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Kate Rothwell Invents an Author

Okay. Contest over. Autumn Kent is the best name ever. AND hilarious. Kate voted for someone else, but I vetoed it. COME ON! Never mind that Tumperkin writes for this blog. AUTUMN. KENT. (”Vernal Equinox Manchester” - Kate) *giggles*

______________________________

I fretted about this post for a couple of days—okay, couple of minutes over the course of a couple of days. I even wrote about it in my blog, twice.

The consensus from both of my blog readers: write about being multiple personalities, Kate. Or Summer.

Yes, occasionally Kate and Summer get snippy with each other, but I think I’m actually ready to take on another name. I write too many types of stories and people seem to get annoyed when you plunk them all down under one name.

I think PBW/Sheila/Lynn holds a record on names, but I’m doing what I can.

New name invention is kind of fun. And taking on the personality is even more fun. But what about the bio? Every editor asks for a bio. If I get another name, I’ll connect it to myself (writers who pretend to be Debut Authors with no previous record bug the bejeezus out of me because it feels like lying).

Trouble is, I’m thinking Summer’s bios are kind of precious-cutesy. The first time I wrote one, I thought I was clever but either everyone else in the world copied my “my alter ego is so much cooler than I am” style or I’m not as original as I thought. I’m thinking the second, because Summer, bless her heart, isn’t the center of the universe after all.

Here’s Summer’s bio at Ellora’s Cave:

Summer Devon is the alter ego of Kate Rothwell. Until she met Summer, Kate was a mild-mannered writer with kids, a husband and a dog. To channel this new identity, Kate has to recall her wild younger days— okay, not that wild, though she did stints as a bartender and an artist model.

They share a few similarities, yet Kate and Summer are very different. Kate went to art school. Maybe Summer did too, but she certainly never smelled like turpentine. Summer cares about her appearance, can dance and walk for miles in high-heeled shoes, has a rich melodic laugh and naturally beautiful fingernails. Her advanced degree is in something very exotic that led to a well-paid career in a field she’d like to discuss, but regretfully, can’t. She can pop bonbons and type at the same time and never gets chocolate on the keyboard or her blouse. Though her clothes are generally shapehugging, she never suffers from static cling.

Here’s Summer at total-e-bound that’s actually the truth:

Summer Devon is the alter ego Kate Rothwell who invented Summer’s name in the middle of a nasty blizzard whilst talking to her sister who longed to visit some friends in Devon, England, so the name Summer Devon is all about desire. Kate/Summer lives in Connecticut, USA and also writes gaslight historicals under her own name.

Here’s the bio for TBA: You compose it.

I want someone else to write the next Kate/Summer/TBA Bio. Pick a name. Write a bio for her. If I use her, you’ll get every single one of the books she writes for the lifetime of her career free, autographed etc. You’ll get Summer’s latest release, too. And some chocolate. I’m not guaranteeing that I’ll use something generated here, but I’m doing what I can to avoid work. She writes darker books than Kate or Summer, but not much darker.

ALSO …

I’ll run another contest because I know that people might not like to go up against starters like Bettie** and Carrie and the other people who post here regularly (I know this because I’m intimidated as hell by them) and they are among the people I hope will take part in the Name That Author and Give Her A Life contest. Of course you are another person I hope will enter. Yes, you reading this.

Anyway, even if you post any old thing in the comments, you can be a winner. I’ll pick a name at random and send the winner the latest Summer enovella, which is part of an anthology with stories by Lyn Cash and Alexis Fleming.

Sarah, from smartbitchestrashybooks, had this to say about the hero of Direct Deposit (my novella): “You have the happy, funny, joyous hero dude down pat, and his dialog was so fun to read.”

See? You know you want a chance to win that book.

And because of popular demand:

Killer chocolate cake recipe. Sure, it’s old news, but it’s great cake.

**footnote: If I promote Bettie’s current contest, maybe she’ll feel obligated to join the “invent the new writer” portion of this post. Bam, insert a link to Bettie’s contest here, okay? [Bam: Okey-dokey.]

