Pennermag.com

Pen names are a hallmark of the romance writing world. Let’s face it, awkward, eye-chart names do not make for appealing book covers.

After lots of discussion with fellow authors, the consensus is to pick a pseudonym, even before you publish, and use it – a lot.

There’s no reason, the argument goes, to not brand yourself immediately. Introduce yourself to everyone using that name and when your books get published, they’ll remember you. Avoid awkward re-introductions with ‘writing as’ under your name or in signatures.

It’s a great idea, and I ran with it. Life has taught me, where possible, DO NOT reinvent the wheel. So, I made up business cards and went to RWA nationals with that in mind. Here’s the hard part – answering to that other name, and remembering to introduce yourself by that name. It can make you feel downright schizophrenic at times.

Now, I have two pseudonyms. The one I picked and the one my husband picked. Life is all about making choices, so I chose to run with DH Vortigern’s. Even with the cards and the name tag (you should always have your own), I feel like a fraud. Any minute, I know someone’s going to say – hey that’s not who you are.

So if you see me and I don’t respond to my real name anymore, you know why.