Pen Names IV: The Re-Pennenning

[sholio]

Ah yes, here we go again. So I'm planning to start putting out my realname fiction later this year, but I've decided I'm definitely going to have a separate-from-my-real-name pen for my F/F stuff (mainly because I'd like to take my original fiction in a non-romancy direction, but I still want to have the option of writing tropey F/F and possibly some tropey M/M under this other pen name).

And I don't like the one I'd settled on originally.

So, I have a few possibilities in a poll. Check as many as you like! ("Mar" is a shortened form of my middle name, though I'm not sure how well it works as a first name. I like it because it's fairly unique which would make it easier to brand my stuff, but maybe a more recognizably female name would be better for this purpose?) I've checked that none of these are currently in use on Amazon, and all of them are a good length to fit on covers and look nice to me on a sample cover I mocked up. I just can't choose! So tell me which ones you like.

Comments are also welcomed.

Poll #19910

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 41

View Respondents

Help Sholio pick an F/F pen name!

View Answers

Alyssa Kerr
23 (56.1%)

Melissa Dean
7 (17.1%)

Evelyn Rae
10 (24.4%)

Genni Lynd
4 (9.8%)

Mar Deverell
7 (17.1%)

Mar Delaney
16 (39.0%)

Comments

[kore]

Based on my understanding of booksellers you're going to run into a potential problem with people not knowing how to say "Mar" -- "Mahr" or "Mare." That kind of increases with "Deverell." I picked Alyssa Kerr because IMHO it's the most memorable without being too made-up looking (Genni Lynd doesn't work for me) and the others are a bit forgettable. The other thing about "Mar" is customers are really likely to remember it as "Mary."

[sheron]

Yes, I second the 'madeupness' of Mar being difficult to remember.

[sholio]

For the first one, it might not be that much of a problem because these are going to be mostly ebooks (though it also made me realize that I'm not entirely sure how I'd pronounce it - probably "mahr", though it's short for Marie). The confusion between that and misreading/misremembering it as Mary is a point well taken, though.

[kore]

"Mari" might work better than "Mar" for that? Maybe? -- ebooks, right, although those also still depend on word-of-mouth and unpaid reviews IIRC. I think the advice for a salable pen name is keep it memorable 'yet' simple.

[sholio]

I just test-drove the spelling Mari and I absolutely hate it (on myself, I mean; not like I objectively hate it AS A NAME, in case there happens to be a Mari reading this ...) - so no. Elisa has promise, because Elizabeth was one of the names I was actually kicking around. (Also, I just realized I forgot to put one of the names on my list on the poll - Lisa Kruse. Dammit. I may need to create a runoff poll anyway.)

[malnpudl]

Mara, maybe?

I differ from others in finding the others awfully generically-female. I like the two Mar options (especially Delaney) because I would find it much more memorable.

[sholio]

That's my thought as well! I really like how distinctive they are.

[sheron]

Don't know why I keep thinking of that Renee Delaney character from Highlander when I hear that surname *snorts*

[lunabee34]

I like Mara Delaney a lot.

[frith_in_thorns]

So do I!

[sholio]

Tragically, I don't like Mara, as a name for myself I mean, mostly because I have a fairly strong association with Mara Jade in the Star Wars EU novels, and I didn't like her much when I read them as a teen. XD

[conuly]

Marya? Bit of an Eastern Europe vibe there, though, which may not be what you want. Maia? Maire?

[sheron]

I don't know anything about F/F market but 'Alyssa' makes you sound younger (possibly the unusual spelling) and Evelyn makes you sound much older, just fyi, depending on what you're going for. (Melissa Dean sounds too generic for me personally). In case you were wondering about my reasons for voting like that.

[sholio]

Yeah, that actually is my one and only problem with Alyssa - although I checked the historical baby name website that I use for such things (when I do research, I go all the way XD) and there were definitely Alyssa-babies around in the '70s, so it's not impossible. I'm actually close in age to the actress Alyssa Milano - who might be part of the reason why there were so many Alyssa-babies later on, come to think of it.

