Pen Name

Sienna Santerre is (or should be) pretty obviously a pen name. I purposely chose something that sounded a bit made-up and created a fictional character to be Sienna Santerre.

Why use a pen name at all? In part, to distance the ‘real’ me (who may be just as fictional when it comes down to it) from the subject matter of my books. That real me did graduate from Naples High in 1968. I did go through those times. I did know the kids that inspired some of my characters and would just as soon—if by chance they read my books and recognized something of themselves—they didn’t link any of it to me. Not that I've actually hidden my real name.

And not that I would fear an angry mob of codgers coming for my blood. Still, it freed me up, some, to write what I wanted, without any caution.

I’ll admit the name choice was perhaps inspired,  a little, by Elena Ferrante. After all, we both write about Naples, even if one sets her stories in Naples, Italy, and the other in Naples, Florida! To be sure, Santerre is a French name, not an Italian one.

Yes, we both write our fiction around a core of female friendship but there is not much resemblance beyond that. My characters live in a very different world, reflecting the culture and politics of the late Sixties. And, of course, they date surfers.

My second Women in the Sun novel came out on August 6, 2022. There may well be more in the series in time; I certainly didn’t wrap everything up with ‘One Christmas in the Sun,’ although it wouldn’t hurt a thing if I stopped there. I have ideas and notes and all of that, to be sure. We’ll just have to see—yeah, me too. I like to surprise myself.

Note: what with SS being a pen name, I am also turning out stories under other names, so I'm not malingering!