Warning! Long, serious post ahead.
I just realized it has been 11 days since I’ve posted here! I almost never go that long without posting. There are a number of factors involved in my lapse, but the two biggest ones are 1) I’ve been sick, and 2) My day job is killing me right now. Since the company I work for caters to gardeners, especially rose growers, this is the peak season for large orders from rose societies and garden centers. And they all want their products at the same time!
So here I am. And I’m pondering. On what, you might ask? Well…I guess it’s genre and pen names. I’ve done posts about this before, I think, but I’ve got some serious decisions to make. I use a pen name because of my church affiliation. I’m a Christian, but I see nothing wrong with writing about paranormal creatures and such because it’s fiction. I don’t believe in vampires and werewolves, but they’re fun to read and write about. But some people don’t believe Christians should dabble in things like that, so I stay incognito to keep from offending anyone. I won’t fault them for their beliefs. I have a few issues, though. 1) My mom is so proud of me that she wants to tell everyone I’m an author. 2) I have some real life friends on my author FB profile, and sometimes they say things that could link my writing life to my real life. 3) I would like to be open about being an author.
So…genre. Aside from the fact that I feel like I have to lead a double like, I’m finding the paranormal genre is FLOODED with self-published authors. I’m thankful that publishing is so easy for everyone these days, and I believe everyone deserves a chance to do so, but it also brings in a LOT of competition. It’s so hard to even be found lately. I’ve been lucky enough to attract the attention of a couple of frequent reviewers lately, so that has helped me a bit. I’m so grateful for them, and I’ve tried to express this to them. But I still have to keep myself out there and try to be found.
This is what I’m contemplating. I’ve been thinking about sweet romances and cozy mysteries lately. I could easily write a sweet romance. The mystery would involve a lot of plotting ahead of time to make sure I get the “whodunit” right. And there’s still that Christian romance I started a long time ago and never finished. I think I could take the strong religious undertones out of that and market it as a sweet romance. I think, although there are a lot of books in these genres, too, there are more readers for them. I could be wrong, but just from comments I’m getting from readers I’ve met online who say “I don’t read paranormal”, it leads me to believe there’s a wider range of readers for the sweeter romances whether they be contemporary or historical (which I wouldn’t attempt).
Another decision I would have to make…new pen name or real name. I honestly feel like I shouldn’t write in these other genres under my current pen name. I want my mom to be able to shout to the world that her daughter is an author. She doesn’t like it when I tell her not to do that right now. I want the ladies at church to be able to read my books. I want to be FREE.
Now here’s the biggest decision of all. Should I completely do away with my current pen name and stop writing paranormal altogether so I can focus my time and energy on the new stuff? Should I try to do both? I think the worst part of leaving Lauralynn behind would be not interacting with all my wonderful online friends. I think I would probably tell my closest friends who I really am. It’s not so much that I don’t want my Lauralynn friends to know who I am. It’s that I don’t want my real life friends to know who Lauralynn is. Does that make sense? This is very hard for me, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Even if you think I won’t like your thoughts, I would rather have the honesty.
That’s all.
lauralynnelliott.com 
As a general rule, I have to question the validity of any friends who would look down on you for what you write. I could see some in Christian circles getting upset if you wrote something along the lines of 50 Shades of Gray, but you don’t. If they feel somehow threatened by the idea of fictional paranormal creatures, that’s THEIR PROBLEM and I don’t think you should beat yourself up worrying about what they think (we would all do well to stop worrying what other people think so much). You’ve done absolutely nothing as LL that you should be ashamed or embarrassed about and plenty to be proud of.
If you feel motivated to write sweet romances or cozy mysteries, go for it. But before you do away with what you’ve built as LL, consider that you’ve invested years in this platform. You pick a new name, you have to do that all over again in a much tougher climate than we had when we all started years ago.
