Here I am—Casey Clifford.  I'm her alter-ego who also loves to write but in a much different vein than Mary Jo, or MJ as I call her.  I'm really writing and rolling when she's frustrated and angry, but too lady-like to do much about it.

When my mystery suspense writing sold before MJ's types of writing, I knew I'd beaten her at a game only the two of us play.  We'd had a long discussion over a Grey Goose vodka about our potential readers.  We both agreed that we liked it when we read a book by a favorite author and while each book was different we knew what to expect.  For example, when we read Nora Roberts we know what to expect, even if she's dabbling in witchery, demons, or Celtic myths.  However, when we pick up J.D. Robb, we know were getting something much different.  But written well and by Nora.

Well, you get the drift.  We didn't want readers to be disappointed if they expected one thing but got something else which some might not enjoy at all.  Since the Goose was nearly finished, we decided when the suspense/mystery manuscripts sold, MJ would give me the credit.  Thus we had Casey Clifford's birth.

But names don't appear from an unknown place. Neither did mine, though we never looked through baby name books, or searched on line for all sorts of data on names.  We don't even know if I have many others with that name, though if they are around, they don't have the domain name reserved.  We did that the next day.

So how did we arrive at the perfect name and in such short time?  Well, those Wise Women MJ's always talking about popped immediately into mind.  Casey comes from one and Clifford is the maiden surname of another.  I've posted photos of these two incredibly talented women who helped us with the art of writing and the art of observation and recording the moment.  I expect knowing MJ, she'll be telling you their stories one of these days.  She's like that, you know.

 

"Success comes before work only in the dictionary."
Anonymous