I was flipping through my Facebook feed when I happened upon a blog post from a fellow writer. She had brought up the topic of a pseudonym, or a nom de plume. She brought to mind many reasons why a writer might want to change the name they would publish under. It was an interesting read. Of course it made me think.
I thought it would be fun to search my name on Barnes & Noble’s website. Imagine my dismay when I find my name has already published several books. My name is not original. I had always planned to publish under my name because I wanted credit for my work. I 
wanted people to know that the words on the page they read were mine. Yet someone else has already taken the credit for my name.
Thus begins the great debate in my mind, should I alter my name or stick with this one and hope to make it truly my own. The possibilities of what my name could become are infinite. How do I chose a name. It could be a combination of my name, with or without my middle name. I could use my mother’s maiden name. Or my grandmother’s maiden name. I mean pick an ancestor and their name could become my own.
But those name combinations look to the past. We need to know where we’ve been to know where we’re going, but the past doesn’t look to the future. I could wait and see what my name will become as many women change their names when they get married, but whose to say when that will be. I could take full control and change my name to something entirely new.
That could be fun. The joy of invention. To put my full creative powers to work. Yet I find myself reluctant to choose a made up name. It lacks history or meaning. It would not be mine name it would be a name. There are so many options and I thank you for listening to me as I think out loud. I don’t know when I’ll have to make this decision. I’m not published yet, but God willing I will be published one day soon.
