Sunday, November 4, 2007
To Be Me or Not To Be Me...
…that is the question. I guess every pirate faces this at some point. Most of the great names are taken. Blackbeard. Peg Leg. MsHellion. How do I find something original that conveys what I want to convey. Intimidation. Intelligence. Incredible literary talent.I've had to make this choice before. When I went on the air in radio I had to decide who I was going to be. It was sort of nice to have the opportunity to create a whole new identity. The chance to become someone completely new that no one knows. Funny thing is I chose to be me.
And I've made the same choice again. The name that will appear on my books should I ever be lucky enough to have one in print will be Terri Osburn. I have to admit that's sort of me. Terri is a nickname; one I've had since birth so it's me but not *officially* me. I made this decision a while ago and I'm totally fine with it so you might be wondering why I bring it up now. Well, I'll tell you.
Last week, something new developed. I got the idea for an erotica short story and plan on writing and submitting it for a summer anthology. Before last week I never thought I would write anything in the erotica genre but here I go. Never say never and all that malarkey. Now I have to make the decision again. Do I want to use *my* name on an erotica title. The answer this time is no.
And the name search begins. The first thing I came up with was using Burns for the last name. But what for the first? It has to be a name that suits me and nothing comes to mind. Then I had a dream. The initials TG kept popping up and eventually the name Terri Garrison appeared. I have no idea where this came from but I rarely get the strange crap in my dreams anyway. It doesn't really fit the genre and I don't even know if I like it so I'm asking you guys.
What do you think? Do you have a pen name picked out? Did you think about using your real name? Do you ever wonder where authors come up with their new names? And do you think I could fit Boatswain on a book cover?
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39 comments:
Terri - I like your choices of names (and your real name). I like Burns too, maybe you could use your initials? What's your middle initial? T(something) Burns?
I don't think I'll use my real last name if I ever get lucky enough to publish. But, I like my real first name. I was considering using the last name Ferris as a tribute to my dad's family. (My great great uncle invented the Ferris wheel, though wasn't smart enough to secure the rights to it and therefore never made any money. Sad, huh?)
Anyhow, Ferris was my dad's middle name (it was his mother's maiden name).
How does Marnee Ferris sound? Or even full Marnee Jo Ferris (Jo is my real middle name).
I don't know, I'm still messing with it.
I have no idea what I will use as a pen name. I'm like you Terri I've always envisioned using my real name. I have occasionally used Lissa instead of Lisa not much of a difference I know but just enough to be pronounced differently.
I think it is a personal preference. I like Burns and I like the name of your dreams too, and personally I think Boatswain ROCKS and make it fit if you like it!
I always envision erotic authors with stripper names. Chesty McGee, Sonya Silk, Lauren Lustforth, Susan Saymyname....you get the picture:)
If I go with the initials it would be T.L. Burns which isn't bad. For some reason I like boy names for girls (and yet my child is Isabelle) so I'm considering Charlie Burns. I like the ambiguity for erotica. LOL!
Marnee Ferris isn't bad (cool about your uncle-at least it got his name) but you have to watch the initials. That would make you MF. LOL! That could have negative connatations.
*Susan Saymyname*
That is hysterical! LOL!
That's why I like Burns. It's a variation of the real name but it's also a verb that goes with erotica. Very *hot* sounding, you know?
I think Burns is great! It sounds smoldery...I think I just made a new word!
I too have given this some consideration. What I'm working on now is dark and not my usual sparkly funny self. If TRR gets published, I'll be Maggie Robinson. For anything else, Mariel Lynne, which are my real original initials. It sounds like a porn star, yes? Altho my porn star name is Tippy Lincoln. No can do.
Mariel Lynne sounds nice. Lynn is my middle name and I tried to work it in somewhere but it's also my former MIL's first name which means it's a no go.
That reminds me, my stripper name would be Velvet Garden or Velvet Sunset (grew up in Sunset Gardens)and I'm thinking I should definitely throw those into the mix. LOL!
Anyone who doesn't know, you get your stripper name by using your first pet's name along with the name of the first street you lived on. Sounds like a wonderful tangent for the day...LOL!
I have pen name picked out...but who know's if the pub house/ agent will like... I'm okay with my real name too... we'll have to wait and see what happens.
I think if you've done the research, given it lots of thought, and created a persona online where others recognize your name, then they should let you keep it. One less thing for them to worry about if you ask me.
