I Am Me

So for the second time since I started blogging, I have been accused of being someone else.

The first time occurred a year or two ago when I first read Kerry Allen’s Beyond The Darkening, which I loved and then went all rabid fangirl squee and pimpage mode, leaving positive reviews and telling everyone I could think of about this great novella because I really enjoyed it and wanted to help along a well-deserving indie.  Kerry then got asked if I was her. Because, of course, she had so much time between juggling two jobs, a child, writing, and life itself to develop a whole other long-standing blog persona. God forbid anybody recognize that she has talent and appeal and somebody would WANT to go all fangirl supportive.

Then today, apparently somebody asked my friend Zoe Winters if I was an alter ego of HERS.  Because, of course, I talk about her often, so I MUST be an alter online ego just for promo.

Seriously, what is UP with this?  I’m gonna get a complex!  I am ME, darn it.

Yes, I freely admit that I use a pen name, but that doesn’t mean that I have multiple online egos.  I don’t have the TIME, even if I had the inclination.  Anybody with a brain who’s bothered to actually READ my work, Kerry’s work, and Zoe’s work is an idiot if they think that they were written by the same person.  Other than genre, there’s no parallel.  I don’t have Kerry’s wit or Zoe’s snark.  Our plots aren’t the same.

I don’t understand where people are getting the idea that we’re the same people.  Yeah, Zoe and I have swapped little one line blurbs on our Amazon product descriptions, pointing readers to each other.  I added Kerry to mine because I also think people who like my book might like hers.  They are my friends whom I want to support.  Rah rah indie!

Nobody looks at fangirl squee and pimpage about a traditionally published book and thinks “Oh that must be the author under another name.”  Why the heck should they think that about indies?  Do they think that we’re so desperate to get out there and make a name for ourselves that we’re sinking to subterfuge to get our name out there?  Are they so threatened by our potential success that they must make up such crazy tales to justify that all three of us are in the top 100 in our categories and climbing the overall ranks in Kindle sales?

So anyway, for all out there, I am me and no one else.

14 thoughts on “I Am Me

  1. Holy cow – don’t people have enough of their own identity crises to sort out, without trying to give you one too???

    Sheesh… 😉

    1. Seriously, I am completely baffled by this. When Kerry was asked if I was her (and it’s always people asking someone ELSE if they are me and not the other way around), it was much earlier on in my blogging career and it was a fairly new kinda persona so, okay, maybe I can see how it could be mistaken. We were both talking about juggling multiple jobs and crap. But NOW? Really?

  2. I know Zoe personally. And, although I don’t know you that well, I can tell a little about your personality through your blogs. You two can’t be the same person…no way. I can’t believe that there are people who assume that just because you are a big fan of someone that you have to be the same person. I’m sure there are some authors who may use that particular trick, but I know you aren’t doing it. People are so suspicious when there’s actually something good being said! Indies really do have to work harder for their credibility. That’s a shame, but that seems to be how it is.

    BTW, I’ve actually read Beyond the Darkening. I’m glad you mentioned it because I realized I hadn’t reviewed it yet. I bought it because it was listed under “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” on the page for my book, Club Blood. That’s how I find a lot of books to read. Amazon has a great marketing tool there.

    1. I actually really love that feature on Amazon. Since I like finding other indies to support, I’ve definitely come across several via that method.

  3. I try to buy as many books by indies as I can. I do have a few favorite trad authors, but they are usually so expensive that I just take a trip to the library. I have a real beef with paying as much or more for an e-book as a print book. I have really enjoyed a lot of indie authors recently and I love to support them.

  4. There have been a few well-publicized cases of authors (tradpub authors too, not even indies) using sockpuppets to tout their own work. Unfortunately, that makes everyone potentially guilty of doing the same. And then there’s the yet-to-be-dislodged suspicion of indie authors generally (their work can’t be as good, so they must need to resort to extra measures or some such nonsense). It’s no reflection on you personally, it’s just the prevailing mood. But it’s aggravating all the same.

  5. LMAO! Dude, imagine if you were you, me, and Kerry. Holy CRAP. We would be wonder woman. 😀 I do admit I write under a second pen name, but I keep them separate for a reason. I do not market Zoe from that name (Though I could probably sell a crap load on the curiosity factor alone if I made it known), and I do not market that name from Zoe. Anybody who has ever mentioned Zoe is not my alter ego.

    Maybe the person thought I was you because I said I wrote under another pen name, but… why on EARTH would I write paranormal romance under another pen name? Even if it was another series, I would want to capitalize on what I’ve built so far as Zoe.

    The truth is, if we were all three the same person, that would make us even MORE awesome, for being able to do that, not less. I mean you have to think that if the successes any of the three of us has had were just because of ONE person pretending to be three different people, then… well… um… couldn’t we have just done that shit on our own under the one name? I’ve sold a whole lot now to be saying it’s all the efforts of one person be it me or an alter ego. There are way too many people independently responding to my work and telling others about it now.

    Also, it would be too bizarre that you and I respond to each other’s works. That would be a true case of MPD right there. Wait… what if I AM you… and I don’t know it. Could we have MPD if we IM each other? How would that work. I think we need to talk on the phone now to make sure we’re separate people.

  6. You two have completely different personalities and different writing styles as well…I’m not sure how people would even confuse you, much less assume one was the other. The sheer amount of time and energy that it would take to be so completely in a different persona, voice, etc for the time both of you spend online is mind-boggling.

    But I suppose it’s kind of a back-handed compliment to you both – powerhouses in the indie authorship movement (in different ways, even) and the paranormal romance genre. I can see where it would be totally annoying though. Weird.

  7. I was asked if I was running an alter ego before. I was flattered because I admire the person who was writing that particular ID, but at the same time, I see your frustration. You’re trying to build your own platform and help others as well. I guess our nature in this modern world is to suspect every online ID as being a mask for something secret. Some people really are who they portray themselves to be, but I suspect, not many.

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