Q is for Quick

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Ok, well as you can imagine, Q was difficult. There doesn’t seem to be any well known “Q” novelists 😦 Soooo, I’ve gone for a prolific genre writer, who writes under several names.

Amanda Quick aka Jayne Ann Krentz was born in California as Jayne Castle in 1948 and has been actively writing romance since 1979. To date she has over 35million copies of her novels in print and writes under various pseudonyms. She wrote the first ever paranormal futuristic romantic suspense novel and to date has published 120 novels, 32 of those being placed on the New York Times Bestseller list.

She spent 6 years writing and submitting her romance novels to publishers, getting rejection after rejection and tried to stop writing several times during that period, but found that she couldn’t.

Finally getting her first acceptance in 1979 (as Jayne Castle) she wrote for various romance lines but had to change her name as the contract she had signed with the publisher meant they “owned” her name and she was unable to use it on any further published work for 10 years.

She is very outspoken on the merits of “romance” as a genre and was editor on a collection of essays Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance that won an award (and i have a copy *pokes tongue out*). She has a huge fan base in The States.

Jayne writes under 7 different names, but the main 3 are:
Jayne Castle (futuristic romance)
Jayne Ann Krentz (contemporary romance)
Amanda Quick (historical romance)

I did manage to find some great quotes:

“Popular fiction encapsulates and reinforces many of our most fundamental cultural values. Romance is among the most enduring because it addresses the values of family and human emotional bonds.”

“I can only focus on one book/name at a time. It would drive me crazy to try to write two or more books at the same time.”

“I am a very disciplined writer. Sadly, I learned long ago that if I sit around and wait for inspiration to strike, it never hits! I start work at my computer at seven in the morning and I write until about noon. After that, most of my creative energy is shot. In the afternoons I work on plot points, research and serious shopping at Nordstroms.”

“Writing, for me, is an addiction; a compulsion; an obsession. I couldn’t give it up no matter how hard I tried — and believe me, I did try on several occasions during the six long years it took me to get published. I think that if you can walk away from your writing, you are probably not fated to be a writer. If you keep going back to it regardless of all the rejections, you’re doomed to be one.

“This is one business in which perseverance pays.”

“A writer must believe in his or her own voice because there will be times in this business when no one else will.”

And an excellent interview with the lady herself:

I know a few people who read my blog publish different genres under different names (mainly erotica) but doesn’t it get confusing? Imagine having 7 pseudonyms? Lol 🙂 Have you ever thought about using a different name to write a different genre?

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20 thoughts on “Q is for Quick”

  2. I made my name in horror fiction, so when I started writing historical romance it seemed prudent to choose a pen name more in keeping with the tone of that genre. Elaine LeClaire sounds like the kind of woman who would write the novels I create.
    Happy A to Z!

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  4. Wow, that is a lot of names for just one person. I have thought about writing under a different name for something like erotica or romance just haven’t got it quite finished yet.

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    • It is isn’t it lol….must get confusing lol

      I think it’s very wise to choose a different name for Erotica because people automatically judge don’t they, ie, think its personal experience 😦

      Good luck honey!

      Xx

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  5. I was curious to see your “Q”. So encouraging to hear from someone so successful about the importance of perseverance and believing in your own voice… Thanks, Vikki.

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    • Good for you Maggie, have you read it?

      Ha ha ha! I went in a book shop to look at all the “Q” authors, but I was looking for someone who could give me advice. Next year? Lol, I’m doing something a bit easier next year lol

      Thanks honey xx

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  9. I’ve only used a pseudonym once, Vikki, and that was when I was writing for a competition and wasn’t allowed to use my ‘real’ name. So I wrote under the name of TJ White 😀

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