Fellow
Crooked Cat author David W. Robinson has written an interesting blog about
writing and typecasting. It’s worth a look.
There
are no easy answers. Authors have to make up their own minds on the thorny
subject, as styles and the subject matter differ.
Quite
a while ago (1986), Ruth Rendell wanted to get away from her police and
suspense tales and tackle darker, deeper psychological themes; so she invented
the penname Barbara Vine. My favourite early Vine books are A Dark-adapted Eye, A Fatal Inversion
and King Solomon’s Carpet. Certainly,
not all of her readers made the switch to the new books and some felt downright
uncomfortable with them. Of course she continued writing under both names and
eventually the secret was out. She still produces books under both names.
Readers
of cozy crime are not necessarily at ease with gritty procedural thrillers; a
little gore might be acceptable, but that too is a thin line to walk upon.
Perhaps you should give consideration to the appeal of your work before making
a leap. Some opinion favours writing to your audience (once you have one or
know what it likes); this can become a strait-jacket, however. Contrary opinion
says, write for yourself, whatever the genre, which works too – though in the
current hard-nosed market-place, that might prove counter-productive. Truth is,
the boundaries are gradually melting away, thanks to the wide appeal of the e-book.
You might lose old readers when you switch to a different style or genre;
equally, you might gain new readers who love the switch.
Bottom
line: write what you’re comfortable writing, and don’t compromise yourself.
Have faith in your product. Use a pen-name if that makes you comfortable or if
it makes commercial sense. My author page on Amazon identifies me under my
pen-names.
I’ve
dabbled with a few pen-names over the years, for articles, short stories and
even novels. I suspect I’ll continue to use a few, depending on the
material. My crime and thriller books
published by Crooked Cat (Spanish Eye,
Blood of the Dragon Trees, and Sudden
Vengeance) are under my Nik Morton moniker; as will the upcoming thrillers Catalyst, The Prague Papers and The Tehran Text. My westerns are written as Ross Morton
(though I made an exception with Bullets
for a Ballot, which is by Nik Morton! [Yes, it does get confusing, but as
this latter book was likely to be marketed more at US readers, and I was better
known in the US as Nik rather than Ross, I opted for that departure from the
norm!]
So, there you have it. If you’re prolific or want to stretch your writing beyond any particular ghetto, there is no simple choice; you have to go with your gut instinct.
My e-books published by Crooked Cat – Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Nik+morton+crooked+cat&rh=n%3A341677031%2Ck%3ANik+morton+crooked+cat
My
e-books published by Crooked Cat – Amazon COM
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=nik+morton+crooked+cat&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Anik+morton+crooked+cat
