Pseudonymous Synchronicity

I have lots of authors on my ‘must buy immediately in hardcover’ list, and one such author is Lisa Goldstein.

I was thinking today that it was about time for her to have a new novel out, since it had been quite a while since The Alchemist’s Door, so I popped over to her web page to see if there was any news.

And, once I got there I got a bit of a surprise while reading The Brazen Hussies Newsletter for this month:

This year, the biggest news comes from Lisa Goldstein, who reveals a deep, dark secret. (Well, maybe not so dark, but definitely a secret.)

Lisa writes:

“As some of you on this mailing list know, this past year I published a novel under a pseudonym. I promised several people on the list that I would tell them my pseudonym before the hardcover went of print. Since the paperback is coming out in March, I figure now is the time. The book is Daughter of Exile, and my pseudonym is Isabel Glass (I borrowed the name Isabel from Point Isabel, the dog park where I walk my dog.)

My editor wanted me to use a pseudonym for Daughter of Exile because it’s a little different from other books I’ve written. In this novel, I wanted to write something ambitious that reached back to the roots of high fantasy %u2014 myths, folktales, and stories of people coming into power and responsibility. Naturally the book was labeled “Romantic Fantasy.” Because of that, reviewers more or less ignored it. (There were a few brave, notable exceptions. Patricia McKillip called it “an intriguing and fast-paced journey,” which made me very happy. Kirkus Review described it as “ingeniously plotted, tellingly detailed.”)

Currently, Daughter of Exile is available in hardcover. The paperback will be out in March. And in July, The Divided Crown, a second novel by Isabel Glass, will be coming out in hardcover.”

In a marvelous bit of synchronicity, I got a package of books today (on which I may say more later) that included Daughter of Exile. I had ordered on the basis of a particularly strong recommendation from a friend–a recommendation that had to be strong to get me past the cover picture/blurb and marketing of the book as a ‘fantasy for romance novel readers’–but not with anything like the excitement I would have had for a new Goldstein.