My sixth book (I can’t believe it!) is making its way into the wilds next year, and you won’t know it’s been written by me which feels very James Bond-esque (Jayne Bond 007 – oooh, I like it!). I wrote this book under a pen name because not only was it a writing commission for a publishing house, but it was an ever-so-slight topic matter departure from my other titles. It didn’t quite fit alongside them, or, I didn’t think it did… Now I’ve seen the final draft it actually would have fit quite nicely. The benefit of hindsight, eh?!

What is a pen name?

Instead of my real name being used as the book author’s name, a fictitious name is being used, a pen name. Just as “George Orwell” is the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, the book I’ve written has been attributed to a name other than mine.

Why would you do that?

There were two reasons. The first being the topic, which I felt didn’t quite align with my other titles at first (I have since changed my mind on that, though!).

Secondly, I was having a crisis of confidence. For many reasons, some of which I allude to in this blog post, I had lost my confidence in writing and in working with a writing team on a traditionally published book. Taking on this commission plonked me in the middle of a team again, and I wanted to explore that. It felt somewhat safer to have the opportunity to do so under a pen name rather than my name-name.

So, what *has* it been like to write under a pen name?

It’s been brilliant. The entire process was an exhilarating one. Being part of a wonderful team cemented the fact that I want to go down the traditionally published route again. It was a healing and revealing experience, crafting a book, working to deadline, getting feedback, and working with others to get it to be the best it could be. The confidence boost was tremendous – I needed that.

I will say, too, that writing under a pen name was surprisingly less inner-troll-some than writing under my name. It’s as if my inner troll couldn’t quite figure out where to place its criticism and judgements, so it was fairly quiet for once. That made writing so much easier than normal! I felt able to just ‘be’ in the creative process rather than judge the title against my other titles. I still poured as much love and care into it, but the writing process was more enjoyable because of that.

Will you write under a pen name again?

Who blinkin’ knows! 😂

I am keen beans to be writing and publishing books again. Like, so so so badly. In recent times, I have submitted two book proposals to an editor. One is under my name, and the other one would be under a pen name, I think. I’m crossing my fingers, legs, and nostrils, that those make it to market and into your hands. There are a few other writing projects I need to develop but they’re percolating at the moment which is my most favourite stage of the writing process of all.