Posts Revisited: What’s In A Name?

Good evening!

I thought I’d revisit some of my older posts and see if my thoughts, processes, ideas, etc. have changed since I began this blog.

What better way to start this mini-series than to start with my very first post!

What’s In A Name was published on December 13, 2015—almost three years ago!

Let’s get started with the first screen shot.

At the time, I felt obligated to fess up to the fact I use a pseudonym. I cannot remember why I thought it would be the best decision. The funny thing is that very few people ever actually viewed this post—as the first posts of many blogs go unnoticed—and to this day, I still encounter some shock and awe when someone on social media finds out this isn’t my real name.

And, can I just say, I sort of miss adding a quote at the beginning of each blog post. I stopped because occasionally I spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to find just the perfect one. Maybe I ought to bring it back.

Here I am, years later, and I still get asked if I am trying to write the next Fifty Shades. (Can you feel me rolling my eyes? No? Well, I am.)

Ooh. Let me respond to younger self, point-by-point:

1.) My family now knows I am an author. Actually, I told my mother after I got the first paperbacks of Sex, Love, and Technicalities. Her response was…not at all what I expected. Her first question was, “Is it autobiographical?” 

Needless to say, I nearly choked. No, it is in no way autobiographical. She has continually expressed interest in reading those first two books of mine, and it isn’t that I won’t let her, it’s that I won’t hand her the copies to read. I know she won’t like them. But, she does stand a chance at liking Alabama Rain, so she is getting a physical copy of it soon. For a long time I didn’t tell my extended family, and most of them still do not know. But, I did tell them and showed them the books I’ve written. Most of them had absolutely nothing to say neither positive or negative.

2.) I still don’t like the way my real name looks on a book cover.

3.) Hmm…I still love my day job. But this point has changed a bit too. Everyone above me knows I’m an author, they’ve seen all of my books, they’ve browsed my website. The cat has officially been out of the bag since I left a writing notebook in a meeting and had to explain that I was not, in fact, planning an actual murder. 🙂 Ahh, you have to love that writer’s life.

And while I am still pragmatic, and I still think it will be a long, long, long time before my writing income replaces my 9-5 income…I think there might come a time when I can do this full-time. I long for that day to come…though in many ways it would hurt to quit my day job.

As for that final question:

While the frequency has waned of comparing me to EL James, it still happens, but I don’t think anyone believes I’m ashamed of my work. Far from it. I am extremely proud of it.

It’s interesting to look back and see how much I’ve changed, how much my situation has changed, in the last three years.

What changes have you made over the last few years?

That’s all I have tonight. Don’t forget to stop in on Monday morning, when the lovely DA Henneman joins my blog as a guest blogger!

 

Advertisement