Why can't I come up with a decent pen name!?

bluemoonscribe · Feb 4, 2008

I'm struggling. I can't come up with a good pen name for my oft-mentioned Southern Vampire Romantic Comedy Series. My editor and agent have left it up to me. I don't like my own name because one, my name sounds like a popular brand of flour. Not terribly atmospheric. Also, I live in a conservative area where people make certain assumptions about those who write vampire books. So some anonymity would be good.

Most of my made up suggestions sound like adult film star names somehow.

Please help me overcome what should be a sadly simple problem.

Andrhia · Feb 4, 2008

I bet using a couple of initials instead of a first name would make it feel less, er, actorish.

'L.M. Roanoke' or something...

julief · Feb 4, 2008

If I had to get a pen name, I would keep my first name (Julie, which is common) and take my mom's maiden name. If I had to take another, I'd take my middle with my dad's middle.

I know that some writers use their kids' names or their grandparents'. You could do the drag name thing (use the street you grew up on for a last name).

I don't know if any of these are good suggestions for you.

BiggerBoat · Feb 4, 2008

Okay, just take the name of your first pet as your first name, and the name of the street where you lived ... oh, wait ....

Were I in your place, I would try to think of a name that had some personal significance for me, or maybe honored someone important in my life. For example, my Dad's middle name was Archer, which would probably be a cool last name.

If you are less serious-minded, perhaps there is a name that could serve as an in-joke for your friends and family.

Also, you could imagine some alternate identify for your writer. How old is she? Then, look at popular names for that year (an easy find on the intertubes). Find a name that you like but which wasn't so popular as to be bland. Finally, your novel takes place in the south, so how about you borrow the last name of some obscure southern historical figure?

Whatever way you go, it's an enviable predicament. Enjoy!

drachin8 · Feb 4, 2008

Elizabeth Rose (...from the grave!)
Ann Cottings (a bit sharper, like a knife)
Amanda Wails (...like a banshee!)

Okay, obviously I am in a bit of a silly mood tonight. Since your vampire is southern, maybe try scanning some lists of southern baby names and then tacking something interesting onto the end.

If you could specify a bit more what kind of image you want this name to spark, though, it might help with the brainstorming. Do you want something languid that slithers off the tongue and drowns you in the thick summer heat? Do you want something with a bit of a spike that hooks you like a hungry fish? Or do you want something light and tangy, like the scent of citrus on the wind?

Try to find the image you want your name to project, and go from there.

-Michelle

Mel · Feb 4, 2008

What name would you give yourself if you could change your name? And, yes, I know one can legally, but do you have a name you wished your parents had given you instead of the one you have? As for a last name, what about mother's maiden name, or grandmother's maiden name? You can also take two or three family names and mix up some of the letters to come up with your own name.

I used the last two letters of my maiden name "at" and the first three letters "man" of my Mom's maiden name. Atman works for me. My married name is too common and already used by a well known author. First name is pretty much a household name, so a change all around was necessary for me.

ORION · Feb 4, 2008

well I have a different take on this from a bit of experience. I have a hyphenated name that the UK loved but the US has a hard time with. The advantage of having it similar or using initials is when you go to bookstores to sign stock PROVING who you are...
How about using your first initials and last name?
If it's like a flour it will be memorable...LOL

bluemoonscribe · Feb 4, 2008

OK, so I want to keep my maiden name because, well, no one in my family has ever published a book and I feel the need to "represent." Also, it begins with H, right in the middle of the alphabet, which I figure will put me right in the middle of the bookshelves in the store.

So I wanted to convey earthy, classy southern, not bedazzled sweatshirt and drawn-on eyebrows southern. I was thinking Ivy Lee H. It's a combination of my favorite southern name (and Batman villiainess), my mother's maiden name and of course, my maiden name.

Siddow · Feb 4, 2008

Samantha Jo Hurtin!

No, really, pick from these:

Abigail, Alexandria, Alexis, Alyssa, Amanda, Amber, Anna, Annabell Ashley, Ashton, Augusta, Blanche, Brett, Brianna, Brooke, Camellia, Charline, Carline, Chloe, Courtney, Darline, Daisy, Deana, Delta, Dixie, Dolly, Earline, Elizabeth, Emily, Emma, Emmy, Faith, Georgia, Grace, Hannah, Harline, Jasmine, Jennifer, Jessica, Jo-Dee, Kayla, Laura, Lauren, Leann, Leslie, Loretta, Lorrie, Louise, Lynn, Madeline, Madison, Marie, Megan, Morgan, Naomi, Nicole, Olivia, Patsy, Patty, Pollyanna, Rachel, Reba, Rebecca, Rhonda, Rose, Samantha, Sarah, Savannah, Scarlett, Shania, Sissy, Susannah, Susanne, Suzy, Sydney, Tammy, Tanya, Taylor, Thelma, Trinity, Trisha, Victoria, Virginia, Wynonna

Abraham, Alan, Alexander, Andrew, Anthony, Austin, Beau, Billy, Blake, Brady, Brandon, Bubba, Buck, Buddy, Caleb, Charles, Chet, Christian, Christopher, Cledus, Clint, Cody, Colin, Conway, Cooper, Daniel, Daryl, David, Duke, Dwayne, Dwight, Dylan, Earl, Eddy, Ethan, Forrest, George, Glenn, Grant, Hal, Hank, Hunter, Jacob, Jackson, James, Jeb, Jebidiah, Jeff, Jeffery, Jesse, Jett, Jimmy, Joe, John, Jonathan, Johnny, Jose, Joseph, Josie, Joshua, Junior, Justin, Kenny, Lane, Lee, Leroy, Luke, Mark, Marty, Matthew, Mel, Michael, Neil, Nicholas, Noah, Orry, Parker, Randy, Ray, Raymond, Rhett, Ricky, Roscoe, Ryan, Samuel, Sawyer, Toby, Travis, Tristan, Tyler, Vince, Wade, Waylon, Wayne, Warren, William, Zachary

bluemoonscribe · Feb 4, 2008

Siddow, you rock! Those are some great suggestions!

icerose · Feb 4, 2008

My real name is Sara Price. If I ever take on a pen name it will be S. W. Jayne if I'm going for gender neutral or Sara Jayne if it doesn't matter.

