Guest Post and Giveaway: The Tide of War Blog Tour With L.A. Witt

Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/Lori A. Witt blog tour for The Tide of War!

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (including books written as L.A. Witt or Lauren Gallagher, excluding The Tide of War) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on June 28, 2015 and winners will be announced on June 29^th.  Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

How Many Names Does One Author Need?

Four, apparently.

As many of you may have noticed, The Tide of War is being released under a new pseudonym, Lori A. Witt. (Which is my real name. I’m not terribly creative about pen names.)  I already have loads of books out there as L.A. Witt and Lauren Gallagher, and my first book as Ann Gallagher is on the horizon. (And technically I have a fifth pen name—Diana Fyre’s first horror novel will be out sometime in 2016, but let’s stick with the ones who actually have books coming out this year.)

What gives, Lori???

So here’s what happened. When I first started publishing, I contracted a contemporary hetero romance, and decided to use my real name for that one. Shortly thereafter, I contracted my first erotica novel, and thought to myself, Hmm, maybe I should keep them separate, since erotica and erotic romance aren’t really the same thing. So, Lauren Gallagher sprang from my forehead.

Shortly after that, I sold my first gay romance. Now, if hetero erotica and hetero erotic romance should be separated, then gay romance was definitely a different niche. Time to come up with another name. By this point, the contract for my first book had fallen through, freeing up my real name. After perusing the ranks of gay romance authors at the time, I noticed it was commonplace for authors to use their initials and last name, so I tried it out and decided that L.A. Witt had a nice ring to it. Score. Another easy pen name.

The first two books came out, and Lori had her first lesson in branding. Namely—maintaining multiple pen names IS HARD. *whines* So when the next contract came down the pipe for a hetero romance, I said, you know what? Lauren Gallagher wrote that one too. I’m not doing three pen names. No way. Forget it.

This brings us to 2014. The Tide of War is done. I’ve got some other non-romance speculative fiction in the works. I can’t decide which pen name to use because, well, it’s not really L.A. Witt’s style, and it’s not really Lauren Gallagher’s style.

There I sat, scowling at my computer screen as the truth sank in—girlfriend, you need another name.

*cue diva fit*

Since I’d never actually used my real name for that romance that never saw the light of day, I went with Lori A. Witt. Simple. Easy to spell. Easy to remember. Awesome.

Fine. Three pen names. THREE. No more.

LOL.

That summer, along came a little plot bunny, and it wouldn’t be ignored. It also wouldn’t be an erotic romance. No, this one was a Christian novel. A sweet, gay, inspirational, romance.

Curious, I did an informal survey of my readers.

What would you think, I asked on Facebook, of a Christian romance with L.A. Witt’s name on it?

Once I assured people that I was not joking, the resounding consensus was exactly what I knew it would be.

Another pen name.

A fourth pen name.

A fourth. Freaking. Pen name.

So in August of this year, less than two months after Lori A. Witt’s debut in the speculative fiction arena, and about a week after L.A. Witt releases an all-male erotic ménage, Ann Gallagher will be releasing Lead Me Not.

Confused yet? Don’t worry—they’re all still on the same website, and they all share a blog, a Twitter account, and increasingly crowded name badges at conventions.

And by this time next year, I’ll probably be writing dark literary YA with magical realism in a Regency setting, and I’ll be banging my head against the wall over yet another pen name…

Author Bio: Lori A. Witt is the fourth corner of the Gallagher-Witt quad, and prefers to play in the genres of science fiction and fantasy over all that romance nonsense. Okay, so romance does show up sometimes, but these are the books she writes when she needs a change of pace. Sword and sorcery, spaceships, and just general weird nerdy goodness—Lori writes it all. Like the other members of the quad (L.A. Witt, Lauren Gallagher, and Ann Gallagher), Lori is in the process of relocating from Omahabad, Nebraskastan to the southwestern coast of Spain. In her spare time, she tries to stay out of the middle of L.A.’s and Lauren’s ongoing rivalry, while never missing a chance to trip Ann when she’s not paying attention.

Connect with Lori: Facebook | Website | Blog | Twitter

Blurb: Lieutenant Commander Kyle West is one of Earth Fleet’s greatest fighter pilots. Every day, he leads his squadron into battle over Earth’s cities in a seemingly endless war against a vicious alien race, defending his home and his loved ones.

Millions of miles away, the Fleet’s Elite Squadron attacks from another angle, engaging the enemy on its home turf. Casualties are high, and the Squadron needs more of the Fleet’s very best. But joining the Elite is a death sentence—a surety Kyle isn’t willing to face. Until a devastating attack wipes out the family he refused to leave.

Commander Andrei Dezhnyov, an Elite Squadron gunner, isn’t sure what to make of the cocky new American pilot. Kyle is equally uncertain about the snarly Russian, but as they warm up to each other, their tentative alliance becomes a deep bond—one that endangers them both when a daring and disobedient rescue reveals secrets that call into question everything they’ve ever believed about their enemy. Secrets that their superiors would kill to protect.

The Tide of War is available July 22^nd from Riptide Publishing.