Name on the Book!

So, when I see Stephy Kay, I think more light-hearted stories. No bloody, violent books with people screaming their guts out.

But if it was reversed to Kay Stephy, I could totally see the blood and gore.

I agree with Kay, Stephy Kay reminds me of cutesy, light-hearted writing.

When I was younger I wanted a pen name, and the one I was determined to have was William Abel because it reminded me of willing and able. Not sure if I'd use one now.

If I saw Stephy Kay, I think chic lit, Bridgett Jones etc..

When I saw William Abel, I had two types of book pop up. First was the epic action - thriller, Tom Clancy style. The second was early American period drama, civil war, plantations and the antagonistic Colonel.

I'm undecided as to which name to use. On the net (for long and complicated reasons) I'm know to most of my friends as Maxx Borchovski (my wife even uses Maxx most of the time), but in RL my name is Lee Raven. Which, if either, says modern day mystery / thriller? If not, what do the names say?

Maxx Borchovski reminds me of modern day action movies with explosions and Bruce Willis as the main lead.

Lee Raven reminds me of a slow paced eerie thriller/mystery; incredible villains that play mind games.

Stephy Kay makes me think MG or YA stuff, lighthearted and easy reads.

William Abel definitely draws up images of thrillers, detective novels or law stuff.

Maxx Borchovski honestly makes me think of philosophical work, stuff that's going to make me think. Lee Raven SCREAMS thrillers and is an awesome name.

I'm trying to build up a platform as Maggie Maxwell.

Stephy Kay makes me think overly cutesy fluffy bunnies. Kay Stephy on the other hand makes me think more along the lines of chick-lit type crime/mystery novels.

I agree William Abel conjures up images of thriller or detective (probably homicide) novels.

Maxx Borchovski I'm not sure but Lee Raven is definitely a winning name for a thriller writer.

Maggie Maxwell surprising doesn't make me think chick lit but fantasy and probably MG/YA fantasy.

I will be using a combination of my alter ego and a family name - Kia Wimbush.

Miss Strawberrii said:

Stephy Kay

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Yeah, I totally get chick lit from Stephy Kay.

M.Austin said:

William Abel

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This is sort of nondescript to me. Perhaps general fiction. Could be anything, you know? It doesn't have pizzazz.

Maxx B said:

I'm undecided as to which name to use. On the net (for long and complicated reasons) I'm know to most of my friends as Maxx Borchovski (my wife even uses Maxx most of the time), but in RL my name is Lee Raven. Which, if either, says modern day mystery / thriller? If not, what do the names say?

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Oh god. Lee Raven is perfect for mystery / thriller. It's the "Raven" that's doing it. Maxx... well, I'm just getting Russian author, and long ponderous tome out of it too - not sure I can peg quite why though.

TAMaxwell said:

Maggie Maxwell.

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This sounds like a plucky mystery author with interesting characters crossing the line between chick-lit and cozies.

JustKia said:

Kia Wimbush.

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The Kia part just strikes as me as awesome. Short, snappy, handy in any genre. The Wimbush part has a serious connotation to it, like I'm suddenly expecting a non-fiction tome of noteworthy size. Put the two together and it's a weird mix.. like a sexy female Indiana Jones hiding behind framed glasses and a severe bun.

--

I was thinking of writing under a pseudonym - Jill DeSear. But it doesn't have a particularly strong connotation in any way, does it? This whole thread is making me want to try new names...

Can I totally steal Kia for a minute? And Raven? Hehe. Just testing the waters.

- Kia Rose
- Dakota Raven
- Cora Austin

Egads. It's harder than I thought. None of those quite fit... I've written a Dark Psychological Thriller - I want to show that I'm female, right on the book cover. My real name doesn't necessarily get that across.

This is a fun thread. Giving me something to really think about.

M Austin sounds like it needs another syllable. J M Austin, L M Austin or maybe a first name. Something like Maxine Austin, Melissa Austin or Emma Austin works as a YA.

Maggie Maxwell says Sunday afternoon mystery to me, Miss Marple / Poirot.

Kia Wimbush says chick lit or political thriller, thedark was right, sexy, whimsical and serious at the same time.

Jill DeSear sounds like it needs a Prof in front of it. Change the De to Saint. Jill Saint Sear, now I’m thinking international romance and mystery. Kia Rose – Romance paperbacks. Dakota Raven – YA. Cora Austin, whilst the name doesn’t roll off the tongue, it does say mystery / thriller.


Looks like I might be going with Lee Raven, unless the hybrid Max Raven works for anybody.

Stephy Kay seems like chick lit or YA.

William Abel - the name Abel always makes me think either of the Bible or of a character from Veronica Mars. Not sure that's helpful!

Lee Raven sounds like a mystery/thriller writer (it's really the EA Poe thing).

Maggie Maxwell sounds like chick lit or women's lit fiction.

Kia Wimbush sounds like a mystery writer to me.

Jill DeSear sounds pretty generic to me. Popular fiction, maybe.

Mine is pretty boring - just my actual name - Talia Liben Yarmush.