I was named after my grandmother. Her middle name was Jane but I never got the middle name because a cousin of mine had recieved the same name as me, was three months old, and died like a week before I was born. So I never got the Jane. Thus my history with it.

I would strongly suggest having a pen name that is special to you.

Del · Feb 4, 2008

I scrambled the letters in my real name (which I have always hated) and pulled names from them.

Suggestion: Keep it simple and easy to recall.

ETA: It isn't the name that makes you. You make the name.

ORION · Feb 4, 2008

Use something that connects yourself to your work if you can...a maiden name...a middle name...
Having something in the middle of the alphabet helps..I found out after I used the last half of my hyphenated name that Wood is at the tail end of the book shelves...my other name starts with K which would have been a better choice...

A. Hamilton · Feb 4, 2008

Delarege said:
I scrambled the letters in my real name (which I have always hated) and pulled names from them.

Suggestion: Keep it simple and easy to recall.

ETA: It isn't the name that makes you. You make the name.

exactly what I did, from my maiden name. then I went with the initials rather than the first two names.

Qui · Feb 4, 2008

No offense, but most Southerners giggle a bit at New Age names like Ivy. However, Lee's a good middle name.

Southern names are designed to sound beautiful when said in whole. Some Southern lit. characters that illustrate this are Scarlett O'Hara (whose crush is the base of my pen name), Huckleberry Finn… Can't think of any others, but also consider names like Harper Lee, William Jefferson Clinton, Loretta Lynn.

This is an interesting page on Southern names.

I've decided that my pen name will be Emily Catherine Wilkes: Emily Wilkes for poetry, E.C. Wilkes for sci-fi/fantasy novels, E. Catherine Wilkes for anything else. Dunno if I'll ever be published, but I have the name handy.

Ravenlocks · Feb 5, 2008

Call yourself Blue H. Blue is already part of your identity here, so why not take it offline?

aruna · Feb 5, 2008

ORION said:
Use something that connects yourself to your work if you can...a maiden name...a middle name...
Having something in the middle of the alphabet helps..I found out after I used the last half of my hyphenated name that Wood is at the tail end of the book shelves...my other name starts with K which would have been a better choice...

My publishers warned me about W! I wanted ot write using my maiden name, which is Westmaas. It's a good solid name in Guyana with a certain reputation (left-leaning political activists!) and rare. But my publisher didn;t like it because it starts with W. They suggested my mother's maiedn name (Cox) or my grandmother's maiden name, Hamilton. I chose to cut Westmaas in half, to Maas, which is OK, but somehow I;m not happy wityh it. I wish I could have gone with Westmaas. I;m even thinking of adding the West back in, as in Sharon West Maas.
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BlueLucario · Feb 5, 2008

I think you should try something that matches your interests. Like Silver Cat. Obi Wan Peterson. Yoda Simmons.

drachin8 · Feb 5, 2008

BlueLucario said:
I think you should try something that matches your interests. Like Silver Cat. Obi Wan Peterson. Yoda Simmons.

LOL! I so want to be a Yoda Simmons now (the love-child of Yoda and Richard Simmons)!

"Work those thighs, girls! Use that force!"

If only I were a boy...

-Michelle

Shadow_Ferret · Feb 5, 2008

bluemoonscribe said:
Also, I live in a conservative area where people make certain assumptions about those who write vampire books. So some anonymity would be good.

How many of you are there that they've started lumping you all together?

bluemoonscribe · Feb 5, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
How many of you are there that they've started lumping you all together?

Actually, I'm the only one I know of in my small Kentucky town. What I mean is some people automatically assume you're some weirdo eccentric who has a coffin in her basement and blood in the fridge. (People have some strange ideas about Anne Rice around here.)

slcboston · Feb 5, 2008

I don't understand what all the fuss is about. My pen already has a name stenciled on it. Says "Pilot" right there on it...

What? That's not what we're talking about? :Wha:

OH - THAT kind of pen name.

Never mind. :gone:

Claudia Gray · Feb 5, 2008

I grew up in Mississippi, and I knew an Ivy, so I don't think you're "non-Southern" with that. The middle of the alphabet is a good place for your last name to be (see my pseud last name here). So Ivy Lee H_______ seems workable to me.

But be sure to run it by your agent and editor. They may say it's all up to you, but that's what mine said to me until I proudly declared my pseud and they vetoed me.

Dreamer3702 · Feb 5, 2008

I'm using my middle name as my last name. ---> J. J. Carrera <--- the initials are of my first and (maiden) last name. My maiden name is unpronounceable (sp?) and my (soon to be) last name is to "ethnic".

Paichka · Feb 5, 2008

I guess I ought to have a pen name then -- my last name is Warren. :sigh:

I understand the reluctance to talk about your genre -- the hubs mentioned to one of our friends last night that I'm writing a book. The friend (a very Christian, very southern guy) looked at me and asked what sort of book. I said, "Oh, fantasy, you know -- like Harry Potter crossed with Dragonlance."

:Shrug:

The look I got from him. Yikes. I half expected him to break out the holy water and try to cast out my demons. Or whatever.

So I think I'll be Delilah Foster. That's my great-great-great-aunt's name. Maybe.

Why can't I come up with a decent pen name!?

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