Your Thoughts

It's nice when a throw away line of mine prompts comments from you, which then leads to a topic I can post about.

So - using a Pseudonym to create a break between two, or more, different areas of work. Some are for it, some against. I want to know what you think.

I've written only for adults to this point in time but I'm now working on the first book in what I see as a possible YA series.

When I started writing fiction I was told that as soon as I moved into writing erotica I should use a Pseudonym to separate that work from anything else I'd done.

The reasoning behind it was straight forward enough - some minorities would look down on an author who dabbled on the wilder side of things and a writer can do without any smudges hampering an already difficult career choice.

I ignored that advice and still sent out all my work under my name.

Some people go further still and write horror under one name, sci-fi under another, fantasy under another and erotica under still yet another. And then they use something else again to write anything for younger markets. I think I'd forget who I was if I tried that.

I'm quite proud to be a writer and very happy to point to the work I've had accepted around the place, regardless of the genre, market or anything else, but age is something I'm willing to take into account.

I don't want kids, or teens for that matter, reading some of my racier stories. Obviously I don't want them reading erotica. My story 'Dreaming' has quite an intense sex scene in the middle of it that I'd rather nobody under 18 was reading (no, I'm not a prude, nor was I a total innocent as a teen - far from it - but I wouldn't want my kids reading it so I wouldn't want any other kids reading it).

And yet the selfish part of me who wants to put my name, the one given to me by my parents, to my work, is still strong.

So I'm throwing it open for discussion, but it needs to be more than a yes or no answer here. I like to make a final decision after informed discussion, and your opinion matters to me.

If you're in the yes camp, then how does one come up with a suitable replacement name? If you're a no, then how do I keep kids from searching for my name once I've sold more books than JK, and finding the more adult content I've written?

I look forward to reading your suggestions.