Stephy Kay - Just echoing what others have said, but seems like chicklit.
William Abel - Sounds like highbrow literary fiction. Might not be the best choice if you write stoner comedies.
Lee Ravens - Great name. Says thriller without a doubt.
Maggie Maxwell - Could be anything. It doesn't really scream one genre over another.
Kia Wimbush - Sounds like a mystery author.
Jill DeSear - Not sure on this one. Could work for a number of things.
Talia Liben Yarmush - Long name. You might want to consider dropping your last name.
My pen name is Thomas Lorcroft.

Stephy Kay - Fluffy. Women's fiction or children's books.
William Abel - Commercial fiction, the type you'd find in airports. Thriller, maybe.
Lee Ravens - Mystery or thriller, but could also work in dark, edgy romance or SFF. I definitely like it better for genre fiction, though.
Maggie Maxwell - Cozy mystery, women's fiction, comedy.
Kia Wimbush - Mystery, thriller, urban fantasy, hard SF. Tough characters.
Jill DeSear - Commercial or literary. Doesn't say much to me that's specific.
Talia Liben Yarmush - I like it. I'd think SFF or literary.
Thomas Lorcroft - Commercial thrillers in the Bourne or Clancy vein.

Me: SL Huang

ETA: The interesting thing is, I think almost any author can "brand" a name a certain way. Like, I'm not sure what I would have thought of Dan Brown, Lee Child, Mary Shelley, Emily Dickinson or L.M. Montgomery in this thread, but all of them are now synonymous with the genre they write/wrote for me....

Stephy Kay - Women's fiction, possibly with scones and jam.
William Abel - Literary fiction, or even poetry.
Lee Ravens - I think it makes me think of Lee Child, so thrillers.
Maggie Maxwell - Women's fiction something like Maeve Binchy - that kind of community-driven, book club type.
Kia Wimbush - Fantasy.
Jill DeSear - Non-fiction, actually. Historical.
Talia Liben Yarmush - Either literary (of the social commentary kind), or SFF.
Thomas Lorcroft - Thrillers, especially ones set in court rooms.
SL Huang - I thought you were a fella for a long time (not until just now though, I promise) I imagine espionage and thrillers.

I've never thought about writing with a pen name. I've spent so many years explaining my name to people ("Spargo is my mum's surname, Ryan is my dad's surname, no I didn't change it when I got married, no my kids don't have my surname.") that I couldn't bring myself to use something different.

So ... me: Anna Spargo-Ryan.

I'll give this a try.

Stephy Kay - Women's fiction, YA.
Stephanie Kay, however, makes me think of romance or women's fiction.
William Abel - Literary fiction, non-fiction
Lee Ravens - thrillers, mystery
Maggie Maxwell - ooh...cozy mysteries, Regency romance, women's fic
Kia Wimbush - Fantasy.
Jill DeSear - Mainstream fiction, maybe. Or else something very scholarly
Talia Liben Yarmush - Literary
Thomas Lorcroft - Thrillers, crime fiction
SL Huang - Definitely sci-fi/fantasy
Anna Spargo-Ryan- Hmm. Fantasy, literary, maybe

And me. I plan on using my middle and last names, Michelle Athy.

For Loose Id, an erotic romance pub, I am M. C. Hana because we needed a dedicated pen name for that publisher.

For some previous small press fantasy stuff I was M. H. Crane.

Going forward with most of my fantasy mainstream works and other publishers' erotic romance, I will be Crane Hana.

But tonight I think I will be Kathleen Turner Overdrive.

Anna Spargo-Ryan said:

I imagine espionage and thrillers.

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Sunflowerrei said:

SL Huang - Definitely sci-fi/fantasy

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Ooo, yay! Considering my series is right at the intersection of those, I'll call that a win.

Not sure I can do you guys as I know what you write already, so your names already sound like what you write to me! But let's see:

Anna Spargo-Ryan - Literary, but with a twist. Possibly nonfiction. Or in another direction, could be magical realism or....whatever genre Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is.
Michelle Athy - I'm not sure what I'd think! Hmm, I could see your name being on a few different types of genre fiction -- SFF, historical, mystery, romance. Could also see it on high-brow literary. Always thoughtful books, though, no matter the genre -- "Athy" doesn't sound thriller or pulp to me.

I'm pretty crap at this stuff, but let's give it a go regardless:

Stephy Kay; as has been said, very chick-litty. Probably because Stephy sounds like a cutesy version of Stephanie (which it may well be).
William Abel; maybe historical? It does sound pretty serious.
Lee Ravens; very thriller/mystery.
Maggie Maxwell; YA or kids?
Kia Wimbush; I have no idea. I could see it on any number of covers.
Jill DeSear; either literary or romance. Or both.
Talia Liben Yarmush; literary.
Thomas Lorcroft; historical, maybe fantasy.
SL Huang; very scifi/fantasy.
Anna Spargo-Ryan; literary again.
Michelle Athy; fantasy.
M.C. Hana; gangsta rap.
Kathleen Turner Overdrive; thriller. With the word overdrive in there, what else could it be?

