A literary history of eighteen authors from the 19th and 20th centuries and their famous pseudonyms. Exploring the fascinating stories of more than a dozen authorial impostors across several centuries and cultures, Carmela Ciuraru plumbs the creative process and the darker, often crippling aspects of fame. Only through the protective guise of Lewis Carroll could a shy, half-deaf Victorian mathematician at Oxford feel free to let his imagination run wild. The three weird sisters from Yorkshire—the Brontës—produced instant bestsellers that transformed them into literary icons, yet they wrote under the cloak of male authorship. Bored by her aristocratic milieu, a cigar-smoking, cross-dressing baroness rejected the rules of propriety by having sexual liaisons with men and women alike, publishing novels and plays under the name George Sand. Highly accessible and engaging, these provocative stories reveal the complex motives of writers who harbored secret identities—sometimes playfully, sometimes with terrible anguish and tragic consequences. Part detective story, part exposé, part literary history, Nom de Plume is an absorbing psychological meditation on identity and creativity. Praise for Nom de Plume A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year “Each page affords sparkling facts and valuable insights into . . . the eternally mysterious, often tormented interface between life and literature.” —Elif Batuman “A richly documented literary excursion into the inner, secret lives of some of our favorite writers.” —Joyce Carol Oates “You are on the second to last page . . . and wishing you weren’t because this book is such great fun.” —San Francisco Chronicle “[An] engrossing, well-paced literary history. . . . It’s biography on the quick, and done well.” —Bookforum

For as many reasons as there are days in a year... a century... or millennia, some novelists choose to write incognito. By using an alias, pen name; or, as the French so beautifully say, nom de plume, they'll cloak their true identities. The nom de plume, while convenient, does present a bit of a conundrum for the writer. Whose backstory or biography should an author employ introducing themselves to their reading public? Their own, or their literary double's. Enter the creative mind. The very nature of a fiction writer is to write fiction, is it not? Indeed, it is. And, so... Shellam's story begins in Australia as Siobhán Aoife O'Shea, the only child of Irish-born parents. Growing up on a remote farm, her young life is idyllic. Though isolated from everything beyond the farm, Siobhán's life is filled with work, her books, and her parents' love. As a young teen, tragedy ensues, forcing her to survive on her own and learn to live in a strange and mysterious world. In this coming-of-age story, Djuna Shellam—nom de plume—author of The Em Suite Series, shares the early years of an unconventional life in Vol 1 of her memoir series, The True-Life Adventures of Djuna Shellam. Beginning in the Victoria countryside, her story continues to Melbourne, VIC. Siobhán enters uncharted territory that's fraught with challenges, discoveries, love, and heartache. As she gains a footing in her new world, solved mysteries and shared secrets create lifelong bonds in the gripping story of an extraordinary life.

Devoted homemaker and mother C.B Lyons hadn’t known she was living a lie, right up until the moment when she caught her husband cheating. Betrayed and then divorced, with her dreams of a big, happy family smashed to pieces, C.B. takes her toddler son to Heritage Springs, Kentucky, to be near family. Typing manuscripts for a famous romance author seems like the perfect job until she discovers the hidden truth about the reserved, reclusive writer. Madison Mallory is a best-selling romance author with a secret. “She” is a “he.” The original Madison is actually in a nursing home. Her son, Jamie Madison, is determined she’ll have the best care possible. Even if that means quitting his job and taking up his mother’s pen name to keep the romance—and the money needed for her care—flowing. Writing about romance is one thing. Making it work in real life is harder for Jamie. C.B. has good reasons to distrust men, especially sexy ones with piercing blue eyes. When C.B.’s ex wants his family back, can the author and his assistant find a way to write their own happily-ever-after ending.

Lola Montez runs from the haunting memories of Spain. She meets Franz Liszt; performs her racy Spider Dance at the Paris Opéra; then meets the man of her dreams, a friend of Alexandre Dumas. Shadowy figures try to stop another venture: writing a novel about a feisty female character. In the heady atmosphere of the left bank, will Lola survive?

It's total robot war! In development to be a major motion picture, Ashley Wood's World War Robot tells the tale of a dwindling band of humans and robots who face off in a battle that will likely end humanity as we know it -- on Earth, on the Moon, and on Mars, too! Badass battles, really intense human/robot drama, and even a little black humor and political intrigue are the order of the day in this oversize epic that collects both previous books in one deluxe hardcover volume along with nealry 50 pages of new material.

Uncover the secret to financial success with advice from self-made millionaire Felix Dennis. Felix Dennis is an expert at proving people wrong. Starting as a college dropout with no family money, he created a publishing empire, founded Maxim magazine, made himself one of the richest people in the UK, and had a blast in the process. How to Get Rich is different from any other book on the subject because Dennis isn’t selling snake oil, investment tips, or motivational claptrap. He merely wants to help people embrace entrepreneurship, and to share lessons he learned the hard way. He reveals, for example, why a regular paycheck is like crack cocaine; why great ideas are vastly overrated; and why “ownership isn't the important thing, it’s the only thing.”

In a hugely ambitious study which crosses continents, languages, and almost a century, Gregory Woods identifies the ways in which homosexuality has helped shape Western culture. Extending from the trials of Oscar Wilde to the gay liberation era, this book examines a period in which increased visibility made acceptance of homosexuality one of the measures of modernity. Woods shines a revealing light on the diverse, informal networks of gay people in the arts and other creative fields. Uneasily called “the Homintern” (an echo of Lenin’s “Comintern”) by those suspicious of an international homosexual conspiracy, such networks connected gay writers, actors, artists, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, politicians, and spies. While providing some defense against dominant heterosexual exclusion, the grouping brought solidarity, celebrated talent, and, in doing so, invigorated the majority culture. Woods introduces an enormous cast of gifted and extraordinary characters, most of them operating with surprising openness; but also explores such issues as artistic influence, the coping strategies of minorities, the hypocrisies of conservatism, and the effects of positive and negative discrimination. Traveling from Harlem in the 1910s to 1920s Paris, 1930s Berlin, 1950s New York and beyond, this sharply observed, warm-spirited book presents a surpassing portrait of twentieth-century gay culture and the men and women who both redefined themselves and changed history.

Readers will be delighted by the intimate reflections on life and poetry found in "First Loves". Affording close-up views of today's best poets, the book also (re)introduces readers to the timeless poems they selected. Featuring many Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners, the book includes essays by Seamus Heaney, Robert Pinsky, Jorie Graham, Yusef Komunyakaa, and many others.

A deathbed confession ignites a globe-spanning race for answers in this page-turning thriller described as The Da Vinci Code meets The Bourne Identity. “They didn’t have to kill him…He never drank from the altar of bones.” Cryptic dying words from a murdered homeless woman in present-day San Francisco unlock a long-buried secret that alters history. Now, a pair of ruthless assassins are sent to cut the few living “loose ends.” And a young, resourceful woman on the run encounters a determined man with his own connected past and vengeful agenda. Forced to partner for survival and answers, a fast-paced and deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, whisking the duo from the winding streets of Paris to the faded palaces of Budapest to the frozen lakes of Mongolia...where destiny, passion, and further betrayal await them. Jam-packed with pulse-pounding action and featuring a high-profile assassination, a doomed Hollywood legend, and guardians of an ancient religious icon housing a secret others will kill to possess, The Altar of Bones is certain to leave readers stunned and breathless.