Friday, May 25, 2007

What's in a Name...

(Yes, this is x-posted from my personal blog, because A, I thought it was important; B, I don't have anything to plug until July; and C, I'm very lazy.)

I'm pretty sure all of you know that "December Quinn" is not my real name. Because it's not. I love it, I answer to it, I'm used by now to being called it. But it's not my real name, it's a name I created specifically for my erotic books. For a number of reasons which I'm sure I don't need to detail, I decided that keeping my identity rather more secret while writing primarily about people having sex in a variety of positions, places, and orifices, no matter how romantic the story may ultimately be, was a good idea.

My real name has other distinct disadvantages. I've never particularly liked it, for one. My married last name has an unfortunate similarity to a vulgar word (all it takes is one lazy vowel sound) which again, if you're writing erotic, you want to avoid that. Plus, and this is rather more personal, not long after moving to the UK my husband fell out with his father, for reasons too complex to go into here, and they haven't spoken in about a year. Suffice it to say that my husband has never particularly cared for having that man's name--he's thought of changing it for 25 years--and we don't want to anymore.

So we're changing our name. And the reason this matters to you is, we're changing it to the last name of my new "other psuedonym"" Stacia Kane.

And the other pseudonym is news to you because it is the name under which Juno Books will be publishing Personal Demons early next year as a mass market paperback!!

So although legally my name is not yet Stacia Kane, it will be (okay, I'll probably keep my actual first name, which is Stacey. But "Stacey Kane" was already taken as a domain name, and I've always liked Stacia a little bit more, although it still doesn't thrill me. But it sounds good with Kane, and the hubs and I are sold on Kane.)

Nothing changes here, although I may add "Stacia Kane" to the title of the blog, because when the new SK site is up and running I'll simply direct that blog here as well. The name change is simply for branding purposes; I want people to know that when they pick up a DQ book they're getting HEA romance with (most likely) lots of sex; when they pick up an SK book they may get a more ambiguous ending with less focus on romance and less sex (though they'll get some sex either way, never fear. There's what I think is a cracking hot sex scene in Personal Demons and there will be more in future books too.) Hopefully they'll like both. I don't think the voice is all that different, just the subject matter and focus.

So there you go.

Wheeee! I sold my urban fantasy!!!

4 comments:

Sherrill Quinn said...

OMG! D, you little squirt--I didn't know Juno picked up a book from you! That's awesome!!!!!!!

Stacia said...

Thank you! It's not as impressive as whatever huge sale you'll be announcing next, I'm sure but, I'm thrilled about it!

Sierra Dafoe said...

Woo-hoo, December!!! It's been a busy month for you!

-- Sierra

Saipan Writer said...

Congratulations on the sale.

I like the name December Quinn--it's unusual, personable, and suggests some action about to happen, perhaps with a little trickery, too.

So you if become "Stacey Kane" with a legal name change, isn't your cover blown? Now we'll all know that DQ = SK, and there'll be no more hiding.

And oh wow--Won't your step-daughters become the popular girls when their friends realize that "mom" writes hot sex!!

I can tell, you have a fun life.