I write romantic suspense as Patricia Sargeant, cozy mysteries as Olivia Matthews, and contemporary romance as Regina Hart. It can be a bit much. We can drill into it another time, if you’re interested. Maybe over caramel macchiatos and chocolate-chip cookies as big as our heads. How I chose the names? Will I keep the names? Are there other names? For now, let’s focus on the writing.

To be clear, I know there are many authors who have many more pen names than I have. Still this wasn’t quite the journey I’d intended to take. Ha! And sometimes—often—I’m not sure what I’m doing. Ha! But then how many of us are on the exact life journey we’d envisioned decades ago? Show of hands.

Anyone?

Anyone?

I didn’t think so. Ha!

When I first dreamed about being a published author, I’d hoped to be published in romantic suspense and sci-fi fantasy.

I was thrilled when I was offered my first publishing contract for the second romantic suspense I’d ever completed. Just thrilled. But once that contract was completed, my publisher claimed the market for romantic suspense had weakened. They wanted to switch me to contemporary romance, and Regina Hart appeared.

I learned a lot from writing contemporary romance. I’m proud of all the stories I’ve published. In fact, I’m still publishing contemporary romances—as time allows. But I really, really wanted to get back to crime fiction. What my husband refers to as my “murder, death, kill books.” That’s when I dove into cozy mysteries and unveiled Olivia Matthews. Cozy mysteries had never been on my Vision Board, but I’m having a blast developing those characters, plotting those stories, and building those worlds.

However, among the many challenges with my romantic-suspense-cozy-mystery-contemporary-romance publishing career has been keeping the correct tone based on the genre I’m writing at the time. That’s not to say I’ve slipped up and put intimate scenes in my cozy mysteries or that my basketball romance protagonists trip over a corpse in the middle of the court. My concern is about the tone of the story.

Because of my publishing schedule, I write two manuscripts at the same time. Right now, I’m writing my romantic suspense in the morning and cozy mysteries in the afternoons. I’ll write a scene for one and then a scene for another. I usually give myself a break between writing sessions. I’ll take a walk or go for a run, something that will help clear my mind.

Even after the break, though, I sometimes have trouble switching tones between genres. We all know cozy mysteries are lighthearted, fun stories with quirky characters and worlds readers can step into. In comparison, romantic suspense are intense, fast-paced plots with sexy characters whose chemistry heats up the pages. Especially lately, I find more serious scenes are slipping into my cozies and quirkier characters are wandering into my suspense. I’m wondering how worried should I be about this?

Question: How much leeway will you give the book you’re reading if it strays from the expected tone of its genre/subgenre? Asking for a friend…

Patricia Sargeant writes romantic suspense as Patricia Sargeant, cozy mysteries as Olivia Matthews, and contemporary romance as Regina Hart. Her work has been featured in national publications such as Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Suspense Magazine, Mystery Scene Magazine, and Library Journal. When she’s not writing, checking her texts, or reading Breaking News Alerts, she’s alienating friends and annoying family with her tone. Claim your free subscription to her monthly enewsletter at PatriciaSargeant.com.