Did Anne Elisabeth Stengl ever write a book under a pen name like she announced that she would? If so, what was it?

Question

Anne Elisabeth Stengl announced in January 2017 that she was writing a new series under a pen name, but refused to disclose what the series was or what the pen name would be. The text of the announcement is as follows:

This is the project into which I am currently channeling all my efforts. I have two and a half novels written in the series, and lots more in the works. BUT . . . after much thought and consideration, I have decided to pursue this series under a pen name. It's very different work from Goldstone Wood--much darker and more adult (not dirty. I don't write dirty books). I kind of doubt that most of you loyal imps will take to it.

If you discover this new series on your own and enjoy it, great! But I'm not going to market it here, under this name, and I'm probably not going to let anyone know my new pen name, at least not at first.

The author evidently isn't too dilligent about updating her blog, though. Is there evidence that such a book was published and, if so, what's the book/series? What name was it written under?

Answer 1

Her new pen name is Silvia Mercedes. She has a few books under that name out now.

This was confirmed in July 2020 in an interview.

Answer 2

Unknown.

I've scoured the internet for information about this, and it seems that right now, it's not known what Stengl's pen name could be, or even whether or not she's yet published her new series.

The announcement on her blog was less than a year ago (27 January 2017), and she explicitly says that she doesn't want her new pen name associated with her real name, "at least not at first". She also mentions that she isn't planning to update that blog much in the foreseeable future. So she's pretty much dried up as a source of information, and we need to look elsewhere.

It sometimes happens that when an author switches to a new pen name, enthusiastic fans still manage to identify them, from their writing style or other clues. But if anyone has done this for Ms Stengl, they don't seem to have publicised their discovery - perhaps out of respect for her wish to keep the two names separate. Some of her fans have mentioned their sadness at her change, but nobody mentions having discovered her new identity.

Sometimes the author under their new pen name even leaves clues pointing back to their real name for sufficiently astute readers. But this is impossible to check without knowing where to look for the new pen name, and again there's no evidence of this on the internet.

I wondered if perhaps Stengl kept the same publisher for her new series. But Rooglewood Press's list of authors includes photos of all of them, so this doesn't seem possible (unless Stengl changed her appearance as well as her nom de plume).

In short - it looks like the secret remains with Stengl and her family, friends, agents, and publishers. For now, at least.