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Jane fans, attention please. My mind just exploded from surprise yesterday.

Usually, I go to Wikipedia to add and correct stuff. It is no secret I have a big obsession with everything Jane does, especially her writing, seeing as how Gabriel Knight 3 is both one of my favorite stories and favorite computer games in human history. However, I consider her to be rather obscure, as she only wrote a bunch of novels under her own name. Today, I went over to Jane's page and noticed that she has been writing books of a very narrow niche type. Wikipedia says; "Since 2013, Jensen has written gay romance fiction under the pen name "Eli Easton"." '

What the hell? I never heard that. So I fired up Kindle, and saw a whole slew of these books there, all for like... $3,- to $4,- (Jane doesn't know I would easily pay 10 times that amount).
So I bought "The Lion and the Crow", a story about two gay knights on a personal mission that fall in love. Now 50% through, and I absolutely adore it - never mind that I can't ever objectively look at this as a Sierra fan! It is supposed to be very casual, but knowing Jane, you can be sure that the woman did her research. This book is filled with;
- Interesting plotlines and characters around every corner, like... the ones only Jane can come up with
- Non-stereotypical depiction of folks with gay inclinations
- Accuracy of the historical setting of medieval England
- Dramatic display of sword fights, hunting, abuse, illness, religion, family rejection,
- Dark humor

So, so far so good - why the alias, you'd ask? Well... let me just say I can't imagine this is suited for a wide array of heterosexuals - this isn't just a knight / love story with a gay component, as it contains a huge amount of uhm...erotic ecounters. And not the soft LSL type, but well-researched, shockingly detailed Jane Jensen hardcore type. Again, lol Jane, what the hell. This woman never ceases to amaze me, even at the age 55. Anyway. I thought there may be other Jane-fans out there that would be remotely interested in this and might not know about it.

Spikey wrote: ↑Tue Oct 02, 2018 3:01 pm So, so far so good - why the alias, you'd ask? Well... let me just say I can't imagine this is suited for a wide array of heterosexuals - this isn't just a knight / love story with a gay component, as it contains a huge amount of uhm...erotic ecounters. And not the soft LSL type, but well-researched, shockingly detailed Jane Jensen hardcore type. Again, lol Jane, what the hell. This woman never ceases to amaze me, even at the age 55. Anyway. I thought there may be other Jane-fans out there that would be remotely interested in this and might not know about it.

I know writers use an alias when they're writing for a different genre than what they're known for; for the very reason that they might think that it won't be taken seriously.

Like if Stephen King ("master of horror") was to write a romance novel, I don't think anyone would give it a chance (or call him a sell out), but if he used an alias, then people would read it without realizing who wrote it and judge it without being biased.

Yeah, that is very true many writers do it - just surprising that it took me this long to find out about it in Jane's case, especially since I'm target audience for both. Jane obviously does it to market to a specific audience.

Reasons for using an alias can vary greatly. Stephen King wrote under "Richard Bachman" because his publisher convinced him that the public could handle only one "Stephen King" novel a year back in the day.

How's your head, Spikey? Hey, you've got lots of new reading material!

JK Rowling used an alias for her thriller debut, being known only for the Harry Potter series. Not to mention JK is a pen name in the first place since apparently her publisher believed that boys don't read books written by girls. Some very depressing reasons when you think about it...

BBP wrote: ↑Tue Oct 02, 2018 4:15 pm How's your head, Spikey?

Haven't had any complaints yet! How are you .

BBP wrote: ↑Tue Oct 02, 2018 4:15 pmHey, you've got lots of new reading material!

JK Rowling used an alias for her thriller debut, being known only for the Harry Potter series. Not to mention JK is a pen name in the first place since apparently her publisher believed that boys don't read books written by girls. Some very depressing reasons when you think about it...

Didn't even know that JK is a pen name! Never been into HP that much, but I have a deep respect for that lady. I'm glad the second time she got to do it, it was because she really wanted to.

BBP wrote: ↑Tue Oct 02, 2018 4:15 pm JK Rowling used an alias for her thriller debut, being known only for the Harry Potter series. Not to mention JK is a pen name in the first place since apparently her publisher believed that boys don't read books written by girls. Some very depressing reasons when you think about it...

I think it's just the "JK" that's the pen name. It's the initials of her real name, but by using "J.K. Rowling" her gender is ambiguous. Her first name actually being Joanne. (So I assume, her middle name starts with a "K"). But yes, she did also use the alias of "Robert Galbraith."

EDIT: Yeah, just checked Wikipedia and I stand corrected:
Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, her name, before her remarriage, was Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers asked that she use two initials rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K (for Kathleen) as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother.