Lost track of who's who in the pseudonym world? Here's our easy guide to working out which of your favourite chick lit authors have also written under another name - often in a different genre.

Megan Crane - Caitlin Crews

Los Angeles-based author Megan Crane is known for her chick lit novels such as Names My Sisters Call Me, English as a Second Language and Frenemies. But she also writes romance fiction for Harlequin under the name Caitlin Crews, such as Majesty, Mistress ... Missing Heir. She says she chose to use a pen-name since she was writing for a different genre. "Harlequin Presents are a very particular kind of writing, and I thought a different name would help make that clear to readers," she says. "I'd love people who wouldn't normally read a Harlequin to follow me over there and see what they've been missing!" Crane says chick lit and romance has different focuses. "The focus of a chick lit novel is the heroine's personal journey, which may or may not involve romance, and may or may not end happily. The focus of a romance is the relationship between the heroine and the hero, and it MUST end happily. Both are challenging in completely different ways." Crane selected the name Caitlin Crews after watching television. "I was watching the brilliant TV show Life at the time and the protagonist was named Charlie Crews. And I was also watching old episodes of NCIS, with my favorite character - Kate, who was really a Caitlin. And somehow that all came together and made Caitlin Crews." Crane's next release is due in 2011. Called I Love the Eighties, it's about what might happen if a Simon LeBon-esque singer died at the height of his fame in 1987 and his biggest fan travelled back in time to save him. For her romance alter-ego, upcoming releases include Katrakis's Sweet Prize and Princess from the Past.

Emma Heatherington - Emma Louise Jordan

Emma Heatherington is the author of romantic comedies Crazy For You and Playing the Field. She also writes romantic suspense - Beyond Sin and the upcoming The Truth Between - under the pen-name Emma Louise Jordan. She explains: "I initially signed with Poolbeg for three romantic comedy books under my real name Emma Heatherington. At that stage I had written my rom-com Playing the Field. Poolbeg had just launched their Poolbeg Crimson 'Fiction with an Edge' which aimed to extend their very successful catalogue by introducing stories with grittier, darker storylines. I had an idea for a book which was later to become Beyond Sin whereby sinister happenings begin to unfold around a family wedding and I pitched it to Poolbeg. Before long I had signed a three-book deal to write under the name Emma Louise Jordan. We decided to use a pen-name as this style of books are so different to the Emma Heatherington range and we didn't want to confuse readers of either genre." Emma says she was adamant she wanted to retain her first name "so that I could identify with the books as my own. Louise is my second name and my eldest daughter's name is Jordyn so I changed the spelling of that and Emma Louise Jordan was born!" She did consider keeping the link between the two names secret but decided not to so she could do publicity for both. "I love that readers acknowledge the two different styles and are confident enough to let me know which is their favourite. It certainly stretches my craft as a writer and I'm delighted to have the opportunity - though of course the workload is doubled as I have to write two books a year." Emma is working on another rom-com for release in September, tentatively titled Since You've Been Gone. She says: "It tells the story of TV presenter Erin whose life is turned upside down when her gorgeous boyfriend Taylor is plummeted into the spotlight when he lands a major part in a Hollywood movie, starring along his idol Sandra Bullock. It's a fun-filled tale of long-distance love and what happens when the cat's away ... Will it be a case of absence makes the heart grow fonder for Erin and Taylor, or will the arrival of handsome French choreographer Olivier mean that it's more 'out of sight, out of mind'? I had great fun writing this book as it is centred around an amateur theatre group in a small village and some of the characters really made me laugh out loud. I'm very excited about it!" Emma Louise Jordan's The Truth Between is out in June.

Sheila Norton - Olivia Ryan

Olivia Ryan's first two novels from her Tales From series - about pivotal moments in a woman's life - were published before she revealed that she was actually English author Sheila Norton. Norton already had five novels under her belt, including The Trouble with Ally (2002), Other People's Lives (2003) and Sweet Nothings (2006). She says: "I used a pen-name for the Tales From series at the suggestion of my editor, as she was very excited about Tales From a Hen Weekend, felt it could lead to a series, and that it was sufficiently different from my other books to merit a kind of 're-launch', under a different name, reaching out to new and perhaps younger readers. We chose the name of Olivia Ryan together. I wanted an Irish surname to reflect my family's Irish roots on my mother's side, but my mum's surname (Collins) was already taken by someone called Joan! My editor wanted me to choose a 'young sounding' first name, and we both liked Olivia - but didn't realise at the time just how popular it was becoming (the No.1. baby girls' name) - making me perhaps sound like a newborn baby! I was asked by my publisher to keep my identity as Olivia secret, until after the publication of the second book, to give time for the new name to become established in its own right. I did of course tell my family and closest friends - but even so it was hard, as I couldn't do anything personally to promote the new books." The Tales From series concluded last year with Tales From a Honeymoon Hotel and she has a new book completed, just waiting for a contract.

Ruth Saberton - Jessica Fox

English author Ruth Saberton's debut novel Katy Carter Wants a Hero - about a teacher who dreams of being a bestselling novelist - has just been released. (She's running a competition on her website encouraging readers to send in a photo of themselves with the book in exotic and unusual locations.) But she's already published The Hen Night Prophecies under her pen-name Jessica Fox. The series of five books published by Little Black Dress focus on a bride and her friends who are each given a prophecy by a fortune-teller at a hen night. The third, Hard to Get, is out in May. Saberton says she likes to think of Jessica Fox "as a sexier version of me!" She explains that she is writing the five-book series with Working Partners. "They are a creative team who work with writers to come up with story lines and ideas for novels. They've been really successful with children's books and have pretty much cornered the market. The Rainbow Fairies series is one of theirs and the Animal Ark Stories too. It's a bit like ghost writing I suppose except that the writer is involved with the plot and characters and can be very creative (I am! I cause all sorts of trouble!) It's also a great way of learning how to become a disciplined writer, to work with editors and generally to sharpen your skills. It's also a lot of fun! Jessica Fox is almost like a brand - she's sexy, sharp and very Cosmopolitan. The pen-name goes with the series. My own name belongs to the novels I write totally independently. I like to write in the first person and I'm a lot more down to earth. Jessica's heroines go to Prada, mine go to Primark - and even that's only on pay day!" Saberton admits she intended to keep the pen-name secret. "I wanted to keep my two identities separate. But this was soon rumbled because Little Black Dress kindly put a "With Special Thanks to Ruth Saberton" in the front of the first book. As an Orion writer I'm all over the internet and before long confusion reigned! So I had to explain it all and I did so on my website." As Jessica Fox, she's currently working on title four, Unlucky in Love, while as Ruth Saberton she's finishing her next book called Second Thoughts about a girl who gets cold feet on the eve of her wedding.

Anna Maxted - Sasha Blake

Anna Maxted is the British bestselling author of titles such as Getting Over It, Being Committed and The Tale of Two Sisters. Last year she wrote bonkbuster Betrayal under the name Sasha Blake. She then released this same novel in the US under her own name with the title Rich Again. Maxted explains on her website that she used a pen-name because the book was so different from her previous romantic comedies. "Apparently, in the UK some readers become annoyed if they buy a book from a familiar author, expecting it to be a - say - romantic comedy, and it turns out to be a bonkbuster (yes!) or as Publisher's Weekly called Rich Again, 'part social commentary, part thriller'. Anyway, in the US, readers are apparently a little more easygoing, so Rich Again will be published under my real name. The title change, by the way, occurred because there was another book out by that title in the US." Sasha Blake returns again in August, with The Wish. Head to the author's website to find out the background to this new novel.