Burns has a nice HOT erotica quality, but I did enjoy the ring of Garrison too. I love the name Charlie, but didn't like Charlie Burns--not enough syllables for me. It needs more flow, I think.
I love Marnee Ferris...up until Terri ruined the initials connotation. *LOL*
And I adore Mariel Lynne...great name.
My first pet name and street name doesn't work for me. My first pet was named Rex. Rex Carr. Unless I'm a transgender stripper, it wouldn't work. *pauses* No, that is not an option.
Tiff, we've all loved your name. You're going to be fine. It's not like you picked Agnes Humperdink or anything.
Hmmm...Charlie Humperdink. It's going on the list.
LOL!
LOL MF! I never thought of that! I think I need to reconsider. I need a good last name that goes with Marnee. Anyone?
TL Burns is good, but I like Charlie too.
Lissa - LOL with the porn star names.
Mariel is a cool name, Maggie. Is that from your RL?
that would mean my stripper name is Beauty Regine. now, if I change a couple of e for a and do the V in stead of R....
Anon - very cute. And subtle.
Terr, great choices of names for yourself. I'm partial to the Charlie Burns persona. It would be awesome for an erotica author. But Marnee's idea was good too. But I like T.L. Burns for a romance writer as well.
I thought about using Christie Wallace for my pen name. I know Hellion wants Callie, which actually suits her in a way. LOL But I've always imagined that I would use my first name and pick a new last name. I'd planned on using my real last name or Matt's first name as my last name but with my Sadie Michaels series I think it would be rather awkward (two male first names used as last names tends to look weird like I can't make up better names, LOL) so Matthews is out. I don't know what I'll use as an erotica pen name. This will take much thought and consideration. Lis has already given me plenty, but most of them aren't mentionable on an open blog. LOL
Great blog, babe! Sorry it took me so long to comment today, damn office has gone to hell in a hand basket today after the time change!
Speaking on porn names, I would be Buttercup Eaton. LOL
O.M.G. I'm going to pee myself. LMAO!!! Buttercup Eaton. If that isn't descriptive I don't know what is.
That time change totally screwed me up. I have a clock on the wall in my office, a clock radio on my desk and a watch on my wrist - all of which I failed to turn back.
Yes, I'm the idiot who went to lunch at 10:30. *shakes head* Man am I hungry now.
The sad thing is that I can't remember if Buttercup was my first pet. I mean we had barn cats and farm dogs, but I don't think any of them were mine, per se. And I lived with my grandparents most of the time, so I could be Squeaky Short. Hm. I'm a rather interesting porn star aren't I?
You poor thing! Lunch at 10:30! Lord Almighty, I bet you're ready for the workday to be overwith now!
Buttercup Eaton! OMG that is hilarious! Was Buttercup a lap dog or a St. Bernard?
My porn name is Mack Francisco. So unless I want to write mysteries that's out!
I do like Burns, Ter. Very apropo (?). The initials thing works too. Just think JR Ward, works for her!
Marnee - I really like Marnee Ferris. Keep that one.
Maggie - Tippy Lincoln! For some strange reason that conjurs up political figures. Probably the Tip O'Neill/Abe Lincoln thing. It does however sound like a great secondary character name - one who is perpetually drunk, maybe!
My Callie Sinclair would have suited, I think, though now I'm wildly in love with "Sophie Sinclair"--it seems hipper.
I'm not sure if I wrote erotica what I'd publish under. Kathy Yount, perhaps, after my English teacher. Wouldn't that give the woman a heart attack?
OMG. To see her face when you sent her an autographed copy would be priceless!
Irish, my first dog was a labador/border collie mix. And she was the color of butter, hence the name. LOL. I always wanted a St. Bernard. Matty keeps telling me no. I think it's because he's like a St. Benard. Poops a lot. Eats a lot and tears up everything in sight. And on occasion drools in massive pools of spit.
Are you suggesting Matty wouldn't want the competition? Or simply wouldn't want to risk that the dog might turn out to be better behaved at some point?
Hellion - ROTFLMAO!! Using someone else's name is ingenious! Especially if you can get the cover art to be really, really tacky!
Sin - LOL! I hear the drool on the St. Bernard can be surgically corrected (Isn't that scary!). DH checked into it. He wanted a St. Bernard and I said NO! No drooling and no shedding. Although, I just found a Poodle St. Bernard mix on the internet called a St. Berdoodle that would solve the shedding issue. I'm still not sure about the drooling. And I think your SOL with Matty! Unless they can do that surgery thing for him also! LOL
There would be no competition. The St. Bernard would win hands down.
