"Wow - this is one INCREDIBLE novel that I could not put down.
It had me on the edge of my seat and I can honestly say that I never
saw the end coming. It was full of suspense, action but also humour
(done in a way that only Lauren can accomplish)." - 5-Star Review of THE NUTCRACKER CONSPIRACY by Working Mommy Journal
Join Us for This Audiobook Tour from June 8 to June 26, 2020!
Book Details:
Book Title: The Nutcracker Conspiracy (A Thorny Rose Mystery #4) by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 388 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: January 30, 2020
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries,
so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on
stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some
mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:
Three years ago, the nation gasped in horror when the President of the
United States barely escaped an assassination attempt that left two
dead—the vice president’s wife and the attempted assassin. Even after
numerous investigations proved otherwise, conspiracy theorists argue
that the assassin was acting on orders from the CIA, FBI, and every
federal agency within a hundred miles of the capital.
Aspiring Author Dean Conway is the last person Lieutenant Commander
Murphy Thornton wants to spend his Saturday afternoon when they end up
at the same wedding reception table. While their wives tend to
bridesmaid duties, Murphy is trapped listening to Dean’s latest
work-in-project—completing the manuscript of an investigative journalist
who’d disappeared months earlier.
“She was number twelve,” Dean says.
“Twelve?” Murphy asks.
“Twelve witnesses connected to or investigating The Nutcracker shooting have died either in an accident or suicide.”
Two days later, Dean dies suddenly―but not before sending a text message to Murphy:
“13”
Guest Post
–
An Author
By Any Other Name ….
By Lauren Carr (aka
Jack’s wife, Tristan’s Mom, Marilyn Mayhem, and Beast Master)
Occasionally, I
receive an email from an author terrified of using Facebook, the Internet, or
any social media for fear of friends and relatives identifying them. Once, I
received an email from an author afraid to promote his upcoming book. “I have
relatives out there who I don’t want to find me,” he said.
I’m certain there’s a
great story behind this, but he refused to tell me.
I was surprised when I
first started conducting workshops in using social media to discover that many
writers are terrified of promoting their books online for fear of their friends
and family finding out that they’re published authors. So, I offer this
solution: Use a Pen Name!
Read on to learn about
my not-so-secret identity.
My husband has been the financial director at our church for
over twenty years. Yep, this mystery writer, who spends her days researching
how to kill people is a middle-aged church lady. Since I am somewhat a local
celebrity, our church’s gift shop carries my books. While we don’t endorse
murder, my mysteries are clean of profanity, graphic violence, and explicit sex.
Therefore, our senior pastor (a fan) allows my titles to be sold in our
bookstore.
One afternoon, I was coming down the hall outside my
husband’s office when I heard our office manager telling a woman, “You really
should ask Lauren Carr about that. She might be able to help you.”
“Lauren Carr?” the woman replied. “Do you have her number?”
“Of course,” Jill answered. “She’s Jack’s wife.”
Hearing my name, I stepped into the office and a woman, a
church member who I had known for years, turned around. When she saw me she
said, “That’s not Lauren. That’s Marilyn.”
Laughing, Jill explained, “She’s all three of them. Lauren
Carr is her pen name. She’s also Jack’s wife. He calls her Marilyn Mayhem. But
her real name is Terri.”
The woman’s eyes got wide. “Jack is married to Lauren Carr!”
Judging by her expression, you would have thought I was Nora Roberts (another
author that uses a pen name) living undercover as a middle aged church lady
called Marilyn by her close friends.
My true identity is not exactly a state secret. Yep, Lauren
Carr, Jack’s wife Marilyn (which is another story), Tristan’s Mom, Beast Master
to two spoiled rotten German shepherds—they would all be me.
Pen names are nothing new. Authors have been using them for
centuries. Some names are famous: Mark Twain was really Samuel Clemens and Dr.
Seuss was Theodor Geisel. Ann Landers was Esther Pauline Friedman. O. Henry was
William Sydney Porter.
Why would an author change his or her name to hide his or
her identity from the real world rather than step forth and take all the glory
they deserve for having completed the daunting task of writing a book?
There could be any number of reasons:
In Mary Ann Evans’ case, she was writing at a time when
books written by men were more successful than those written by female authors.
So Evans assumed a man's name (George Eliot) to relate better with her readers.
Another author I had worked with used a pen name because his
first book, fiction-based-on-fact, said some not so nice things about some real
people and he wanted to hide his identity. During my career, I have met more
than one writer considering the use of pen names for just this reason.
In the case of Stephen King (Yes, even Stephen King used a
pen name!) he didn’t want to risk saturating the market with Stephen King
books. At the beginning of Stephen King's career, publishers limited authors to
one book a year. In order to increase his publishing, he convinced his
publisher, to print a series of novels under a pseudonym, Richard Bachman.
My reason for using the pen name of Lauren Carr is not quite
so grand, or even interesting. Frankly, I don’t like the name Terri. I never
did. That’s why my husband calls me Marilyn. (No, that is not my middle name. … It’s a long story.) When I was
growing up, I realized that since I wrote fiction, which is not real, then I
was free to take on a not-real name and I could be any one I wanted.
What a kick!
I thought long and hard about my name. I gave as much
thought to it as an expectant mother, because that was who I was going to be,
even if only on the cover of a book. I chose Lauren because my sister’s name is
Karen. I was convinced that if my mother was thinking straight, that Lauren,
not Terri, would have naturally followed Karen. Don’t ask me why or how I came
to this conclusion, I just did. Carr was my late stepfather’s last name.
