Pen names

[sarahdee]

Mine is German. Actually, my married name and my maiden name are both German and it's got the weird ie ei spelling issue plus it sounds like someone declaring war when they say it. Or like they trying to cough something up. A hairball maybe. I tried to picture myself at a book signing and having 300 people come up and cough hairballs at me. I'm not going down that way.
.

Mine is Polish and no one can ever say it, including me. Last time I was in Poland the hotel receptionist corrected me...

Strangely, if I google my maiden name, I just don't turn up. If I google my long complicated married name I come up first (my blog) and second (my company's website which mentions me once). I guess I'm the only person with that name with any sort of internet presence.

[Sommer Leigh]

Mine is German. Actually, my married name and my maiden name are both German and it's got the weird ie ei spelling issue plus it sounds like someone declaring war when they say it. Or like they trying to cough something up. A hairball maybe. I tried to picture myself at a book signing and having 300 people come up and cough hairballs at me. I'm not going down that way.
.

Mine is Polish and no one can ever say it, including me. Last time I was in Poland the hotel receptionist corrected me...

Strangely, if I google my maiden name, I just don't turn up. If I google my long complicated married name I come up first (my blog) and second (my company's website which mentions me once). I guess I'm the only person with that name with any sort of internet presence.

That's lucky though! No one will ever mistake you.

[D. G. Hudson]

I'm for pen names. I've selected two which will be used for different purposes, different genres. When I've joined writing associations, I use my real name with an indication of what pen names are used for which writing. It's a decision that the writer will have to make, based on their own paradigms.

Is your privacy more important? It is to me. When we see these public exhibitions of meltdown (recently in the blogs) I wonder if that person wouldn't have been better off not using his/her real name.

I've had to take down an old blog, change my email address a few times when I've used my real name - and that's annoying. There are ways to help protect yourself, so you do what you have to do. I won't be intimidated into not writing, so this is my choice.

Pen Names have survived for hundreds of years -- it's just the latest thing to trash. People love to predict the demise of something, anything. Always make your own decisions, there's a lot of advice around to choose from. Do what works for you.

Pick a good one by the way, one you like!

[Kreann]

Thanks, everyone, for the great input. I'd been debating what to do as well, and right now am leaning towards the first initial, full last name option. I was hoping for a little separation from work/family life and public life. I did come up with some cool-sounding ones, using a mix of all sorts of my relatives' surnames, but what's the use? We had a story in our local paper recently where they came right out and said, "So and so is in town, that' s her stage name, but her real name is 'x' and she grew up in nearby town 'y'." So, I'd have that rug pulled right out from under me anyways. :-)

[wordranger]

I actually googled my name and found another author out there (not a fiction author, thank goodness) with the same name. UGH! I really don't like my maiden name, so I can't go that route. I was thinking of doing a three-initial thing. J.M.A followed by my last name. My problem is, I know I am going to be flopping genres. I am working on a YA novel now, which will fall under my J.M.A name. I just like the way that sounds

But I will also be publishing a few novels that I have written for my younger children (2nd grade)
Now, the second grade books should be pretty obvious, with the different word counts and the pictures, but I definitely don't want a second grader picking up the YA novel thinking it would be similar because it is the same author. (And vice versa) So I am going to need a different name for that, but I do want to use the same last name, I think. I don't know... Maybe I'll spell out one of the initials.

[CharleeVale]

Charlee Vale is a Pen name.

Charlee is my real name, Vale is not.

CV

[wordranger]

Do you think anyone wour buy a novel written by WordRanger?
Why does anyone have to know your name, anyway?

Mostly, I'd just want to protect my kids... you never know.

[akila]

This whole thread me feel much better because Sierra McConnell said that her name sounds "sparkly" and my real name is kinda similar to hers. My real name: Akila McConnell. As far as I can tell, I am the only Akila McConnell in the world because my name is a mix of an Indian first name married to an Irish last name. I don't think I'll ever use a pen name. My real name has too much zing --- and it suits me exactly.

By the way . . . I absolutely love these forums. I have been lurking for a long, long time but didn't want to post anything until I finally finished my first draft (silly, I know). I finished it last week and am working on revisions (love revisions!) and decided that it was time for me to join the party. I *almost* feel like a real writer, joining you folks who have published books.

[wordranger]

Welcome to the insanity, akila, and congratualations on finishing that first draft! What a great accomplishment!

Good luck with it!