Pen names

[KM Wilsher]

Is it a good idea? Why did you/or would you use one? How did you come up with it?

[Timothy Fish]

I don't use a pen name. I suppose I might if I didn't want people to know I wrote something, such as Lola Lou Falls in Love or something. As for how to pick one, I suppose everyone has different methods. Some women choose to use their maiden names. In some cases, that may be because they already have fans following the other name. We look at others and wonder if it isn't because they don't expect their marriages to work. If husband number four doesn't work out, then number five probably won't either. Might as well start looking for number six. Mark Twain picked a name that referenced his years on the river. I suppose I might have reason to choose a pen name, with as many people as there are with my name, but I can't think of one I like. Ben Franklin wrote under the name Richard Saunders. In that and other cases, the pen name is actually the name of the character the author is using as the narrator. It is easy for us to forget that the narrator is as much a character as any of the other characters and he might have a name just like anyone else. Sticking his name on the front of the book can help remind us and the reader of that.

[KM Wilsher]

Thank you, TFish. So it was you who wrote, "Lola Lou Falls in Love" hee hee. I'm just kidding!
I have been day dreaming for days about a pen name. I want something unique and flashy, mysterious and inviting, irresistible and eloquent. (M. Night Shyamalan, JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, Jewel, Santana) However, everything I came up with sounded a little like a character from "Lola Lou Falls in Love", you know what I mean? So then I dreamed about a name that would be deep and meaningful -- family names, people I have loved, ones I have lost, etc. Those names felt like someone else’s pants, I couldn’t put them on. They did not fit.
I guess I have to come to the conclusion to use my own name. If I want to be a little anonymous I will use initials. Don't get me wrong - I want to come up with something else. I see so many great names! I see so many great reasons behind them! I have so many goofy ideas! I just can't find one that suitable for an Aspiring Christian Inspirational Science Fiction Fantasy Writer who loves Jesus - and Christian Hard Rock - and eats salmon on holidays - and loves her niece and nephew to pieces - and her favorite color is pink - and is nuts about movies - and is about to graduate school but can’t find a pen name she loves. So for now, I'm me. Thanks for your input TimothyF! I will be referring back to it. You are the best!
Thank you, thank you!

[Lynn Rush]

I wasn't sure if I should take a pen name either. But I had been told my "real" name was soo hard to spell and that would hinder someone who'd be trying to look up my name or something related to writing. Not that I think I'm gonna be "all that and a bag of chips" in my writing that people will want to rush to their computers and look up my name....LOL.

BUT, I'd heard the feedback that Sheri Boeyink was just too hard. So, I chose Lynn Rush. Lynn is my middle name AND my sweet mother in law's first name (we're reallly close). Rush is just a thing...I'm into speed (I'm a former inline speed skater, and I know road bike/mountainbike...anything fast really)...so, RUSH seemed appropriate, because it was that or CRASH...LOL. I've crashed so many times that name would work too, but it sounds stupid.

Good luck in your name choosing, or if you stay with your own, that's cool too.

[Charles Funderburg]

Hmmm...I'm finding that I write chick lit, basically, and romance. All the lead characters in my first 3 ms's were women. Only now in my fourth ms, is a guy the lead character.

I'm also into writing about every aspect of relationships. Sooo ...

"Dr. Chas" ?
Charlotte Douglass (my mother's maiden name), or Charli Edwards (Edward being my father's middle name ... {miss ya, dad} if I decide, as in other discussions, to hide behind a female monikker;
or maybe just Chas Von der Burg (the original spelling of my last name)

Or maybe I'll just keep mine. Seems to work for me. ;-)

[Karol Lynn]

I have decided to use my own name and its spelling. My first name is rare in a female...usually Karol is Polish for Charles, but adding my middle name is fun too...

[John Robinson]

My three suspense novels were published under my own name. For my spec fic novel coming out next year I used a pen name, Cameron Bane. Since it's a totally different genre, to me it makes sense.

[Ruth Ann Nordin]

I think it's a good idea if you don't mind people knowing you wrote the book. I find using my real name on my books force me to fall in line with God's will because I feel as if I am right in front of Him. So for me, it keep me in line. :-) But that all being said, if I wrote outside the romance genre, I would use a pen name because people have gotten use to my real name in conjunction with romance. I am tampering with an edgy Christian thriller, and if I complete it, it will be under a pen name. If my name was hard to spell, I'd definitely use a pen name though. You don't want potential readers to have a hard time finding you.

[Zaria Garrison]

My first novel was published under the my own name. It was secular fiction. I also contributed to a street lit anthology using my own name.

When God moved me into writing Christian fiction, he gave me a new first name. Zaria means new beginning. I still use my last name in honor of my parents.

[Verlina Adame]

If I ever get all these ideas onto paper and turn them into a book I can publish, I plan to use a pen name.

I've thrown a few around...
Miranda Raaez (Miranda being my middle name and Raaez being the first letter in each of my kids names.)
Ruby Lee (A little bit of my name and a little bit of my husband's--plus it is short easy to spell and easy to remember.)

I know for sure that I will NOT use my maiden name (Gutierrez) hard to spell and prononce.

I'll keep at it until I find the perfect one, but for the privacy of my family, I plan to use a pen name. My married last name gets lots of mispronciation and spelling...so i won't use it! =)