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 13th, 2008 at 10:16 pm and is filed under Guest Author. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

27 Responses to “Kate Rothwell Invents an Author”

  1. Bettie
    Posted: Jan 13th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
    1

    If I promote Bettie’s current contest, maybe she’ll feel obligated to join the “invent the new writer” portion of this post.

    But Kate, if I try my hand at a bio for your new persona, she will be evil. Because all my heroines are at least a little bit bad.

    Though, looking at that cake recipe, I think maybe you aren’t as nice as you seem. Chocolate custard, chocolate mousse and ganache!? With optional Liqueur? All in the same cake??? You are a truly wicked woman Ms. Rothwell/Devon. I’m in!

    I’m also going to make that cake. ::whimper:: I am helpless against triple chocolate with optional booze.

  2. bam
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 12:22 am
    2
    Author Comment

    Maybe you’ve seen the fake bios I’ve written for Bettie for The Serial. Here’s a sample.

    In real life, Bettie Sharpe is a Wonder Woman of sorts. She once defeated Napoleon single-handedly in Waterloo, served as the mistress to the Prince of Dubai for fifteen years, and romanced both Cary Grant and Rock Hudson at the same time. She collects nail clippings of the rock stars who had been her lovers (one of them is the Artist Formerly Known as Prince!) and occasionally indulges herself by sprinkling the clippings over her strawberry jam and muffin. She is also an avid Jayne Ann Krentz fan.

    and

    Bettie Sharpe has utilized over forty nom de plumes since 1842. One of her more favorite ones is one you might recognize: Barbara Cartland. She bathes in the blood of her virgins in order to keep her youthful appearance and drinks a shot of wheatgrass in the morning to start her day. She enjoys mowing down toddlerz with her industrial-strength lawn mower.

    I can share the wealth with you, Kate.

  3. Bettie
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 1:57 am
    3

    Bam,

    I love those bios! Hilarious. I waited for new posts of Ember just to read them. If you’re in the contest, I’m bowing out gracefully. I’ll just go smother my sorrows in chocolate cake. :)

    All Hail the Dark Lord,

    bettie

  4. Carrie Lofty
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 5:46 am
    4

    Intimidated by me? Srsly? Coz Bam’s place is the cool kid’s table where I never win! *sobs*

    But the TBA name should be Jenny MacAllister. It just jumped into my head like a cutesy virus, ready to infect the masses.

  5. Ann Aguirre
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 6:54 am
    5

    Though it would help if I knew what sort of stories you were hoping to publish under this name, I’m going with S.T. Trent. Bio follows:

    S.T. Trent has been hiding from the government since 1976. After some near misses out in Nevada, this author joined the underground and has been mailing manuscripts from untraceable mail drops ever since. No DNA has ever been found on these pages, which leads authorities to believe S.T. Trent is a giant, naked mole rat. There is no proof to substantiate these allegations.

  6. kate r
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 7:00 am
    6

    The new identity will be writing romance (that seems to be a common factor for all the personas) but who says giant, naked mole rats can’t write about love?

  7. Bonnie Dee
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 8:05 am
    7

    I have to say, I think you need to specify what kind of stories this new alter-ego will be releasing. The name and bio will be different depending on what kind of romances they are. Will they be suspense, futuristic, historical, more or less erotic content, etc. All these impact on the type of name. I certainly wouldn’t give a stripper sounding name to someone who was writing cozy mysteries.

  8. Bonnie Dee
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 8:06 am
    8

    ETA. Pardon me for not reading the previous comments first…

  9. kate r
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 8:26 am
    9

    Hmmmm.
    Okay, this new person is writing contemporary romance. Not erotic romance, so Summer’s out. And not historical, so, sorry, Kate.

    Let’s just call it contemporary romance. Not chicklit, not suspense. Romance, single title, contemporary. Gah, I can see this new writer will never get published because we need some better pigeonholing. It’s all about cross-genre-ization these days, but to do that, we need some Genre-ishness to cross. Sob.

  10. kate r
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 8:29 am
    10

    I guess there’s a touch of paranormal in there. No werewolves or anything but definitely contemporary with a touch of another reality happening at the same time.
    Or not.
    Just write the bio and I’ll fit her around it instead of the other way. That’s one way to organize a career.

