Janet Q. Glaser, the Wordwright
The Writer's Life of Frivolity and Philosophy

The fifty cent word for pen name is pseudonym. According to dictionary.com a pseudonym is defined as a” fictitious name used by an author to conceal his or her identity; pen name.” So why would anyone NOT want to use her real name as the author? 

I used a pen name for the upcoming  mystery novel to be released in March 2011. I didn’t think much about using a pen name until I actually signed a contract. As an ebook, I will need to have a presence online to promote it, but my website and writings have all been under my name, Janet Glaser. To promote this book under my pen name, I will have to start from scratch building a readership through this fictitious name. If, for publicity purposes, I do connect my name to the pen name, then what is the point of even having one?

My main reason is to separate this fictional world of writing from my articles and non-fiction works. (I don’t know that an editor would like me to write articles for a children’s magazine and then discover that same writer’s name is associated with a mystery/horror story!!) I also believe that I can assure my privacy with a pen name. I don’t believe there will be a slasher at my door who takes exception with this mystery, but the fictional name allows an extra layer of security.

Now I need to figure out how to promote my pen name. Anyone have some great suggestions?? Thanks for your help!

Good news! I signed a contract for my mystery/horror novella, Sunshine Boulevard, with Muse It Up Publishing! The ebook is tentatively set for release in March 2011. I am doing a happy dance.

As you may recall in a post on May 5 entitled Rejected Again, I complained about publishers leaving a writer hanging by not responding to the submission.  I emailed my full ms to Lea Schizas of Muse It Up Publishing. She told me she would notify me within two weeks of a decision. Well within that alotted time frame, she emailed me. She wrote, “The editorial department came back with an assessment. We loved your writer’s voice.” She went on to say the contract and other paperwork was attached….I stopped reading and started again from the top. I read it all again to believe that I actually had a contract for this crazy book! I can’t stop dancing!

Muse It Up Publishing is  a small and upcoming royalty paying independent e-publisher. The official opening is in December 2010. But don’t wait to look them up because they are on the web now with submission information, authors, and book titles. It is an exciting time for everyone at M I U Pub. I am sure readers are in for a feast for the eyes and mind and heart with the talented authors already contracted and diverse genres.

Check out the authors page. My pen name is J Q Rose. I’ll keep you updated on this new adventure. Okay I’ll stop dancing now..for awhile.

I was so excited and thrilled to get a ticket to hear Anne Lamott, a national celebrity author,  speak in our little county in West Michigan. The small rural town of Grant built a magnificent Performing Arts Center that seats over a 1000 people. Miss Lamott spoke in this cavernous hall, just her standing behind a “pulpit” talking to about 800 eager listeners.

I watched her slump on stage, not exactly full of energy and spunk as I had imagined her. She sighed a few times into the microphone as she pulled off her backpack, found her papers, and laid them on the podium. She then explained that she had to get up at 3:30 a.m. in California to make it to this speaking engagement. I thought, oh yeah, but look at other entertainers/speakers who run on adrenalin all the time. They always act perky and happy. She looked exhausted and all of her 56 years.

Then a funny thing happened….she became energized as she spoke. The more she talked about her own quirks and oddities, the funnier she got and the more I got into her stories. She has certainly had life experiences that I know nothing about with alcohol and drugs. She has searched for faith in her life and is now a born again Christian with a deep spiritual life.

She is in love with her 9 month old grandson and has throughout her books talked about Sam, her 21 year old son. All that love poured forth and surrounded us as we listened. She painted word pictures of places she has been so vividly with a litany of description and excitement. Lamott also flirted with politics saying it like she feels it. It evoked laughter from this very conservative area.

 Her newest book, Imperfect Birds,  deals with the drugs used by addicted teenagers–prescription drugs that are accessed from parent’s cabinets. When the kids leave for college, they are on their own to use the drugs, so they sub cheap heroine for the script drugs. The drugs of today are so much more potent and powerful than those of the ’60′s that teens become addicted on the first try.

By the end of the evening, I appreciated this woman who can make fun of herself, but actually make fun of all of us. Her stories are our stories in the universal sense. Maybe we have not dealt with drug addiction, but we have all dealt with some addiction or big problems in our lives. Now we can take a look at ourselves from the inside out, thanks to Anne Lamott.