Some of the authors I enjoy reading are not real people.  Okay, that’s not entirely accurate – some of the authors I enjoy reading are not published under their real name.

When I say I enjoyed a book by Robert Galbraith or by JD Robb or by John Sandford I also know that those authors are simply pen-names which the authors have decided to use on that particular novel.

Robert Galbraith may be the most famous of the three names listed above and the reasons for his creation are fairly well known. However JD Robb (with over 40 futuristic murder mysteries under her belt) is best known as romance novelist Nora Roberts.  John Sandford (creator of over 20 Lucas Davenport “Prey” novels and the successful Virgil Flowers spin off series) is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist.

I wanted to ask some authors who have become a “mystery writer” why they have assumed a secret identity. My first guest, Linden Chase, has kindly slipped out of the shadows to answer some of my questions.

First I should clarify that I do not want to know your real identity. However, I would be keen to learn if your real name is a closely guarded secret or do you think it may be fairly common knowledge (but you are not making any efforts to confirm/deny/share)?

I don’t believe very many people at all know who Linden Chase actually is. A few fellow writers, who I meet every month to talk over each other’s works in progress know, but they are all sworn to secrecy. I am certainly not advertising who I am and it is fair to say I am trying to keep it secret.

What prompted you to write under a second name? Have you perhaps switched to a different genre?

Linden Chase writes particular kinds of stories. They are gritty, a little gory and decidedly sexy in places. I don’t write this kind of book under any other name. Linden has a very particular voice. My other writing incarnations – and there are at least three currently – also have a particular voice and a particular audience.

If you were previously published did you approach publishers you had already established a relationship with?

No. I am unusual in that my main occupation is writing. Of course there are mega best selling authors, who have homes in several countries, but the majority of writers are what is termed ‘mid-list’. To make a living as a mid-list author you need a number of books on the market at one time and no publisher wants a glut of one author. Spreading your eggs among several baskets or books among several publishers has become common for those of us who primarily make our living from writing.

Also, sadly, there is expectation in publishing that writers will write only in one genre and this is passed along to readers. There’s a famous phrase ‘give them more of the same but different’ which is all too true. Names become associated with not simply genres but with types of books – whether it’s the alcoholic detective with a failing personal life, the happy ever after romance or the rugged bounty hunter who always gets his man. You will even see that covers from similar types of stories (albeit by different authors) are becoming the same. Romance covers often include pastel colours, figures drawn in a particular way and the same type of font for the similarly places titles. Ghostly mysteries (at least recently) had greenish/grey covers often with ivy covered garden gates. The theory is the time-poor book buyer will gravitate towards books that look the same and have similar kinds of story. It’s all packaged neatly and allows little room from the truly innovative – in my opinion.

But then you have writers like me who have a great many stories to tell. I’d studied broadly and worked in a number of different areas. I choose the best voice to tell my story – but I don’t simply have one voice. Also what I write and what I want to write changes with my life experience. As I grow so do my stories.

Does keeping your identity a secret then create challenges in marketing a new novel?  For example if you have a healthy Twitter following have you had to “reset” with a second account and start afresh?

I’ve tried that and honestly running more than one twitter account at the same time is hard! You also run the same risk as you do when you have several messenger windows open, of posting the wrong thing to the wrong place! Generally I chose a different form of publicity for each alias and focus on that.

Does the “real you” take a hiatus while the pseudonym is publishing/promoting their novel or do you have to adopt multiple roles and write two books in a very short space of time?

I am all of my different aliases – in a good way! Clarity in narrative is essential, so I confine my story to the voice it needs. I prefer to write different books at different times. However, when you have been using one alias for a long time, and featuring the same characters in a series, it is very easy to fall back into the right style. Rather like meeting old friends at the pub. Typically when you are doing publicity for any book you wrote it so long ago -publishing is slow – that you always struggle to remember the story!

Time to get in some plugs…will there be future titles we can look forward to from your pseudonym or have they been retired for the present time?

Linden Chase has written Killer Instincts and Killer Intent. The final Killer book – and last in the Tranquillity series –  will be out shortly.

As Linden slips back to Tranquility Island I would like to thank her for breaking cover to join me today.

Killer Instincts and Killer Intent are published by Fahrenheit Press and can be purchased here:

Killer Intent: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_killer_intent.html

Killer Instincts: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_killer_instincts.html