  11. Ilona
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 11:21 am
    11

    I’ve often wondered what a book by the author Roma Nance would be like. She could be a daydreaming barmaid who decided to start writing romances to escape the drudgery of her job whilst waiting for her Mr. Right to turn up. After all no one really meets Mr. Right in a bar do they?

  12. Ayla
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 11:53 am
    12

    Janey Menthrow is the life and soul of any party with her wise cracks and wit well known both in her books and in real life. She describes herself as an overacheiver but lovable. Her work is always sparkling with wit, love, and a dabble of paranormal. She also claims to work on several projects at a time. Janey currently resides with her four cats, and is waiting for her hero to arrive.

  13. Tumperkin
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
    13

    Autumn Kent*** wrote her first romantic novel when she was still in the womb, and she’s been writing ever since! Autumn adores chocolate cake, Bosnian socks, horse-grooming products and men with mutton chops. She lives in Alaska with her husband and their nine children.

    *** do you see what I did there?

  14. Kaitlin
    Posted: Jan 14th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
    14

    Hmmm….I love coming up with stuff like this. Don’t know how well mine will work when I get published, but whatever. :)

    Carys Neal (means love & passion). Passion and love are the two most important things in Ms. Neal’s life. As a writer, she shows just how important that is.

    When not writing these passionate love stories, Carys lives for chocolate, enjoys a good bodice-ripper and teasing her creator, Kate Rothwell (who swears she has no idea where these people keep popping up from). :D

    It’d be so cool to win, but I’m not all that clever…not at the moment anyway. I can’t even come up with one for my alter ego. *sigh*

  15. Amie Stuart
    Posted: Jan 15th, 2008 at 8:51 am
    15

    Damn….If I can come up with a killer opening line SURELY I can come up with a new name and a bio for Mz Kate!!!

    Sabrina Rush has been crafting tales of fiction since she spoke her first word. She spends her spare time juggling three boys, a husband, various household pets, and two other pseudonyms. When Sabrina’s not writing…that usually means one of her alter egos has taken over. All three of her benefit from her amazing upper body strength.

    Get it? hehe……ok I have to go write now.
    *runs before Kate can catch me*

  16. deemer
    Posted: Jan 15th, 2008 at 11:23 am
    16

    Merrilynne Sothers loves walks on the beach, watching the sunset, long bubble baths, and quilted tissue box covers. She barely has any spare time, as she volunteers and fundraises for Pigeon Power, an organization that helps feed the pigeons of the East Coast. She is also currently restoring her 1890’s home by herself, and is often knee deep in the varnish that she is using to refinish her homemade dining room furniture. She is single, and can be contacted on her website www.lookingfortheonetruelove.com .

  17. Gini
    Posted: Jan 15th, 2008 at 11:40 am
    17

    So you implied total crap entries are OK as well?
    I have a pile for you.

    Alice Asbo
    The original wild child grew up thinking the fairies at the bottom of her garden were her real parents and that an evil witchqueen had given her cake with “eat me” on it at age 5. At 15, a kind neighbour, Mrs Brady Oldlady, explained that the mushrooms she’d been eating were not in fact Shitake, but magic ones. Realising her silly mistake she moved swiftly on to hard drugs, hooded cardigans and a life of underage crime. Her writing Epiphany came whilst attending a Correctional Facility. During a spell of Cold Turkey, vivid visions of hero’s and handsome Princes inspired her to try her slight of hand at writing romance. The rest, as they say, is history.

    ASBO = Anti Social Behaviour Orders in the UK. With this name you’ll appear at the front of alphabetical lists, which is good eh?
    I was inspired quite badly by this quote from Alice in Wonderland,
    “I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!”

  18. Carrie Lofty
    Posted: Jan 15th, 2008 at 11:51 am
    18

    Following Tumperkin’s lead, you could do an entire “seasons + English counties” set of personas. Winter Somerset. Spring Hampshire. Summer Devon. Autumn Kent.

