pennames tagged posts

Another reason for Pseudonyms

July 23, 2010 Publishing

I've covered the basic reasons for using a pseudonym before (genre confusion, privacy, shelf position), but recently I encountered one I had not considered. I was talking to a professional contact about some work, when he asked what I'd been doing with myself for the last few months."I've been working on a book deal," I replied."Oh, excellent! You're publishing a book on ! Put me down for one.""No, it was a novel." Even down the telephone, the suddenly screech of brakes and mental reverse was obvious. After a bit of stammering from him, I mercifully changed the subject. And then people wonder why I don't discuss my interests outside work...Once the work issue was done, we discussed his reaction, why it wasn't unexpected, and he gave permission to blog about it as long as he was not named.

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