I understand what you’re saying. And it wouldn’t be such a big deal if my husband wasn’t a deacon. I don’t want to do anything to bring problems to him. I don’t understand why people have problems with the paranormal, but I’m not sure I can judge them if they do. The good thing is my MOM likes my writing. 🙂
My gut feeling says to keep plugging away as LL, and maybe test the waters with a short story or novella in the other genres. I’m just so discouraged by the glut of paranormal stories out there. At least my current WIP isn’t about vampires or werewolves or ghosts. So maybe that difference will help pique the interest of readers. Also, the cover model for this next one is letting us do a custom shoot, so I’ll have pictures to tease people with ahead of time. 🙂
Definitely do not do away with Lauralynn. If you want to test the waters of Sweet Romance go with your real name and let LL have a vacation, of sorts, for a while. I know a lot of authors who write different genres under more than one name. You enjoy writing paranormal so it would be a shame if you stopped completely, and I agree, you have written nothing to be ashamed of – you should see some of the stuff I get to proof *sssssssssssssss*! My point is, experiment with sweet, but don’t send LL away, please.
I think LL is here to stay. Sometimes I feel like I AM Lauralynn. Honestly, if I didn’t have a full time job, I think it would easy to write under two names. Like maybe do one in the morning and one in the evening. I just don’t have a lot of time. Maybe the easiest thing to do would be to alternate. Like publish a book under LL, then one under me, then LL again. Or maybe I could actually learn to be comfortable with writing books simultaneously. I know authors who work on 2 or 3 books at the same time. I’ve never been able to, but maybe I can work on one at home and one at work during lunch. Just a lot to think about.
Well, here’s my opinion, for what it’s worth. 😀
I would use my real name for the sweet romances because your husband is a deacon and I know how touchy these things get in some churches. It’s best to err on the side of caution.
Since you work and have a lot of other things to deal with, I would focus on writing the sweet romance. You might want to finish Fire Wizard first or put Fire Wizard aside. I know you do better with writing one book at a time. Considering you have a full-time job, I wouldn’t do more than one book, at least not until things slow down at work. Since your job is how you’re making your living, it needs to come first.
But I would be intrigued to find out how you could sell in the sweet romance area. I know there’s a market for it. And it might do better than your paranormals. If so, then it’d be a smart move to write more of them. I know it’s harder to gain visibility now, compared to how it used to be, but it’s a chance I’d take only because of how sales have been going for your paranormals. If the sweet romances don’t work out, you can always go back fully to Lauralynn.
I wouldn’t get rid of Lauralynn. I’m not sure how much time I’d devote to Lauralynn while working on the sweet romances, though. That’s the toughest question to answer, and it would depend on if the sweet romances are paying off.
Good luck on deciding what to do. I know it’s not an easy decision.
I’m definitely going to finish Fire Wizard before doing anything else. But I’m wondering if I should maybe test the waters on sweet romance with some novellas. I’m still also considering the cozy mysteries. One thing you’re right about for sure…I shouldn’t try to do more than one book while work is so busy. I’m even putting in a little overtime right now. I come home VERY tired. I’ve got a lot if thinking to do.
I would start with something short like a novella and see how it does. That way you don’t have too much time (risk) invested in it. A cozy mystery is also possible. Whatever you’re inspired to write should take center stage. 😀
That’s what it comes down to…inspiration.
You probably remember the struggle I went through trying to decide whether to use a pen name or not. I decided on my real name, because I didn’t like the idea of being totally anonymous. There are some regrets now, mostly in the day job career area. I think I was declined for an interview for an admin job at a church I’d been attending because of my paranormal/zombie fiction. It doesn’t matter now, because I’m back at my old job where they know about my writing and still love me anyway, but it is something to consider for the future. If you use your real name, is that going to cause you to censor your writing?
If I stick with Lauralynn for paranormal and go with my real name for sweet romance or mystery, it would solve the problem. I wouldn’t have to censor because that type of romance and mystery wouldn’t have anything to censor.
So are you glad to be back at your old job?
I wouldn’t do away with LL, because you have so many followers and have built such a good platform, even if you take a hiatus to write sweet romances. Your friends who know you as LL will understand.
Just my .02, worth exactly that.
In thinking about it, I think I’ll finish my current project then try the other genres. After that, we will see where my ideas lead me. I would like to do all if it! 🙂
And why shouldn’t you have it all? It may take more time to switch between genres at first, but I think it’ll get quicker.
I’ve never been afraid to try new things. 🙂
I’d miss your Lauralynn self if you disappeared online. If you still love writing paranormal, don’t give it up. You can write outside the genre and still come back to the supernatural element when the mood strikes you.
I’ve decided I have way too many friends online to let that name go away, Emma. I would miss you and others. I’m going to try both for awhile, I think. When the day job slows down!