Absolutely!!

Not only is Margaret Allan not Margaret Allan - but she is not a she! I was actually relieved when I accidentally discovered that Margaret Allan is actually William T. Quick of Indiana, US.

These books have great story lines. I enjoyed that aspect - good build up, keeping you guessing the whole way. My only problem is that 'Margaret' uses what I and many other readers consider to be a lot of gratuitous (as in: lacking cause or justification; uncalled-for) crudeness - with a certain amount of sexual abuse and perversity - most of which is aimed at the women in the stories. It ALWAYS distracted me - pulling me out of the 'world' of the book. Sorry guys, but I was relieved when I found out it wasn't a woman who did that - but a man!!! Try your local library for the first one and see from there.

Tip-offs: I found it in my internet search by the name 'Margaret Allan', but on looking on the copyrights for each book, it was easy to tell:

• The Mammoth Stone - Iceberg Productions
• Keeper of the Stone - Iceberg Productions
• The Last Mammoth - Iceberg Productions
• Spirits Walking Woman - William Quick
• Sister of the Sky - William Quick

Not only that, but there was NO personal information about the author... which should probably send you to check the copyright right away!

Heck No!!!

Despite rumors that she's died and her daughter (or son) continued the stories under Jean's name; or that Jean's husband, Ray, actually wrote the Earth's Children series, Jean is the actual author. Of all six books. The Land of Painted Caves was released in the US and Great Britain, Australia, South Africa (and others) on March 29, 2011 and at varying dates for most of the translations. It completed the story she started with The Clan of the Cave Bear.

Not this one!

Mark is who he says he is! He's a well published journalist who lives in Florida and Ember from the Sun is his first novel.

Nope.

She's really Amanda Cockrell. Actually - she's Nancy Amanda Cockrell from Roanoke, Virginia - but it's close enough not to call it a pseudonym!

I wasn't too sure about her when I started looking, though. While reading the second in The Deer Dancers series, recently (and being suspicious since I've been working on this pseudonym page), something bugged me about the writing. I was pretty convinced I was going to discover that a man wrote these. Why?

Sorry guys, but I don't know any women who talk about people having to 'piss' - guess you have to use some word for it, though!! It reminded me of Margaret Allan's way of expression. That was really what got me looking.

There is no personal information about the author in the books - other than what library the author used for reference materials (credits to those who helped with research) - in Roanoke, Virginia (US). Most of them are pretty happy to talk about themselves.

So, I was really surprised to find out that this is not a pen name for a man. (Good reading, by the way!)

Definitely not!

Sue's well-researched books on the Aleut people of Alaska are all very detailed with her dedications to friends and family - as well as her credits to those who assisted her in her research and writing.

She's from Michigan and has been pretty visible with lecture tours, etc.

No Pseudonym here!

Joan is a Marylander (like me!). Oh, not enough? :-) Circles of Stone is Joan's first novel. It first caught my eye when I found it listed on a German book review site (in German, of course). The cover photo on the German version has the Willendorf figurine on it (you know - Jondalar's doni - the one he gave to Noria...) and they were comparing it to Jean Auel's work - which is how it came up.

Anyway, if you haven't read it - do so! The book amazingly enough starts about a million years ago on the African savanna with late Homo habilis or early Homo erectus, moves to about 1/2 million years ago to late Homo erectus on the shores of the Red Sea, and ends at Homo sapiens - about 50-35,000 years ago in the painted caves of the Pyrenees Mountains. If you've followed the Leakey's and Donald Johanson, you'll find this book very intriguing.

I wasn't sure about this one.

Going by the author's name - I couldn't decide when I read People of the Mesa if it was written by a man or a woman. The story didn't seem to be obviously slanted in either direction. Ardath, I later discovered is definitely a woman, was living in Texas, and her books - which are many, but are sometimes difficult to find - could be bought directly from her on a website her husband put together when I originally put this section together about 20 years ago. Interesting people. Check out her books!

Oh - no pen name here, by the way!

Yes!

Lynn, who lives in Florida and wrote about the prehistoric peoples of the area, used a pen name for these books. She has since changed genres and is now writing as Lynn Sholes. (per bio on Amazon)

I'm not sure if that means she is now writing under her 'real' name, or not. It's a mystery to me!

It's a double whammy!

This one gets REAL interesting!!! Charlotte Prentiss is actually Charles Platt (who has written on an amazing range of subjects under more than one pseudonym - usually keeping the initials CP)... and archaeologist William D. Brame. - At least for Children of the Ice.

The next four novels (which lost alot of the innocence of Children of the Ice) all show Charles Platt as the copyright holder. I'm guessing the collaboration ended after Children of the Ice - which is one of my favorite books!

No.

Patricia Rowe wrote Keepers of the Misty Time and Children of the Dawn under her own name.

If you haven't read them - do it! They take place 9,000 years ago along the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest - in what is now southern Washington state in the US.

The father of early american sagas???

NO!!! How about the MOTHER?!! In her 10th book of the First Americans series, Lesley Hamilton Cline finally revealed her true identity! Her publisher - 13 years ago - had urged her to write under a man's name as he felt her books would fare better under a less 'romance novel' sounding name.

So - go back and re-read HER books and see if it makes a difference on how YOU interpret the treatment of the characters! You'll have 2 more chances - as Time Beyond Beginning will be followed by books 11 and 12 in the series. (Don't forget I put this together about 20 years ago!)

Nope, not Linda!

If you've seen her books, you've probably also seen the author photo and bio on each one. She's definitely who she says she is!

Here's what Jean had to say about this book: "Linda Shuler has written the novel of America's prehistory. With the story of Kwani, she has brought to life the story of the Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, and the ancient people who built those mysterious hidden canyon cities. And she has artfully woven the amazing Pueblo ruins with other fascinating and puzzling sites and artifacts....I admire Ms. Shuler's accurate research, but I loved her compelling story of love and adventure even more. She Who Remembers would not let me go!"

No - Joan is definitely Joan!

She's a pretty prolific writer - mostly romance novels, but her historic fiction is based on good research and is fun reading. Linda Lay Shuler liked her work on Daughter of the Red Deer!