    OK, here’s mine:

    People used to think Jenny MacAllister was cute, but now they find her simply irresistible. The appeal may stem from her tantalizing romances, wicked good pictures of dogs in knit sweaters, and energetic Morris dancing, but science has confirmed none of this. At present Jenny lives the pirate life way down in Kokomo–sugar and spice, rum makes it all nice–where she avidly collects deleted adverbs and vintage LOLcats. She welcomes fanmail but reserves the right to set fire to evildoers in public forums, especially on (but not restricted to) the FDA-approved Zodiac-based dating service she founded after her fourth annulment.

  19. kate r
    Posted: Jan 15th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
    19

    I’m loving these.

    (and when Vernal Equinox Liverpool puts out her next book Tumperkin gets a mention.)

  20. kate r
    Posted: Jan 15th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
    20

    Seriously they’re all fantastic. Maybe I’ll pick a bit from each and compose the most amazing bio possible, ever. starting with….

    Roma Nance Menthrow has been hiding from the government since 1976
    and ending with….
    She welcomes fanmail but reserves the right to set fire to evildoers in public forums, especially on (but not restricted to) the FDA-approved Zodiac-based dating service she founded after her fourth annulment.
    And how dare you call that a crap pile Gini? Okay, I’m off to play with this gorgeous collection of words.

  21. Lyvvie
    Posted: Jan 16th, 2008 at 2:01 am
    21

    Constance Manning has worn many hats before finding her writer’s voice. She’s worked with artists, been a purveyor of fine liqueurs and worked in primary education. She spent many years writing features and articles for newspapers where she discovered the humbling excitement of the human condition and its many facets. Especially the tumbledown exultations of love, romance and longing. You can find her today peering over the foam of her cappuccino, or pretending to read Eventing while gathering information and mannerisms from her cafe co-patrons to be used in all of her fiction. Constance Manning also writes under the names Kate Rothwell and Summer Devon.

  22. Sam
    Posted: Jan 16th, 2008 at 3:13 am
    22

    Savannah Sarengetti Manon Lapoisse is the pen name for several other pen names, including a real person or two. She’s a stay at home mom and spy, and is currently translating several famous Eskimo poems into plain English for her lover, George Clooney.
    She used to be Miss Snark, knows who killed Kennedy, and lately moonlights as the Filipino Monkey.
    Her books have been called esoteric and interesting, but are always chock full of mystery, romance, and adventure.
    If you want to see Savannah, look for the mysterious woman in dark shades and stilletos at the international departure area.

  23. Ayla
    Posted: Jan 20th, 2008 at 11:30 am
    23

    Not to be a “sore loser” but who would have won if you hadn’t vetoed Kate’s decision?

  24. bettie
    Posted: Jan 20th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
    24

    Emma Madison traveled the world as a child prodigy violinist, and later as a teen-aged supermodel. Concerned about the unrealistic images of beauty the media presented to young girls, Emma shunned the glitz, glamor and excellent pay of international high fashion to attend Princeton University where she became the youngest former model to graduate with a 4.0 average.

    Emma wrote her first novel to win a bet, and was pleasantly surprised when Time-Warner offered her a million dollar advance and an even more lucrative deal for the film rights. She has been writing ever since. Due to her modest nature and tremendous output of spectacular fiction in all genres, Emma writes under no fewer than forty-three different pseudonyms, including Kate Rothwell and Summer Devon.

    Emma Madison also speaks fluent Danish.

  25. bettie
    Posted: Jan 20th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
    25

    Oh, I think the contest is over, but I’ve been meaning to write a pseudonym bio all week. I made her as evil as I could. ;)

  26. kate r
    Posted: Jan 23rd, 2008 at 10:53 am
    26

    well, um thanks for protecting me, bam.

    It’s more that she didn’t veto it, she pointed out that my choice was….
    stupid.

    I picked a number randomly. I said, I love them all, but I’ll pick whoever posted comment six!
    and she said, you posted comment six, you dork.

  27. kate r
    Posted: Jan 23rd, 2008 at 10:54 am
    27

    and I came back to gather up my bios and make one great gorgeous one. Oooo! these can’t go to waste.

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