Pseudonyms

Okay, why the pseudonym? If this is supposed to be a blog about discovering all the pieces that make up me, why am I hiding behind a fake name? Good question. I’m not sure I have an answer but perhaps now would be a good time to explore it.

As I eluded in my opening blog, I am a writer. I write Young Adult mostly but have also written picture books and a middle grade novel. One day when I was particularly stuck with a writer’s block I decide to count all the people I knew. It was a few years ago but I reached over a thousand. Mind you, I only included people I actively talked with on a somewhat regular basis. Of that one thousand plus people, how many do you think know that I write children’s stories? If you exclude the six people in my family – I’d say zero. That’s right – zero.

Why so secretive? Probably my fear of failure or being judged by those I know. I don’t want people to know I tried and sucked. And I don’t want to hear about it if they read something I wrote and say, “Boy, that was lame. I can write better than that.” Besides, lots of writers use fake names.

But the real reason if I get right down to it is because it is MY goal. Becoming a writer has been MY journey. It’s meant that I had to start as a beginner. I had to acknowledge that despite having a Master’s Degree and being a teacher there was a lot I didn’t know about writing a good story.

So here I am, still learning.

Because writing is such an important, albeit silent, part of my life I hope to use this blog to connect with other writers of young adult fiction. If you are a writer, I’d love to hear from you. If you are established or still struggling, feel free to put in your advice or two cents worth.

Namaste’