Monday, July 14, 2014

Monday Meandering

Wow. It's been a busy and wonderful three weeks with my oldest son and his family. We did a lot of fun stuff:
  • Got to see How to Train Your Dragon 2.
  • Went to the Utah Arts Festival. Pretty cool stuff there, especially the aerialists.
  • Went to the rodeo. Haven't done that in a bazillion years. It rained on us.
  • Went to a baseball game on July 3rd and got a great fireworks show. Scared the crap out of my grandson because we were so close. It had sprinkled on us earlier but it stopped before the fireworks.
  • Had a BBQ and fireworks for the 4th.
















  • Saw a theater-in-the-round presentation of Man of La Mancha.
  • Introduced the grandkids (who live in China) to movies like E.T., Shanghai Noon, and Secondhand Lions.
  • They did other fun stuff like mountain hikes, sleepovers with old family friends, confidence course, and a visit to one of those bouncy places.
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Reading
I got some reading done. Here are the books I've read so far this year:


I actually listened to another book that Goodreads wouldn't let me list since I'd already read it once before and reviewed it. That was Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings. And it was a behemoth. But I read it in advance of the second book that came out in January.

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Pen Name?
The timing was good for this visit because I'd run into a roadblock with my next project and wasn't sure what to do. After talking about it with some writerly friends, I decided to go back to another project I wrote a couple of years ago and needed to be edited. This is very different than my previous books because it's YA and a fantasy. Good decision to shift to it! It's been a great break, and I'm excited to get to work on it when the vacation is over.

Question, though. I'm wondering if I should use a pen name for this YA fantasy series. Would people who like my contemporary adventure romances be put off  by this change in age group and genre?

What do you think?

38 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a fantastic time with your grandkids. I want to watch the How to Train Your Dragon movies.

    I'd use your real name. It's cool that you're branching out as a writer genre-wise. Maybe some who like one would try the other genre. This way they'd know what else you write.

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    1. I love those movies. The soundtrack's awesome to. I had to buy it for the first film.

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  2. Looks like you've had a fun summer!
    I know authors who use pen names and those who don't. Either way works. Maybe ask those who've written in two genres why those to use or not use a pen name.

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  3. Use your real name. You're already building your readership so it doesn't make sense to start from scratch. I would love to read your YA fantasy books.

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    1. The series stars my grandkids. They've love them for sure. :D

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  4. sounds like you had some fun times!

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  5. Sounds like fun times all around, Secondhand Lions is a great movie. Wow, a lot of reading done too. As for pen names, up to you. I go with pat hatt for the kids books and patrick hatt for the novels, don't seem to confuse anyone.

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  6. I say use your real name, but if you wanted to differentiate between the YA and romance, then use a variation like just Donna Weaver or D.K. Weaver. It's a personal choice. You'll have to rebrand and remarket yourself which I think might be stressful. I think a good portion of your current readers would willing pick up a YA book by you.

    I know for me, when I branch out into a new genre, I will use the same name like Catherine Coulter did (she went from Historical Romance to FBI thrillers) simply because of the time involved. I don't feel like I have enough time as it is. Good luck with whatever decision you make and glad you're having fun writing again :)

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  7. Looks like great fun Donna. And yes, our youngest is startled easily so we have to be careful when fireworks and such sneak up on us.

    As far as a pen name, I don't think you will need one. I would guess it would likely be easier for those who just enjoy your writing to find you by real name--making it easier on them.

    Enjoy your monday.

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    1. It does make it easier. I know Stephanie Meijer released her science fiction book The Host under her name.

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  8. Janette Rallison writes YA, but as CJ Hill she writes mysteries. I think it helps readers to know what they're getting when you have a different name for a different genre.

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  9. Looks like you had a wonderful time with your family. Summers are the best. I can't believe you've read all those books this year!! I think you should forgo the pen name. Give your tried and true readers a taste of something different but let them know it's you:) I love when authors can write different genres and for different age groups. It shows they have extraordinary talent!

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    1. I'd have to be quite clear about the genre change though

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  10. The use of a pen name can be rather personal. I write my clean romance, Slightly titilating romance and fantasy/sci-fi/paranormal under my Angela Brown name. However, for my naughty, graphic erotica, I chose a pen name so there's some seperation for not just my readers but for me.

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    1. FOr me it wouldn't be a case of running younger people to read the two genres.

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  11. I say go with your name, not a pen name since you are already so established!
    What a fun time with your family for the holiday! I love rodeo's, but this year I didn't go to one on the 4th like usual.
    Quite the impressive reading list!

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    1. That's always the challenge with going with a pen name, having to reestablish yourself.

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  12. You have a beautiful family, Donna! I'm glad you're have such a wonderful summer. I agree with the majority who think you should keep you're real name when switching to YA. Unless you've thought of a fabulous Rowling-esque name that you're dying to use, such as Quillina de Plume ;)

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  13. How often do the grandkids come stateside? Do they have any culture shock?

    The name change thing is tough. I know Jodi Picoult and Richard Patterson have both branched down the age range for some of their books (Picoult, I think, does them as a co-writer with others), but they obviously have the clout where they can do what they want. I like the 'D.K. Weaver' idea from featherpencetera--that could work.

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    1. Yeah. If I do this, I don't want to wander too far away.

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  14. Sounds like the perfect summer visit. :)

    And cool about the YA fantasy. Not sure about a pen name. Since you don't write offensive or even explicit adult stuff, I don't think you need to worry about any YA overlap in readers. And, heck, the more that's out there under your real name the more people will find you. That's a good thing. :)

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    1. Good point. But I wonder if they'd read my SciFi. lol

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  15. Oh my goodness... you guys got to do so many fun things! I love to watch aerialists. They are amazing!

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    1. And I was impressed with the older women who were doing it.

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  16. I've used the same name for all my genres, but I know many that have pen name for each. It gets confusing for me to keep track and once the bottle's open there seems to be no going back. :-)

    I'm having a giveaway this week. You're invited if you'd like to play :-)

    Anna from Shout with Emaginette

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  17. Fun activities and those are lots of books. You can relist a book for the current reading challenge by changing "date read." I do it all the time to meet my challenges. I don't think readers will mind if you kept your name.

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  18. Looks like a lot of fun! You must be a speed reader. I enjoyed Hope's Watch and reviewed it. Great story!!

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  19. I saw HTTYD 2, too. Loved it. It's totally NA. lol

    I think you should be okay since you don't have steamy hot sex scenes in your adult books. It would be more of a problem for me.

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  20. You've been busy, and what a pretty snap of all the books you've read. I'm kind of on the fence about pen names. I'm curious as to what you'll decide.

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  21. I still haven't seen that movie and I have to do it! You reminded me that I haven't been to a rodeo in ages. Must get out and do some new things. Looks like you had a great time.

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  22. A wonderful busyness! I want to see the drago movie.

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