Photo credit: ViaMoi from Flickr
As Canada Reads 2010 ramps up, I’m finding myself immersed fully in the online world of books. Since the debates start next week and I’ll be deep into coding, live chats and social media, I’m afraid I can only offer up one post here per week. Guest posts will resume after (if you’re interested in being a guest drop me a line at kimberly.aliasgrace [at] gmail [dot] com). Check out this lovely complementary debate, Civilians Read, running all this week over at the Keepin’ It Real Book Club blog.
As a writer while I’m living, breathing and thinking about books, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to pen names in the last little while. I thought I’d throw this out to you for an opinion or two, as readers of my blog.
Here’s my dilemma: My married name (although I love the sound of it more than my maiden name) is pretty vanilla. It also belongs to a Girls Aloud band member (who knew?!) and, in terms of Google ranking, I’m not sure if I could compete with that particular distinction.
I suppose it could be worse. My name could be Jenna Jameson.
Here’s the thing though. As many of you know, I’m writing a novel. The genre I’m writing in is Young Adult supernatural fiction.
Yeah, that’s right. And it involves werewolves.
If you laughed, that’s exactly another reason why I’d like to keep my “professional” writing separate from my fiction writing. It seems to be fairly standard practice to use pen names between different genres. Keep in mind that I do have, and plan on building upon, a professional career that involves social media consulting and managing (which would include some “serious” clients).
In any case, pretty soon I’ll be looking at starting a writing blog separate from this one to spare anyone not interested in my attempt at becoming an “author” the boring details of the creative process. I want a name that’s still reflective of me and who I am. Ideas I’ve tossed around are using my maiden name (Kruger) because it’s reflective of me as, well, a young adult. Or I could use my first and middle name (in some kind of homage to my Twitter handle @AliasGrace). Or perhaps I could revisit the name Katherine (shortened as Kat, Kitty or more likely Katie) as my young adult self wanted to do. Or maybe I’m overthinking it and should just stick with the real deal and own up to the fact that no matter what I write, it should be representative of me on some level.
I sure would like your input though, gentle readers.
[UPDATE: Some readers are reporting the poll below doesn't have a submit button in some browsers. Please feel free to leave a comment below and I'll include it in the poll.]
You’re writing a novel! Congrats!
I’m having a similar issue. My full name is associated with my day job, and the blogging I do there. My first & middle name associated with my business & online presence. I am now writing a novel – also young adult – and no idea how to associate myself with it. I could just use my initials & last name. I could use my husbands last name (did not change name when I married). Also considered re-branding the business and sticking with Natalie Joan as my writing name. So many options.
(Also, the egotistical side of me thinks, if I am published, and my book is amazing and best selling and prize winning, I want it in my name, not a nom-de-plume, so everyone knows it was me.)
I think the last name Kruger will work well for anything suspenseful/supernatural.
BKienapple: Thanks, B! It’s a little less daunting now that I’ve come out and said it. Lots of lovely people being super supportive.
Natalie: This online voting is an experiment but I figure who better to help me pick my pen name than the people who might actually be reading the novel in the end? When I do start my writing blog, I hope to continue to involve people in the process. In the conversations I’ve had online, I think opinions are divided so it’s tough to decide. Fun to hear another local person I know is writing a YA novel too! Have you checked out #yalitchit on Twitter?
Colleen: As a teenager, the last name Kruger was kind of the bane of my existence for the very reason that it’s associated with the supernatural. However, I’m certainaly seeing the appeal of it as a writer of the genre now..!
I like that there are a couple of us in the city writing YA. It makes me feel a little less odd for having chosen it (or maybe YA chose me… hard to say). I’m still undecided about if I’ll use my name as is. Partly because I sometimes get annoyed when I find out an author is using a pen name and they won’t tell me what their real name is. And partly because I have a really long name that would take up most of a book cover (should I ever manage to get published).
I was torn too but then I realized I’m already trying to lead two lives so I might as well embrace it. I’m not really guarding the other identity though so for anyone who knows or finds out my real name, that’s cool by me. I just feel like I need to keep two streams of conversation separate so as not to muddy the waters? I guess it’s all a matter of what you as a writer feel comfortable with in the end. Maybe you’ll guest post about your writing on the other blog? It’s really great to know there are so many people I know who are working on their own YA projects!