Back from the silence! I have vanquished the Real Life Stress and am now back to the world of fun craziness. Big news first – my story “Drifter” has come out in a newly released anthology by Dark Oak Press called “Big Bad – An Anthology of Evil”. You can buy it in hardback, paperback, or for Kindle here from Amazon. 30 horror stories, including stories from writers here in Charlotte that I am so glad to call friends.
Drifter is sort of a twisted Bonnie and Clyde type story, with a touch of zombie. Because I love all things zombie. I had a lot of fun writing it but man, it was also nerve-wracking going through the process. I did not really know what to expect. Even having a story accepted, you still have to deal with the critique of an editor which made me want to run and hide under my bed covers in shame at the mistakes/changes pointed out. Which were perfectly valid and I agreed with. I had never used the Track Changes in Word before so the whole thing started to get a little messy. Argh. This was definitely a HUGE learning experience for me. All I know is that the next time I do this, I know how I will do it better.
One of the things I had to decide on was what name I wanted to publish under. I could use my real name, but as a woman and having been divorced several years ago, I learned that my “real name” is not unchangeable. Not like men. I went from my maiden name, to married name, back to my maiden name. What if I was to marry again? Would I change my name again? And my real name is pretty common place anyway.
The name of this site is “Nico Serene”. That is what I went with as my writer’s name too for the Big Bad story. And it is my name – my “real name”, the truly unchangeable part of it. Nico is my nickname, short for Nicole. Serene is my middle name. Really. That’s not just a line. My first and middle name are both two things about me that I know will never change, no matter my marital status. And to be honest, I adore my middle name and I never ever get to use it for anything. Now I do. 🙂
I am Nico Serene. It’s not a secret. It’s who I really am.
nico serene 
Congrats on The Big Bad acceptance and publication. Glad to hear your leaning and growing as a writer. That’s what my site Stone Green Writer is about. I was taken aback when you explained your name. I write under the same name, not Nico Serene, but my first and middle name, Robert Paul. Hope many and more pubs for you, Enough to make a living maybe.
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