What's in a name?

James81

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Not sure if this belongs in one of the writing sections or not, but I was thinking about this this morning and figured it's more general than it is geared towards writing...

Anyway, I think of my own name and I try to imagine seeing it on the spine of a book on a shelf of a bookstore and....well...my name doesn't have the pinash of other cool author names. And I see some of the names around here and think "Wow, those people have really cool names for an author."

Does anybody else think about this? Do you feel like your name is an "authory" name? Or are you, like me, considering using a pen name just so it sounds cooler. :D
 

the addster

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I've actually used my birth name for years. My name was changed when I was 2, so I don't really feel like it's just something I pulled out of thin air. My birth name is more authory, more easily pronounced and read, and doesn't prompt folks to ask how I got a name like that. It's just easier.
 

Wayne K

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I'm thinking of legally changing my name to "Anonymous" for my first book.

I'm serious.
 

James81

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I am betting that most of the "cool" names, are made up ones.

Hmmm, I don't know though.

I mean, I was a beta reader for a girl here once and I thought her name would make for a cool author name. And even if she went with her maiden name, it would still be "authory." lol
 

James81

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My pen name is going to be Bic Flair.

:roll:

I think I'm just going to go with "Superman" myself. In my younger years, people used to tell me that I looked like him.

I don't get that so much nowadays, so I guess the kryptonite is wearing me down.
 
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PANACHE.

It's spelled PANACHE.

There, now I've done my grammar Nazi bit, I can say I've chosen a pen name that sounds a wee bit like scarletpeaches. How I chose my AW screen name is an entirely different story.

My own name is a bit blah and there are others with the same one, so why not change it? Course, there will be other folk out there with the same name as my 'authory' persona, but I prefer that to my given tag. And at least I choose it, rather than my mother having done so.
 

James81

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How would a pen name work with a memoir? Are you allowed to change your own name in a memoir if it matches your pen name?

I've always been curious about that.
 

Honalo

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When I was fifteen or so I came up with what I thought would be the perfect author's name:
Jessie Austen Whitney
but then realized no one would know it was me.
 
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Hmm. I don't like it cause of the person who chose it.

She dreamed about having a blond boy the night before going into labour and I was a disappointment from the first. God knows where she got the name from because if I'd been a boy she would have called me Robert, after her favourite brother...who also happens to be a fucking pervert.

You'd think I'd be Roberta, or named Elizabeth after every other woman in the family.
 

ad_lucem

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I don't like my first name. If it is ever in print, it will be abbreviated. I have the name of a small town waitress. It is the quintessence of bimboness. I'm sure it could be worse, but nevertheless, it will be abbreviated.

Second thought, maybe a nom de plume wouldn't be a bad idea.
 

Toothpaste

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I like my name. I think it looks nice on a book cover. But my parents made a conscious choice to choose a name that would go well with my one syllable last name. We all have long first names (my parents and I). I think they also liked the look of it aesthetically. Though it does turn out it was a pretty popular name at the time, though they hadn't been aware of that factor.

That being said if I could ever sell this YA of mine, I do plan on either using a pen name or initials. Something to distinguish it from my kid stuff. I don't really want the kidlins to be reading this book. Well. Not yet.
 

Misa Buckley

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My married name is Helen Buckley. My birth name was Helen Haithwaite.

I can't see either of those on anything, lmao. (Although I was credited as Helen Buckley on the ScapeCast article, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy).

But I can't think of a name that's sounds writerly and that suits me.

Bother.