This week, last year, my first full-length erotic romance, Alien Communion, was released from Liquid Silver Books.

The reception for Alien Communion surprised me. I was honestly pleased to receive very good reviews for it, and solid sales (which indicate people were interested in reading it). It still makes me smile to have the reality brought home that people are actually –gasp– interested in reading one of my stories.

I’ve always been one of those “writer’s writers” - I write because I love the structure and framework of story, of rooting around in the thesaurus to find just the right word, and of the thrill of stringing a story through from start to the high of typing the words “The End.” And for those special times when the characters take over and I’m just the stenographer (and not all my stories are like that, so I value very preciously the ones that are).

That I can share the products of my love affair with prose is an honor and a privilege. If you have read my stories, thank you. If you’ve just found your way here through a link or a whim and are reading these words here, thank you, too. You’re part of the world that allows me to live my dream. If you’ve reviewed one of my stories, I also thank you, deeply and from the bottom of my heart. No matter how you felt about the book or story, the fact that you took the time to share your opinion is a gift I value.

HAPPY “BIRTHDAY” XANDRA

You’re probably also aware, if you’ve been reading this blog, that ‘Xandra Gregory’ is a nom de pixel. Xandra is actually around three years old this week. When I submitted Alien Communion, I knew I couldn’t publish it under my own name for several reasons, the most pragmatic of which is that my name’s just not that sexy. So I “exoticised” some family middle names by running them by my critique partner. Xandra Gregory is the result.

Among my non-writer friends who know who I am and what I write, at least two of them have asked if I have a different “persona” as Xandra. The answer to that is both yes and no. If you know me, you know that in person, I’m a lot more goofy than the image of an erotic romance writer whose first name begins with an X. Writing is my job (and I love my job), and when I’m Xandra, I’m “at work” so to speak. So when I’m Xandra, I’m a bit more…professional. So far that means I haven’t embarrassed myself in public. Here’s to hoping that streak continues. Other than that…I’m pretty much a WYSIWYG person, and I’m a lousy actress. The real me is hard to suppress for very long. I toyed with the idea of trying to cultivate the whole glamorous “erotica writer” persona–I remember reading something in my teens about Barbara Cartland lounging on a divan in a glamour gown and dictating her novels. Because primarily, I think it’d be kickass-cool to have a divan. Glamour gowns inevitably require pantyhose, and don’t respond well to small, often-sticky hands constantly touching. Plus, my life goes too fast for me to sit down during the day, much less lounge. But I wouldn’t make it five minutes without blowing it, so Internets, you get the real me, a little more polite, when you find Xandra.

Pseudonyms have their practical uses, too. I love making those sweeping ‘X’s at booksignings, and I’m comforted in knowing that folks aren’t walking around with bookmarks or CD cases that have the same name I sign my checks with.

They say on the Internets, you can be anybody. But sooner or later, you can’t help being who you are. Xandra and I, we’re pretty tight. So the least I can do for the old girl is give her a birthday wish. She and I, we’re a lot alike, except she has better manners. And flatter abs. Yeah, definitely flatter abs.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.