How Did You Create Your Pen Name?

Nivarion · Mar 31, 2009

Wayne K said:
The formula for pornstars is to take a childhood pets name and the name of the street you lived on.
ETA: I know that doesn't help much, but it's interesting trivia.

Just using two, since we moved around a lot.
Rex Jefferson
or
Barkers Creek

God, my grandparents still have barkers. She's like fourteen now.

ANY WAY

Back to point, I danced around my names, and mixed names from my grandparents.

I think I'll just end up using my legal name James C. May, or a variant. hmmm. JC May, or JM Curtis...

panacea · Apr 1, 2009

Wayne K said:
The formula for pornstars is to take a childhood pets name and the name of the street you lived on.

Ha ha

And I'd be Fatty Cross ... Doesn't help in the porn arena does it... but does help in the foodie section... yumm

.

loiterer · Apr 1, 2009

Glamour177 said:
I know this shouldn't be so difficult, but I cannot figure out a pen name.

I have been trying for years to think of a pen name. I need one so that my relatives won't read my stuff (or at least, won't know I was the writer).

I guess it's fortunate I haven't actually finished anything yet.

Aquarius · Apr 1, 2009

Wayne K said:
The formula for pornstars is to take a childhood pets name and the name of the street you lived on.
ETA: I know that doesn't help much, but it's interesting trivia.

Mine in this case would probably be Nala Norfolk. Not bad actually...

As for my real pen name, I've always loved the name Kalera ever since I found it in a novel years ago. I seem to change the last name every couple of months because I either don't like the sound of it anymore, or someone tells me that it sounds a bit too arrogant.

At the moment, my pen name is Kalera I. McTierney. It's subject to change, of course...

Ms Hollands · Apr 2, 2009

My porn name would be Harvey Bryson. Maybe I should use it for genre-hopping...

Christian Genzel · Apr 2, 2009

If your pen name doesn't need to have anything to do with your real name, then you could combine character names from your favorite book or movie.

pepperlandgirl · Apr 2, 2009

Way back in 1999, I started going by pepperlandgirl, and I use that name everywhere online. So before too long, people just started calling me Pepper, and I began answering to it. IRL, I go by my maiden name, and so I decided to pair Pepper (a name that already had a persona attached) with my husband's last name. Pepper Espinoza.

Palmfrond · Apr 2, 2009

Don't count on using any name (real or imagined) until you have a publisher - they might not like it and you have very little to say about it.

My porn name would be Mitzi County Road 138. Very romantic.

scarletpeaches · Apr 2, 2009

Not so sure about that. After all, they couldn't very well tell you to change your real name if they didn't like it.

Book titles? Yes. Names? Not so much.

Or maybe that's the way it is over here. You tell them (agent or publisher) the name you want to be published under when you submit material and I've never heard of anyone being told to change their name. Unless a writer crosses genres, in which case their publisher would likely advise them to choose a pen name but it's always been down to them what name they choose, not the publisher.

I chose mine because it sounds like my screen name here.

Palmfrond · Apr 2, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
Not so sure about that. After all, they couldn't very well tell you to change your real name if they didn't like it.

Book titles? Yes. Names? Not so much.

Or maybe that's the way it is over here. You tell them (agent or publisher) the name you want to be published under when you submit material and I've never heard of anyone being told to change their name. Unless a writer crosses genres, in which case their publisher would likely advise them to choose a pen name but it's always been down to them what name they choose, not the publisher.

I chose mine because it sounds like my screen name here.

A very large New York publisher required a pseudonym for me. After several truckloads of suggestions from me, they finally approved one of them.

scarletpeaches · Apr 2, 2009

Therein lies the difference. You're in America, I'm not. And the name still came from you.

Claudia Gray · Apr 2, 2009

I wanted something that would be unusual enough to be memorable but not so unusual that people would have trouble remembering/spelling it. I wanted my last name to be near the middle of the alphabet. And I wanted something that had the right feel for my genre.

Claudia was easy enough to come up with; it sounded right, and besides, I had "I, Claudius" in my DVD player. The last name was tougher. Originally I settled on Lake, but the name "Claudia Lake" turned out to be the same as the president of the Vampire Lestat fan club. So a vampire author couldn't use it! Gray had a similar sound to Lake, so that worked for me.

Keep in mind that your agent and/or publisher are going to weigh in on your pseudonym: I had originally wanted something entirely different, but that was vetoed. So don't get too attached to anything until you get their approval (or at least acceptance).

Cyia · Apr 2, 2009

Wayne K said:
The formula for pornstars is to take a childhood pets name and the name of the street you lived on.
ETA: I know that doesn't help much, but it's interesting trivia.

I'd be Buddy Walnut Creek. :Shrug:

The screen name came from a defunct WIP and my pen name is a variation of a childhood nickname.

jessicaorr · Apr 2, 2009

Hmmm... Dogs name and street, then I'd be Misty Ironwood. Sounds like a porn star name all right LOL

backslashbaby · Apr 2, 2009

Tiger Staffordshire, here

I plan on using a family name that is carved into old tombstones at the church my ancestors built and I still attend on Easter. Initials for the first name. The family name could be controversial because a famous author in my genre has it as well. Meh, we're probably cousins!

How Did You Create Your Pen Name?

Nivarion

Brony level >9000

panacea

loiterer

Aquarius

Got the hang of it, here

Ms Hollands

Cow lover

Christian Genzel

pepperlandgirl

American Aquarium Drinker

Palmfrond

cereal killer

scarletpeaches

Palmfrond

cereal killer

scarletpeaches

Claudia Gray

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

jessicaorr

Book fanatic

backslashbaby

*

How Did You Create Your Pen Name?

Brony level >9000

Got the hang of it, here

Cow lover

American Aquarium Drinker

cereal killer

cereal killer

Rewriting My Destiny

Book fanatic

~~~~*~~~~

*