counting) If you like the idea of a human (maybe) detective ,a living vampire and a foot or so tall faery sharing a house and adventures this is the series for you. Now if well done young adult is your thing try out
Tamora Pierce 's Tortall world with aspiring mages and their new found apprentices or lady knights and their spymaster's daughter or a new recruit to a city guard are just a few of the stories that take place in this extensive world. Now for TV I noticed no one mentions Elspeth which shows you the murder at the beginning and follows the title character unravelling the story in unusual fashion as a consultant for a misbehaving new York police department. The interplay and the quirks of the show and the main characters is enhanced by a nearly weekly guest (well known actors or actresses) that play a major part in the story. The second season finale with a homage to the jailhouse scenes (including music) of Chicago was absolutely hilarious. With a pedigree of the Good Wife to start this series off is it any wonder this show is so good. Finally I must mention the adorable remake of the also excellent British series Ghosts about a women who has an accident in a newly inherited home and can suddenly see all the ghosts who died in the estate. With a cast including a Viking, an American Indian, both sides of the revolutionary war, an original owner of the estate, a jazz singer, a hippie flower girl, a pantless wall street broker, a travel agent boy scout troop leader and a basement full of cholera epidemic victims as well as the living cast in a newly opened bed and breakfast/restaurant the story is nearly endless and so are the laughs. This has been a fave for years and is only improving as it goes along.