Multiple personality disorder…
Dear Diary,
I have three exciting announcements to make, all of which I’ve been dying to share with you guys for a while now. Before I do, however, I want to touch on something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: having multiple pen names.
When I first started writing erotica, I didn’t see myself writing anything else. I figured anything I wanted to write that deviated from my more carnal inclinations I could just weave into my stories, which I have done on several occasions. Horror, fantasy, supernatural, etc. And it has been so much fun to do so.
However.
What happens when you want to write something non-erotic, something you want to be taken seriously by the world at large without the taint of having written erotica? Because trust me, motherfuckers are very judgmental when they find out you’ve written smut. It’s like everything else you write is viewed through the lens of your erotic writings, tainting it and making it somehow less-than.
It’s frustrating. Especially since sex is, well, the one universal common denominator. Everyone, despite religion, race, or creed, does it. Everyone wants to do it. Everyone thinks about it, enjoys it, and talks about it. Daily. And fuck does erotica sell! So why is writing about it considered so controversial? I mean, motherfuckers are obviously buying it. Reading it. Enjoying it. If anything, erotica should be celebrated. Held as the norm.
Anyway.
Because of this prejudice, I decided to create pen names to publish my other, more serious works. I also created one other erotica account to post content to when I finish something that isn’t quite as deep and involved as the stories I usually try to write.
Here lies the problem with having multiple pen names, however: managing them. 😳 Correspondences, promotions, the time investment necessary to advertise and engage with readers… It’s insane. How do some of you writers manage things such as this? What do you do? Any secrets? Tips?
Now on to the announcements I’ve been chomping at the bit to share:
- Nephilim: Prisoner, is finally complete! And boy is it verbose. Currently it sits at approximately 70,000 words and is in the final stages of revisions. Soon I’ll be shooting it to my Beta Reader Hit Squad, and then my editor, and then to you guys! All of my Patreon subscribers will get it immediately, everyone else will have to wait a few months until I have a slot in my release schedule cleared. Which should be around July-ish. I can’t wait for you guys to read it… 🥰
- Exitium Mundi, my Wattpad only project that leads into Nephilim: Daybreak, is now live! I’ll be releasing it in parts over time, but if you want to check it out now, you can do so here: https://www.wattpad.com/712768139-exitium-mundi-a-nephilim-story.
And now for the third announcement…
- I’m taking next year, 2020, completely off. No writing, no engaging, nothing. Well, I’ll still be hanging out with my Patreon peeps, of course, but otherwise, I’ll be more or less off the grid. I just need a break, because writing along with a personal life and, of course, my day job is all an insane amount of fun to juggle. So enjoy me while you got me, yo. 😉 When I come back in 2021, it’s going to be insane…
Anyway, I know my posts have been sporadic as fuck this year, but I promise I’ll get back on the bandwagon ASAP and produce more content. I miss engaging with you guys and letting you know all the strange little things that have been happening in my life. I need an outlet, you know? I have too weird of a mind not to need some kind of a release. 😅
Anyway, thank you for reading.
Seriously.
I love you all.
#Alexa
“Despite its obscurity, probably no element on the periodic table has as colorful a history as antimony. Money, madness, poison, linguistics, charlatanism, sex – pretty much every theme that runs through the periodic table can be found in Element 51.”
– Sam Kean
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Finally, Nephilim: Prisoner is completed and I really can’t wait to see what happens. 😊
The additional pen names are rather a good idea but it’s all time consuming. 🤔
I agree! 😳
At the risk of sounding like an idiot: Maybe limit the number of pen-name umbrellas which you utilize? Like, maybe divide your work into two or three broad categories (if that much), and limit the names under which you work to only those two or three ( X is my erotica/ smut/ romance pen-name, while Z is my fantasy, Sci-Fi, etc. pen-name and so-on).
Alternatively, if you really need lots more pen-names, create separate e-mail accounts, social media accounts, spreadsheets, etc. for the five or six names you wish to employ and habituate approaching them with fresh-eyes and fresh author-identity each time you work them on separate days (so that you don’t drive yourself crazy switching gears between them each day). IOW, Monday is fantasy sci-fi work day. Tuesday is erotica/ smut work-day. Wednesday is romance/ adventure day. Each day you would wear a different hat as Alexa/ Lilja, Diana/ Carlotta, Haley/ Alessandra, etc. rather than making yourself go crazy scrambling between multitudinous projects each day. It would slow down output, but that would happen anyway with so many irons in the fire. Also, maybe invest in a small digital voice-recorder so that when a thought or inspiration hits you (like when travelling in an automobile or out shopping) it can be quickly recorded for listening to a day or two later (maybe something with an LCD screen which could display the pen-name or title pertinent to the recording). It’s not so much a creation problem as it is a time-management problem and keeping track of your streams of thought and plans.
Believe me, I *did* limit the number of pen names I write under. You should have seen my initial blueprint. 😅 And all my pen names have separate email accounts and social media pages; it’s just that I have so much I want to write!
I think I have all this figured out though. Remember that post I put up on Patreon recently about my writing projects? That was my way of trying to reel everything in and not go insane. So far everything’s twerking out good. I’ll get to my pen names when I get to them. 😊
Now your suggestion about getting a small digital voice recorder was an eye-widener, so I went to look at Amazon… those motherfuckers be expensive, yo! And why? All they do is record voice!
And, just for the record, you are 100% right about it being a time-management problem and not a creative problem. 😭
OK, ..well, what about dictation software. I think there is a way to dictate into a mic what you are composing and having the your computer translate the output of your voice into your rough draft. It would be wonky to deal with initially, because when you dictate you would need to be very cognizant of what you are saying. That said, it might save you some significant woman-hours that can more productively be channeled elsewhere.
Tried voice dictation software too – Word has it built in. It turns out I type *way* faster than I speak. 😅 I’ve started using the voice recording function on my phone and watch when I’m out and about for notes and such, and they work wonderfully. As far as typing goes, I’m going to need to get a new keyboard soon – I’m wearing out the letters on this one. This happens every few months. 😳
Try looking into software called “Scrivener”:
It may be better than WORD.