Comments on: Masquerading as Male in Crime Writing: A Pseudonym Story

By: In the Media: 14th September 2014 | The Writes of Woman

In the Media: 14th September 2014 | The Writes of Woman — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 18:31:23 +0000

[…] a read if you haven’t seen it before, Eve Seymour on Women Writers, Women’s Books on why she chose to write behind a male pseudonym and Laura Miller in Slate on why today’s most exciting crime novelists are […]

By: I am a man (I am, I am!*) — she said | t upchurch

I am a man (I am, I am!*) — she said | t upchurch — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 07:09:03 +0000

[…] I caught up with this 2013 article by Eve Seymour: Masquerading as Male in Crime Writing: A Pseudonym Story. It starts like […]

By: tu

tu — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 05:08:31 +0000

Great article, but it’s a bit alarming that this is still headlining. Earlier this week I was chatting to someone about George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) and whether, 140 years later, JK Rowling used her initials to reduce gender bias. Ten more years on and we’re still here?
OK, writers have to eat, and perhaps the ‘coming out’ as female after acclaim with a male pseudonym makes the point, but we need to claim our turf and it would be nice if we could do it with little or no discussion: ‘here’s my work’. (I speak from the background of scientific writing; when I started, most managers were surprised to learn I wasn’t a secretary, and I was told off more than once for not wearing a skirt… all together now, SIGH.) I know journalists and fiction writers have been given the same deal.
We’re seeing some great, brave new female fiction writers coming through now (thanks, internet) and I hope to goodness that in twenty years’ time, this is on its way to becoming an historical issue.

By: Featuring Women Writers on WWWB 2013 - Women Writers, Women Books

Featuring Women Writers on WWWB 2013 - Women Writers, Women Books — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 14:05:56 +0000

[…] Random House – Lily Carmine Doris Lessing’s Little Known Poetry – C. Elizabeth Murray Masquerading as Male in Crime Writing: A Pseudonym Story – Eve Seymour Finding your Muse – Trisha Ashley Writing by Ear – Shanan Haislip […]

By: Women and Writing | Lynley Stace

Women and Writing | Lynley Stace — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 05:07:38 +0000

[…] Masquerading as Male in Crime Writing: A Pseudonym Story from Women Writers, Women Books […]

By: Catdownunder

Catdownunder — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 05:41:02 +0000

I am not a published writer so the question does not arise for me but I doubt it would anyway because I write mostly for children It seems to be an area where it seems to be quite acceptable to be female and write about boys. Why?

By: Sue Brown

Sue Brown — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 00:11:13 +0000

I wonder if we Brits still think of crime as a man’s world. I grew up reading crime/thrillers from the sixties and seventies, many of them James Bond style where men were men and women screamed.

I have read that female scifi writers also find it hard to be taken seriously. It depresses me as I thought we’d moved on from such hide-bound views.

In my own genre (gay romance), the influx of women writers has transformed the genre into a thriving and growing market, but there is still that element of ‘you can’t write that, you’re a girl’. We can and do. There are a number of female authors writing under male pen-names, especially those writing from the first wave of the genre.

I have considered a male pseudonym, or at least a gender-neutral one, and would actively look at it if I ventured into another genre but at the moment I don’t feel a female name hinders me too much.

By: K. A. Laity

K. A. Laity — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:11:34 +0000

I’m a noir writer and I find the same distressing habit: male readers who only read — and only praise! — male writers. Raymond Chandler had no problem singing the praises of Elizabeth Sanxay Holding, but the fact that he is idolised and she nearly forgotten tell us a lot.

I recently got a wonderful pull quote from a fellow thriller author, but it made me sigh a little that he only compared me to other women writers — *fantastic* females, but argh.

So, yeah — I have begun using a male pseud.

By: Lori Schafer

Lori Schafer — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 03:12:07 +0000

Very, very interesting, Eve. I suspect you’re right, of course; in your genre you will get more respect as a “male” writer than as a female one, and I think that’s a shame. For instance, my favorite author, Cornell Woolrich, wrote fantastic women and only so-so men. I think there’s something to be said, too, for not being too close to a character. That’s the beauty of writing, after all; you can put yourself into the shoes of a stranger and try to see the world from their perspective. The real proof, of course, is in how the book comes off – and if no one is picking up on your feminine identity, then clearly you’re doing a fine job of writing as a man!