I doubt I'd get caught. Ms. Yount repeatedly tells me she wouldn't be caught dead with one of my trashy novels. God, that'd be kinda funny. In a very mean sort of way.
Heavens to Betsy - I drive home from work and y'all go crazy. LOL!
Irish - St. Berdoodle? Seriously? I have to see what that looks like. It had to be a Standard Poodle. LOL! They are actually quite large themselves.
Poor Matty. Whenever you decide to give him away, my doors open. *g*
Hellion - you have to do that. Just change the spelling of the first name. And maybe add an "e" to the end of the last name. If she ever finds out, play dumb. I know you can do it. hehehe
Catherine Yountee--that could be done. *LOL* "Oh, no, it's not YOUR name. It's not YOUNT, it's YOUN-TEE! Like French or something. Besides how did you find this book? You don't read this trash, I thought..."
Do you realize what that sounds like if you say it REALLY fast. LMAO!!!
Oh, that would be perfect for erotica....bwahahahahahaha
So I had to look up St. Berdoodles and the one I found is actually kind of cute. But HUGE which I suppose is redundant. I do think it's funny one site listed the breed as French rescue dogs. LOL! I can just see him riding a scooter and talking with that accent.
Hmmm... My porn name would be Deacon Howell. Not sure what kind of porn that would be.... It has too much of a religious ring to it.
Sin - I like Matthews as a last night.
And Hellion - I like Sophie as a first name. Very hip.
Irish - what about you?
Deacon Howell can be spun into erotica with little effort. It sound too much like Pokem & how to be purely religios. LOL!
Marnee Jo wrote:
Sin - I like Matthews as a last night.
I meant NAME, not night.
Marnee (What about you?) - about Sin's Matthews and Hellion's Sophie Sinclair. Yes, I like both. I think I voted Sophie on the EJ/JQ BB when Hellion put it to a vote.
If you were asking about my porn name it's Mack Francisco! Not very porny (is that a word!) Deacon Howell is way too religious (or sportswriterish) not porny at all either! LOL
I want someone to use Agnes Humperdink just to see if you can sell at least 1 book!
Ter - do not laugh. There is a whole site dedicated to poodle mixes. It is amazing what they will mix with a poodle to avoid a shedding dog. I was very close to being talked into the St. Berdoodle. My big push was a Labradoodle. It takes about 4 years to wait out the ADD personality, though. Too long. We almost had a Mastiff too! Trying to get me to make a decision is painful. LOL I like BIG dogs that don't shed - very hard to find unless you mix it with a poodle.
Irish - my friend has a mastiff and don't let anyone lie to you, they shed like crazy. And they demand a lot of attention as well as take up lots of room. I like big dogs too but after dealing with her dog, I'll never have one.
I'm all for crossing the breeds but sometimes you've got to figure its a crap shoot. The thing that amazes me is the cross breeds often go for more than the full breeds.
Yeah, I knew they shed but I fell in love with one when I saw it with it's owner out trick or treating with the family about 5 years back. The DH and I went out to look at puppies and the mama scared me. I wasn't real sure I could handle that much dog! So we settled on an Old English Sheepdog. And then we just rescued a Maltese mix about 2 weeks ago. So I've got the big and the little. And neither one sheds!!!
I vote for TL Burns.
I'm using a variation of my last name for my pen name. I was going to change my first name but everyone knows me from the blogs as Santa.
I was going to use Saundra O'Byrne. What do you think?
I like both Maggie's pen names.
No porn names for me. I'd be Blizzard OneHundredTwentyFifthStreet. See, it just doesn't work. I was born on ViaVentiquattroMaggio. Still not good.
Santa - LOL at your porn name. You'd definitely have to shorten it to just Blizzard! I do like Saundra O'Byrne, though. It sounds very European to me.
I think T.L. Burns may be a winner. Thanks for everyone's input today.
Santa - I like Saundra O'Byrne but it sort of makes me thing Sandra Day O'Connor. That's probably just me. Have you thought of just adding letters to Santa? Sanita? Santal? Yeah, not so much.
If you want to stick with the "s" I'd say go for Shannon or Sinclair. Just my 2 cents. *g*
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