So, I became Lauren Carr, a pen name that I have had longer
than my real name. I was Lauren Carr before I married my husband and took on
his name. Little did I realize that as my career has grown, that Lauren Carr
would become a whole other identity, which is also a kick.
Is it fun? Sure is.
A few of years ago, I wrote a mystery dinner theater in the
small town where we have lived for close to a quarter of a century. I hosted
the event. During the performances, I would be introduced as Lauren Carr to the
audience. Jaws did drop. Many people in the audience had read Lauren Carr
books, written by the local author, but they didn’t know Tristan’s mom and
Jack’s wife wrote those murder mysteries. “She seems so normal!”
Other questions that writers considering using pen names ask
me:
What about when
customers write checks? Do you have to make them sign them under your real
name? Check with your bank. When I first started making public appearances,
I contacted my bank and explained the situation, which they thought was cool. This
bank said they would accept checks made out to my pen name as long as I
deposited the whole amount into my account, which is under my real name.
Yet, when we opened
an account at a different bank, this one stated that they would not take a
check made out to Lauren Carr because Lauren Carr is not a real person.
Since then, my husband, who is also my business manager, set
up a company to handle all of my writing and publishing business. So now, I
have people make checks out to the company name instead of my pen name.
Post Office: Let
the post office and your mail carrier know that mail addressed to your pen name
is for you. Otherwise, it might be returned as wrong address.
Email Address:
Very simple. Many people who don't have multiple identities have more than one email
address. I have one email that I use for my personal accounts, one for Lauren
Carr for my writing business, and yet another for my social media accounts
(which I rarely check). I get more emails to Lauren Carr than I do for my real
identity.
I also have different signature lines set up in Outlook. If
it has to do with writing, the signature line is from Lauren Carr, author. If
it is a grocery list to my husband, it is Marilyn. Terri doesn’t have a
signature line.
Social Media: For
book promotion, I have a Lauren Carr account and a separate personal account
for my personal life. Not too long ago, a friend said that she had to friend
Lauren Carr because I never used my personal account.
However, I don’t put truly personal information out there on
the social media. The foremost reason I use it for promotion. Therefore,
never—I repeat—never put anything
personal out there on the Internet that will reflect poorly on your public
image. Example: You have a fight with your husband—don’t go onto Facebook to
announce that you are married to a doofus and then provide a blow-by-blow
account of your side of the fight. That’s not going to sell books and will
alienate some of your readers. Constantly think about your public image and how
you want to present yourself. Don’t upload that video of you wearing the beer
hat and dancing naked on the kitchen table while singing “I’m a Little Tea
Cup.”
Security is a big thing that most authors are concerned
about in using social media. We have all heard stories about maniacs hunting
down people who they have been following on the Internet. A few years ago, I
received a phone call at home from someone who had found my mailing address on
the internet. He knew he lived in the same town where I lived and GoogleMapped
it. He claimed he lived only a few streets from me. After a few long emails
from him and phone conversations, I went on the Internet and removed my address
from everywhere I could find it.
Make an effort to not give away too much about your personal
life even if you use a pen name to hide from long lost relatives. I don’t post
pictures of my house. I refrain from posting pictures of my son and my husband.
Not too long ago a reader who realized she lived in the same town I did posted
questions on my timeline on Facebook trying to find out where I lived and if we
knew the same people. At one point, when she had put it together, instead of
sending me a message off-line, she posted on Facebook “Are you …” I refused to say yeah or nay. If she had sent
a message off-line instead of my timeline where everyone could read it, I would
have answered her.
What’s the point, or the fun, of having a pen name if you
don’t get to live behind a veil of mystery? As an author with a pen name, you
can be whoever you want to be.
Are you a middle-aged church lady on the outside with a
young adult cozy writer buried deep inside you? Or maybe you’re a shy
kindergarten teacher harboring a thrilling romantic suspense author behind
those reading glasses.
Then maybe you might want to unleash your alter-ego and give
her a name.
It’ll be fun!
Meet the Author:
Lauren Carr is the international
best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Chris Matheson
Cold Case, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty-five titles across
three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike
rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include
mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and
humor.
A popular speaker, Lauren is also
the owner of Acorn Book Service, the umbrella under which falls iRead
Book Tours. She lives with her husband and two spoiled rotten German
Shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Tour Schedule:
June 8 – She Just Loves Books – audiobook review / giveaway
June 9 – Mystery Suspense Reviews – audiobook review / author interview / giveaway
June 10 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – audiobook review / guest post / giveaway
June 10 - T's Stuff – audiobook review / guest post / giveaway
June 11 – Sefina Hawke's Books – audiobook review
June 11 - Bound 4 Escape – audiobook review / giveaway
June 12 – Splashes of Joy – book spotlight / guest post / author interview / giveaway
June 12 - Nighttime Reading Center – book spotlight / giveaway
June 12 - Locks, Hooks and Books – audiobook review / guest post / giveaway
June 16 – Dab of Darkness Audiobook Reviews – audiobook review /giveaway
June 17 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
June 17 - Blooming with Books - audiobook review / giveaway
June 19 – Stephanie Jane – book spotlight / giveaway
June 22 – Hall Ways Blog – audiobook review / giveaway
June 23 – Books for Books – audiobook review
June 24 – JBronder Book Reviews – audiobook review / guest post / giveaway
June 25 – Thoughts in Progress – audiobook review / giveaway
Enter the Giveaway:
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