Last year an agent dumped me because she didn’t think she could represent me as a historical writer if I also wrote horror and fantasy. I think maybe she should have done her research before she offered to represent me, but I digress.

I am now in the position where I have a horror novella and a historical novel both coming out in 2024. Although themes in my story are generally consistent, the hard genre certainly is not.

Both stories have to do with the agency of women. Both stories have queer characters and elements. Both stories even have history as a major part of the story. Both of them even have witches.

But one story is about monsters and one is about knights. One deals with magic and the other with faith. One takes place in the fifteenth century and the other takes place in contemporary NYC.

So what I am grappling with right now is the decision to publish my historical fiction work under a pen name.

I am already published as a horror and fantasy author under LCW Allingham so it wouldn’t make sense to change my horror name, but my debut strictly historical novel could be under a variation of my name.

I have received completely contradictory advice, and I have a hard time deciding myself because I have quite a few historical fantasy and historical horror novels in the works, so if I became Elsie Allingham, historical novelist, and LCW Allingham, fantasy horror author, wtf would I publish those under under?

Yet I understand the need for a pen name. Not everyone likes horror and fantasy. Not everyone likes hard historical. If someone reads Lady and then picks up the (TITLE REDACTED) Novella thinking they will get something similar, they might not appreciate the ways that are alike so much as be appalled by the ways they are not.

I never have been able to contain myself into one space, one world, one idea or one genre. I want to write what I want to write whether it’s an epic saga or a quick dark jab to the heart, but I want to be considerate to the people who graciously allow me to tell them my stories.

So, what would be your preference as a reader? What would you suggest?