Thursday, January 28, 2016

My (not so) Secret Identity

Several people have asked why I have two names as an author. There are many reasons, but I think I can explain it best if I ask you to imagine each of my writing personae as two very different people.

Wende Dikec is my real name. As an author, she is appropriate for all audiences. The kind of person your mother would love and you would trust to babysit your kids. She doesn’t swear. She isn’t inappropriate. Her books are light and funny, but with some sad moments and a powerful message, too.

Abigail Drake is my pen name. Abigail is more of a drinking buddy, the person who is a lot of fun, but not necessarily someone you want your kids to hang out with until they get a little older. She can be a inappropriate at times. Not “Fifty Shades” inappropriate, but her books do have sexual content and they are really best for an older audience. Although Abigail’s debut novel is rated “PG 13 – spicy, sexy”, I personally would not want a 13 year old to read her books. An 18 year old would be fine, and possibly even a 17 year old (although my middle son is 17 and I can’t imagine him ever reading them).

I have teenagers. I teach writing to children. I want to be as careful as possible not to expose anyone to Abigail Drake until they are ready.  I don’t hide the fact that I’m both Wende and Abigail, but I wouldn’t want someone to pick up one of Abigail’s books and think it might be similar to Wende’s.

That's why I have two separate websites.  Abigail's website has a link to Wende's website, but not vice-versa. I have two of everything now - including Facebook pages, email addresses, and even Pinterest accounts. It can be a pain, and I feel like one of my personalities is sometimes neglected, but it works better this way.

And now I have to worry about giving each of my personalities equal love and attention. Geesh. You can see exactly how ridiculous this can be sometimes.

The easiest way to sum it up is to say my mother reads all of my Wende Dikec books, but so far I’ve kept her away from Abigail. There are some things she really doesn’t want to know, but soon I'll have no control over it. TRAVELLER will be released on February 26, 2016, and my mom has her own Amazon account. She can buy whatever she wants, so it’s out of my hands. I guess I’m doomed.

Can you still be grounded if you’re over forty? Wende is an angel, but Abigail might get a time out.











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