Why the Nom de Plume?

Dear Maggie,

Why do you write under a pen name? Is it because of the sexy scenes?

Sincerely,

Shy in Shreveport

Dear Shy,

Not at all! I love writing the sexy scenes, and even the books I write under my given name Tabitha Lord have a little heat between sheets! When I started my writing journey almost a decade ago, I knew without a doubt that I’d write science fiction. I love the genre, I love tackling real-world problems in other-worldly settings, and as a huge Star Wars fan, science fiction just felt natural. You can read more about my Star Wars addiction HERE.

During Covid, when the world turned upside down, I had the urge to write something different, and romance topped the list. While I definitely enjoy writing the steamy stuff, I also enjoy the deeply emotional nature of the genre and the happily-ever-after endings that romance provides. When I tried my hand at it, I found a good bit of success.

While there’s some overlap between my speculative fiction fans and romance fans, the marketing and promotional work targets a different set of readers, and thus one of the first decisions I made was to use the pen-name Maggie Clare. With the advent of Maggie, I had to create and maintain two separate author platforms. The Maggie Clare platform looks and feels completely different from the Tabitha Lord Author platform, but I’ll admit, it’s fun! When I’m writing or interacting as Maggie, I actually feel more playful and flirty.

I’ve been asked where the name ‘Maggie Clare’ came from. Well, my grandmothers were two spunky ladies, very different from one another, but both avid readers. Unfortunately, they passed away before my writing career began, so I decided to honor them by using their first names to make up my pen-name. I think they’d get a kick out of it! Thanks for the great question. If you have a question for me, send an email to maggie@msmaggieclare.com and I’ll answer it on this blog.