Writing Update: “Why a Pen Name?”

Happy New Year! If you follow me on social media, you may have noticed that I am now using the name “Aubrey Reiss Taylor.” This is something I’ve been toying with since I began writing and I finally decided to go through with it. There are three major reasons for these changes.

I WRITE GERMAN-PERSPECTIVE FICTION

I realized early on that I enjoy writing from the German perspective. Occasionally, I have thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be great if my pen name identified me with my German heritage?” However, over the last few years I have been in the process of publishing a series. Not an opportune time to change my name.

The idea didn’t go away, and with the beginning of a new series, I thought it might be time to start fresh.

My father has worked extensively on our family history, and there are many surnames from which I could choose: Kniss, Schwarzmueller, Dauenhauer, Schmidt, Schaffer, Scheib to name a few. However, “Reiss” (or actually, Reiß) stands out because it is the German version of my maiden name. Being a part of the Rice family formed a large part of my identity growing up, so it follows that I should choose that name.

Interestingly, the Reiss family hailed from the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), from two towns we happened to stop in on our 2022 and 2023 trips to Germany. At the time, I didn’t know that this is where Josef Reiss and his family had lived before moving to America.

EDGY CHRISTIAN OR GENERAL MARKET?

When I wrote and published my first book, Sani: The German Medic, I was primarily concerned with writing something that could be sold on the church bookshelves. I thought for sure I would always want to classify my work as Christian Fiction.

Over time, my writing has become more gritty. There are certain things you will NEVER find in my books, but the question still crops up, “Am I going to stumble or offend my readers if I publish this book as Christian Fiction?”

I think it comes down to expectations. Yes, the Christian market is changing. There are some books out there marketed as Christian that have surprising and even unwanted content in them. On the other hand, there are a lot of subjects Christian publishers won’t touch. I’m an indie, so it doesn’t matter to me what the publishers are doing, but reader expectations do matter. I want readers to be clear that I am no longer publishing specifically Christian fiction, and that they may run into things they don’t like.

I don’t want to be limited by the current trends in Christian Fiction. When you look at Christianity throughout the world, you realize that Conservative American Christianity isn’t the only standard, even though we treat it as though it is. The Bible addresses so much of the grittiness of life–it speaks to real people with real problems and doesn’t worry about whether it is appropriate for its audience or not.

My books will always contain the imprint of my faith, but the General Market is a far better fit for me. My heart is to write about the cold hard realities of the lives of people outside the church, because honestly, I relate to them. While my books will still contain a few good Christian characters, I need to be free to write about the things that go on in lives outside of that small, select group of people.

AND NOW, I DIGRESS…

Can God use Christian Fiction to speak to the heart of someone who does not believe in Him? Of course. Are they less likely to pick up a book that is clearly Christian Fiction? Yes, though I wouldn’t discount His ability to make it desirable to them anyway.

When we major on the minors (am I allowed to drink? am I allowed to listen to secular music?) of course we are going to turn people off. It gets worse when we become overly focused on other issues such as politics and sexuality. For example, see my post about Christian Richter for a discussion of why I felt it was important to write about a character who was same-sex attracted.

No doubt General Fiction readers will discover my faith pretty easily, perhaps not through my new books, but through my other publications. Using the umbrella “Aubrey Taylor Books” makes it easier for me to keep all my books under one heading, without creating two entirely different author identities, social media accounts, and so forth.

If I decide to publish more specifically Christian books in the future (for example, a collection of my Devotionals for the Heart submissions, which I am considering compiling), I will probably still retain the name Aubrey Taylor. Although…

A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY?

If you can believe it, there is another Aubrey Taylor out there writing books. Apparently, she hails from somewhere in Canada. Her books are very different than mine, but I suppose there will always be a chance that people find her when they’re looking for me, or vice versa. Its unfortunate that I share a name with another author, and I wish I had thought to look into that before I first published Sani. In the end though, its not all that important. If one takes a mere second to look, they will easily see that we write very different things.

SO, WHAT’S NEXT?

Well, my upcoming release, Dearest Gunter, is available for pre-order! This is not the book I originally expected to be releasing this year, but as I was writing that one, this story begged to be told. It is my first true WWI novel:

“Gunter and Lani are far too young to know what they want from life. When the need to fight for the Fatherland gets beneath Gunter’s skin, Lani finds herself caught between her German upbringing and family ties to France. As Gunter’s letters from the front go unanswered, he finds affection in the arms of another, but it is love for his nation that won’t let him rest.”

Along with Dearest Gunter releasing on March 28th, my other scheduled publications include a Brave Authors novella in October, and a Beyond the Bookery novella in November. Both will be part of anthologies in collaboration with other authors.

Being involved in two novella anthologies this year has upended my series timetable a little bit, but I’m OK with that. The Brave Authors novella will serve as a bridge between Dearest Gunter and DG‘s sequel, plus, when you purchase it, you will also have the opportunity to read novellas by the two very talented writers, Jennifer Q. Hunt and Hannah Hood Lucero.

Stay tuned for much more regarding Dearest Gunter, as well as book and film reviews, and a few new posts in my Wandering Around Germany series. I also hope to have new guest authors this year.

Now is also a great time to find me on your favorite platform:

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