Hi! Risky Kelly here!

I know Carolyn usually blogs on Wednesdays, but something came up on my regular day and she agreed to swap days with me, because, well, Carolyn is awesome that way.

Don’t worry, everyone goes back to their regular blogging schedule next week, and I’ll be my pretty great self on my usual day. Only better.

I wanted to share with you just how great the Riskies are, all of us. Diane, Amanda, Carolyn, Janet, Elena, Megan, and me, Kelly. As you know, of all the Riskies, I’ve been blogging here the longest. 15 years ago seems like only yesterday! And now, at last, I’ve been recognized for all my hard work.

Late last week I got this email. I’ve removed certain information as I don’t want this site to be flooded with so many requests for their services that they can’t get the Risky program in place.

Here it is:

Hello Kelly,

My name is Mxxxxxxx Txxxxxxxxxxxxx, social media manager at xxxxxxxxx.com. We’ve been following your blog at http://riskyregencies.blogspot.com for a while now and your writing style is pretty great! I’m willing to bet PR agencies and Brands might find it appealing as well.

So we selected your site to offer you a revenue share partnership. Let me know if you’d be interested in this opportunity and I’ll follow-up with more details!

Best regards,

Mxxxxxxx Txxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mxxxxxxx @  xxxxxxxxx.com

www. xxxxxxxxx.com

The Real Story

Risky Carolyn here for a sec. Believe it or not, the email is genuine. I can’t tell you how excited I was when Kelly contacted me about her lengthy time blogging for the Riskies and what an amazing job she’s been doing for us all this time.

I really love her post about that thing. It’s my favorite post of hers. Do you remember? So insightful. But, then, she’s insightful for us every week. I know she and Diane are besties, so don’t be surprised if Diane shares some favorite recollections, too. One time Kelly gave Megan a framed picture of Clive Owen so, yeah. I think we all teared up when that happened. One time she saved Amanda from a runaway train, and most of you probably remember when she built that rumpus room for Elena a few years back. Most imaginative use of egg cartons EVER! And who can forget the time she performed an emergency appendectomy on Janet? I know!

We all love Kelly and are so grateful that she’s been blogging with us for so many years. And now this. Gosh. Bringing us the opportunity for additional revenue streams.

The Real Kelly

Wow. I didn’t realize I had even more alter egos! Let me tell you, it’s hard enough with the one alter ego I’ve got. Why even have an alter ego? There are many reasons out there. In my specific case, I’ve got two sisters-in-law who share my first name and took our family name. They both work in schools. I write erotic fiction. I think you can do the math.

However, in the last year or so, the line between my two identities has been blurring. In my day life, I work as a librarian. I’ve started becoming known as one of the “go to” people in the field who can be considered a reasonable expert in erotic fiction. Part of that is because people are finding out I’m also a writer of the stuff.

Even with my routinely being “outed”, I still do my best to separate my names. I never deny what I write, and give this name when asked. But, I still don’t want to link my two names. Again, it’s because of my sisters-in-law. To me, this is a basic courtesy to them. I’m not afraid to be known for what I do, but with the Internet these days, I don’t want anyone to make trouble for them due to an incomplete investigation as to which of us this alter ego belongs.

The next question that I’m usually asked is how I handle the two identities online. Frankly? I suck at it. I’m your classic example of how not to manage your identity or brand as an author. Seriously. Use me as a case study. My blog is dead. I can’t even remember if I put up an “On Indefinite Hiatus” post. I have a Twitter account that I periodically post to, and when I do, it’s because I forgot to check which account I was posting from and it had defaulted to this ID. I have a Facebook page, but I hate that no matter which identity I’m using. I’m in the process of revamping my website, so that should hopefully be updated soon! Why, if I know this is all poor web management, do I not do better? Well, I’m usually busy posting in these places as my real life identity. I’ve been on Twitter as myself for over five years, and have built up a following of nearly 4000 people. Darn keeping these identities separate! If I were to tell you my real name/web ID, you’d probably all go “I know who she is!!” Wish I could tell you. I really wish I do. However, to give you a few clues:

1. remember what I said my day profession is,
2. I’ve been at the profession for nearly ten years, but chronologically I’m still well below the average age,
3. my first initial for both of my names is the same,
4. I frequently refer to my “alter ego” (Kelly) when talking about writing under my real name. If you figure out who my day identity is, please don’t post it in the comments!

A final bit of trivia about me. I’ve been asked how I came up with my name since neither Kelly nor Maher are in my legal name. My undergrad degree is in anthropology partially because I’ve been a fan of Indiana Jones almost my whole life. Like Indy, I’m named after the dog. Seriously! We had Kelly for fourteen years, and during that time, I got very used to my mom calling me Kelly, and answering to it!, because our names sounded so similar. Maher is a family name, specifically my one great-grandmother’s maiden name. The stories my grandma would tell me of her mom showed me what a strong and progressive woman my great-grandma was. I’ve told my grandma that I’ve taken her mother’s maiden name for my writing name, and she was very proud. I even told her what I write. However, Grandma’s on the elderly side of things (even if she calls ladies 10-15 years her junior “those old ladies”), and is a wee bit forgetful. Mom and I figured she wouldn’t be too shocked for long 😀

So that’s my story of alter egos! You can find me on Twitter as @kmmaher (I was a bit slow on signing up over there) and you can do a search for me on Facebook as Kelly Maher. [NB: Probably NSFW – Not Safe For Work due to slightly racy images.) My real face is on the page! Look for reddish hair and a purple swath of fabric. Oh! I should probably mention that I’ve got a new release this fall, shouldn’t I? See, case study for bad marketer! I’m very pleased to share that my story “Homecoming” will be in the upcoming “Duty and Desire: Military Erotic Romance” anthology from Cleis Press. Kristina Wright is the collection editor and there is a great group of authors in the anthology!

Thanks so much for having me, Carolyn and the fellow Riskies! I hope I’ve kept up my great tradition of posts here.

More about Kelly

Carolyn here again. Thank you, Kelly, for sharing that email and for agreeing to post here!

You can find Kelly on the web at kellymaher.com

here’s a list of her 10 plus titles for Ellora’s Cave, Black Lace Books and other publishers.

Feel free to share your favorite Kelly moments in the comments!