I've never really given much thought to the idea of using a pen name; I'd go either with my actual name of Niall Roach, or an acronym like N.L Roach, N.M Roach, N.M.L Roach. The possibilities, they are endless!

Okay I'll bite.

Stephy Kay; I'm admittedly not crazy about Stephy. It sounds too young in my opinion. most people I have known who went by "stephy/steffy" started going by just Steph, or Stephanie by middle school. If you're aiming at a younger audience it would be okay, but to me it reads too fluffy.
Stephanie Kay- I think is more versatile. I could still see it on a romance or YA book, but could see it working with fantasy as well.
William Abel; Sounds like a great poet!
Lee Ravens; Definitely sounds like a name I would expect to read a thriller from.
Maggie Maxwell; YA probably
Kia Wimbush; Uhm, if I had to choose I'd go with fantasy or maybe YA
Jill DeSear; I could see this going either Romance or even Mystery.
Talia Liben Yarmush; I honestly have no clue lol.
Thomas Lorcroft; If I had to choose just one, I would say thriller. But honestly, I could see this name on any kind of cover, definitely more of the serious stuff, I wouldn't really expect too much fluff but I could see it working on any cover.
SL Huang; scifi/fantasy.
Anna Spargo-Ryan; Literacy, maybe fantasy.
Michelle Athy; fantasy or YA
M.C. Hana; I'm not really sure...I think it might just be too short for me. I kind of agree with NRoach, it sounds gangsta
Kathleen Turner Overdrive; Thriller
N.L Roach was my favorite of all the names you listed. I could see it on a thriller, fantasy, or mystery. Niall Roach for some reason makes me think more of Literacy


I have two ideas of pen names.
Misty Cohen, or Leah Car (because it's Rachael spelled backwards) My real name I don't think sounds very catching, Rachel Frank.

Is Kathleen Turner Overdrive a joke? It just makes me think of the band hehe.
I like Lee Raven, definitely thriller to me as well.
Michelle Athy I could see on books like the ones Kathy Reich writes. (Wow try and say that quickly five times.)
The Wimbush in Kia Wimbush makes me think of the Wombles...anyone remember them? So I guess kids books...is that MG? I've lost track of genres heh

I've thought about using a pen name, but I think I'll just use my own (Belinda Rees).

SL Huang; says sci-fi to me .
Anna Spargo-Ryan; mystery / thriller.
Michelle Athy; YA.
M.C. Hana; not sure, it has a general kind of feel to it.
Kathleen Turner Overdrive; Mystery / thriller although it does sound a little contrived (apologies if this is your real name)
Niall Roach; says epic action / thriller
Rachel Frank; awesome name, says thriller or YA.
Belinda Rees; general fiction / romance / YA

Folks there is no S in my real name, it's just Lee Raven, and after the feedback, it looks like Maxx is out and my real name is on the book cover.

Cool names, everyone. My real name is so distinctive that at least two agents thought it was a dark joke. I like it, but I have a dark sense of humor. I'm going by Crane Hana for my future writing. It's a gender neutral name that will work well for both erotic romance and mainstream science fiction & fantasy.

The Kathleen Turner Overdrive quip was a Jack Black quote from 'High Fidelity'.

Stephy Kay - Chick-lit, romance, the works! Very cute!
William Abel -Poetry, a la Edgar Allen Poe. It's a very regal, strong-spined sort of name.
Lee Ravens - For some reason this makes me think Harper Lee, author of The Mockingbird. So classic fiction?
Maggie Maxwell - Either a) Women's fiction or b) YA fantasy/paranormal
Kia Wimbush - Romantic epics
Talia Liben Yarmush - Historical fiction, long, rich beautiful novels
Thomas Lorcroft - Sci-fi!
SL Huang - Can't put my finger on it, but it's a very interesting pick!
Anna Spargo-Ryan - Contemporary fiction with a pinch of romance!
Belinda Rees: Romance all over it!

Okay, as for me, I never thought of using a pen-name, but my last name isn't exactly, ah, flowing? So if I didn't go by my real name, I'd keep my first name and maybe use Nora Moon or N Moon.

Thoughts?

Ooo, Crane Hana! I really like that that name ^^

And Lee Raven sounds a little catchy, but definitely marks imaginative work.

My author name is the same as my real name. Marian York.

Stephy Kay - Self-help books or chick-lit
William Abel - Historical fiction or poetry
Lee Ravens - Mystery, Thriller or Fantasy
Maggie Maxwell - Mystery for sure!
Talia Liben Yarmush - It could be for anything.
Thomas Lorcroft - Historical or Mystery.
SL Huang - No idea, all I can think about it your sci-fi with heavy math book now.
Anna Spargo-Ryan - Literary.
Belinda Rees- It could be anything.
Nora Moon- Romance or urban fantasy.
Crane Hana- Mystery/Thriller
Marian York- Romance

My idea for a pen name:
N.A. Knoll

These are my initials with a fake last name.