Name Game

With an author’s first published novel comes the first of many career-defining decisions: to pseudonym or not to pseudonym? Some writers put a great deal of thought into the question. I didn’t twenty years ago. I had always intended to use my real name, or the maiden-­name version of it. I was proud of what I’d written, and the company I worked for as a computer programmer didn’t object to my side career. Also, I have a boringly simple — and common — surname that alphabetically places me at the top of lists. In short, there was no reason to complicate matters with a pen name.

I’ve been writing full-time for almost two decades now, and as my career progresses, I’m constantly experimenting with genre and format to keep myself creatively engaged. Every time I try something new, the pseudonym question arises again...