The Great Pen Name Debate
Once upon a time when the world was young and the internet only a gleam in some computer geek’s (or was that Al Gore’s?) eye, writing under a pen name was as simple as, well, writing under a pen name. Not that I know anything about what it was actually like, of course, but it seems simple: write the book, have it published with a pseudonym on the cover, and thence be known by that name as a writer at signings, writing events, etc. But in our current world, writers are expected to have a web presence. This is where the whole question of a pen name becomes more complicated for me. I don’t suppose I’m alone. So I thought I’d post about it here and see if any of you out there have thoughts or suggestions on the topic. I intend to publish (she said, attempting to use the power of positive thinking) under another name. I know the name, I’ve checked to make sure it’s not too close to anyone else in my genre, I’ve bought the domain name, and I’ve set up the email and the Twitter account, all ready to go. But I’m not published yet. The agent hunt has been very positive so far, but is still in progress. Admittedly, I feel ridiculous introducing a pen name before I know for sure whether I’ll ever see that name on a book cover. That’s part of the problem for me in figuring this out. But more, I already have a public web presence for my day job, a job that involves interacting with the very same community I’d interact with as a published writer, and the same one I already interact with under my own name as an aspiring writer. So this all feels very complicated. Most of what I’d post as my writer self I already post as my work self or my social self. There’s a lot of overlap. And I don’t want to change the name I use for work to my pen name. Most of the people I know who’ve introduced a pen name have simply used it as their only online presence apart from personal email, either because writing is their only job or the only one for which they need to be visible online or because they were using the pen name long before a web presence became a necessity, so I don’t have an example – at least not one I’m aware of – to emulate in introducing a second version of a web presence while still needing to maintain the first. The very thought makes me want to run screaming into the night. I’m not concerned about privacy, so much; I have other personal reasons for using a pen name for my writing. So I don’t mind if my worlds overlap. But how? This has been a point of discussion at our house for awhile now, and we don’t seem to have any satisfactory answers, so please feel free to throw out any ideas you think are useful. I’d appreciate it. Share...
Valentine’s Day Links
I don’t expect my husband to do anything for me for Valentine’s Day. And not in that “I say I don’t expect it but really I’m lying” way of which women are sometimes accused, but for real. And he knows full well that when I said “Happy Valentine’s Day” this morning, that was the extent of the effort I put into the holiday for him. We’re on the same page where today is concerned. There are other days that are much more important to us and lots of everyday days where I’d rather be treated to something special than on a day dictated by societal pressure. That being said, I am a romantic, and I write about love and romance and all that good stuff, and I do like all the romance-related stuff that turns up around this time of year, so I thought I’d share some of the romance-related things I’ve encountered recently. In some cases, I’ve no idea where I first saw the link, so apologies if I miss mentioning you. Susanna Kearsley gives us some of her favourite romantic reads here. I haven’t read Random Harvest, but I’m a sucker for Goodbye, Mr. Chips by the same author, so will have to give it a try. How Hollywood says I love you (thanks to Wendy Hartley for retweeting the link from… someone else, whoever you are.) Looking for a good romance read? Joanna Bourne is one of the best, so no surprise her latest did so well in the All About Romance readers’ poll. http://jobourne.blogspot.com/2012/02/hoo-boy-black-hawk-is-best-romance-at.html One take on the top 10 kisses in literature here. Some of them I wouldn’t have picked, but it’s an interesting list. (Via Nephele Tempest, I think.) And finally, I’ll leave you with a song. Happy Valentine’s Day! Share...
The Month of Letters Challenge
The delightful Mary Robinette Kowal has thrown down the gauntlet, challenging all of us with our tech-heavy lives to slow down for a minute and send real mail, one piece of any sort every mail collection day in February, 24 days in all in the US (where Mary lives, so the number for the challenge). I’ve been debating whether to take part in the challenge since Mary first posted it a week or so ago. Like most people, I have a very busy life. Rarely do I take the time to send “real” mail, relying heavily on email for most of my correspondence. And the thought of adding one more daily task to my to-do list is daunting, to say the least. It’s that, more than anything, that’s made me hesitate. But I also love getting mail, the rare times something arrives that’s not a bill or an ad. And I’ve no doubt finding personal mail waiting is a treat for most people. And I like the idea of making someone’s day with a very little bit of effort on my part. Before email took over my life, I regularly wrote and received letters. My oldest friend moved 1000km away when we were about six, and we wrote back and forth from the time we were barely old enough to print sentences in big, deliberate printing until we were in university together. As a teenager, I had several pen pals, people my age I’d met at a week-long youth program for teens from across the country. One of those I still call a good friend, though I’m never as up-to-date on even our email correspondence as I’d like to be. His carefully-decorated envelopes were always a joy to find in mail. My entire family appreciated those creative envelopes, and I still have them – and their contents – in a box somewhere. We’ve lost something with the virtual disappearance of handwritten letters. As our resident family genealogist, I’m acutely aware of the dangers represented by our increasingly digital world. Unless we are very careful with how paperless we go, the shoeboxes full of old photos I relish digging through won’t exist for our own descendants. The old, spidery handwriting on thin, airmail sheets that tells me more about who my ancestors were than any of their official documents do won’t be there for our own great grandchildren. So I feel like I need to put my money (for postage) where my mouth is. I talk about all we could lose as our world goes increasingly digital, as incredible as the technology is, so maybe it’s time to do something about it and try to find a little balance between the old way and the new. I’m going to try by participating in this challenge. Want to join in? Check out the details on Mary’s blog, linked in the first line of this post. Share...
Working and Waiting
So many areas of my life right now are all about waiting. It’s an occupational reality in both my jobs and happens to be the case in my personal life right now, too. The trick, of course, is to keep moving forward instead of getting stuck in the waiting. Some days, that’s easier said than done. Others, there’s a hint of brightness trying to poke through the clouds, a spot next to an outlet at my local coffee shop, amazing hot chocolate, that fluttery feeling of something good on the horizon, and a friend’s MS to read while my subconscious putters away, figuring out where I’m going next with my own WIP. Hope your Monday has the feel of forward motion, too. Share...
Links
When I’m working – which I am a LOT these days – a few minutes wandering around the internet lets my subconscious work out problems – be they fictional or real – and gives me a break, too. Here are a few places I’ve been this past week or so. I’ve tried to remember who sent them to me or where I saw them, but apologies if I’ve missed acknowledging you: I’ve mentioned my writing friend Ev Bishop before. Her blog is lovely. She may not be the writer she wishes to be, as you’ll read in this entry, but she’s a writer I’m glad I know. The lovely Laura Bradbury, who rents out her lovely vacation properties in Burgundy, led me to this excellent article. I’m a parent, so it resonated with me particularly, but I think it has applications beyond parenting. In the interest of being able to laugh at myself, or at least the industry in which I work, I give you this video, which I saw on agent Nephele Tempest’s blog. Share...
Recent Comments