I find it deliciously intriguing that Miranda James is a male author posing as a female author.
“After all those years as a woman hearing not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough … I woke up one more and thought, I’m enough.” – Anna Quindlen
And Ain’t It Great
I nearly bust a gut laughing when I discovered that Miranda James, who writes the “cozy” Cat in the Stack mysteries that I enjoy reading, was actually a male author.
Shades of George Eliot and Harper Lee, I thought. George and Lee were just two former female authors who used male pseudonyms for a better chance of getting published and read. Eliot, who was the author of such Victorian era books as “Silas Marner” (1861) and “Middlemarch (1871), was actually Mary Ann Evans; And Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is actually Nelle Harper Lee.
Nelle Harper Lee is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, November 5, 2007 — Wikipedia photo
Other early day authors who used male pseudonyms included Louisa May Alcott, who wrote as A.M. Barnard before “Little Women” was published under her own name; The Bronte sisters, who first published under the names of Currer Bell (the first editions of “Jane Eyre”), and Ellis Bell (the first editions of “Wurhering Heights”); and Karen Blixen, who wrote “Out of Africa” as Isak Dinesen.
I guess just as these women writers thought to get more attention as males, author Dean James, AKA Miranda James, realized readers of cozies might be more attracted to mysteries in this category written by a female.
I suspect he’s right. What do you think?
Blog pick of the day.
Bean Pat: Queen of the Gypsies http://tinyurl.com/p7m4gog I read blogs because of all the trivia I learn. And this one intrigued me. I’ll stop by the next time I’m in Meridian, Mississippi. I love the early-day motorless version of my RV Gypsy Lee, and wondered what it would be like to travel the country in that.
Pat Bean's blog 
harper lee on first reference, not lee harper — stupid waanabe editors!
I always thought Harper Lee was a woman, I think … I don’t recall ever thinking she wasn’t, but maybe that’s just me.
Mary Shelly originally published “Frankenstein” without any author’s name at all, for the same reasons.
It’s all a mystery to me, is it a good book? the only place to start.
Jim
I like to read cozy mysteries, because they focus less on blood and gore, and most are written by women. But I like the thrillers written by such male authors as Dan Brown, too. It all depends on my mood of the day Jim But, you’re right. If it’s a good book, I don’t care which sex wrote it.
Thank you, thank you Charlie. You can be my editor any time. It’s corrected now.
Dean James has a point. I tend to read women mystery authors because they are usually not so graphic or violent. “The Cat in the Stacks Mystery” does not sound like something written by a man.
I thought so, too Joyce. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks so much for the Bean Pat. It’s an honor to be in such illustrious company. And who can resist the Queen of the Gypsies? ~James @gallivance.net
I certainly couldn’t, especially that wagon. Great blog, and you’re welcome.