One of the books I'm currently writing, "A Madness Most Discreet" is a big step away from the Children's and Juvenile Fiction (JFic) books I've been writing. It is definitely a novel written for adults since there are a few love scenes and more adult issues that are not appropriate for children. So, since I have so many stories in me and want to write and publish not only my children's books but also whatever inspiration I get to write adult books, the question I've had to ask myself is, should I be writing my adult novels under a different name?
I've been looking at some of the books I own where the author writes not only adult books but children's books as well. Apparently, for most, there is no issue with writing both. After all, why limit your creativity if you happen to write stories that appeal to children and stories that appeal to adults, also?
I know that as a fine artist, if you have your work in a gallery, they usually want your work to be consistent. If you paint a certain style, people who collect your art will look for more of your work and they want that style to be consistent. But I know many artists who like to paint a variety of styles. Personally, I paint more photo-realistic for my animal portrait commission work but my own style for my art is more impressionistic. This is a style I am more interested in painting.
Why should we have to limit our creativity? I believe we should be all we want to be and whether I'm writing for children or for adults, the point is I'm being creative. And that, I believe, is one of the reasons we are here in this lifetime - to share in whatever way we choose to be creative. I shouldn't have to use a different name so that people aren't confused about which genre I'm writing for. I'm proud of everything I write and so I should be able to use my name for everything I publish.
I'm glad I got that settled!