The thought had also crossed my mind that sounding slightly younger than I really am might actually be a selling point. ~younger and edgier~

I like that the two options currently winning the poll are my two faves out of the bunch. :D

[sheron]

Yeah, if I had to guess, I'd say that sounding younger shouldn't be a problem for this market.

[kore]

The pro with "Alyssa" is "Oh like Alyssa Milano!" The con is that you can run into the Folger's coffee commercial problem where the association is stronger than what you're trying to sell. That's where a slightly different but soundalike spelling, like Alissa, can have an edge.

[sholio]

Well, my real name is exactly like that ("oh, Layla like the song!") and it's not been a problem from an authorial perspective, so I don't think it would be THAT much of an issue. It does have a very '80s connotation, though.

... I have now discovered that I hate the spelling Alissa, so no. XD Though maybe some of the "E" spellings have some potential - Elisa, Elyssa ...

[kore]

AHAHAHA I bet you get people singing it at you. //had a friend named Rosanna

Ooh, I like Elisa. Or Elise.

[kore]

Is "Genni Lynd" meant to be like a play on Jenny Lind? Because if so you can go for something simpler that'll still ring the historical name bell, like "Jennnie/Jenny Lynd." Assuming anyone other than us historical opera dinosaurs will get the allusion, LOL (she just got a big push from The Greatest Showman, tho, the intratubes tell me). Or Linden, Lynden, Lindon or Lyndon could all work.

[sholio]

Oops, no, not at all. XD I originally had a different last name there, but Lynd was one of the surnames I was kicking around with the right sound, and I thought they paired up nicely. Now I know why. That one's out, then.

[kore]

I am very probably not the ideal test audience because I am nothing if not a walking grab bag of Obscure Cultural References, but if you want to AVOID Obscure Cultural References I am your woman!

[genarti]

Ha! Yeah, Jenny Lind was my first thought there too, and I assumed it was an intentional reference, if only for your own amusement or something. (Though the spelling also didn't super work for me.)

[kore]

Hmm, maybe Alissa? One character in Jessica Jones S2 was named Alisa, although I think they pronounced it with long a's. This probably carbon dates me but Evelyn for me is associated with Evelyn Wood and Evelyn Underhill (obscure mystic writer). It does seem a bit 'older.' Maybe Alicia, Alisia, Ali, Alli....

[frith_in_thorns]

WHERE'S LAYLASAURUS REX?

[sholio]

DAMMIT, I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING

[kore]

LAYLASAURUS REXES IN F-14S

[trobadora]

I vote for Laylasaurus Rex. It's unbeatable. :D

[sholio]

And probably not already taken on various social media platforms, I'm guessing ...

[trobadora]

Yes! Another argument in its favour! :D

[starwatcher]

.
I see you've already ruled out Genni Lynd, which is my fave, probably because of the poem --

Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in.
Time, you thief who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in.
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me.
Say I'm growing old, but add --
Jenny kissed me.

(Don't remember the author, and written from memory here, so there may be a couple of wrong words, but that's the gist of it.)

Would Jenny (or Genni) Delaney be too long? I love the rhythm of that.

What do you think of the name Fiona? More common in the UK than the US, but I think it would be good when paired with any of the one-syllable surnames.

(Sorry. I seem to be good at throwing more options at people rather than narrowing them down.)
.

[malnpudl]

Ooh, I like Jenny/Genni Delany!

[lunabee34]

I love Fiona. We named our younger daughter Fiona because it is so uncommon. I've never met anyone named Fiona ever, not even with the popularity of Shrek.

[frith_in_thorns]

Fiona is a lovely name -- I'm in England and grew up on the Welsh border so I know several people called Fiona or Ffion!

[lunabee34]

*Nods nods*

I was being totally American-centric. Sorry about that.

It is such a beautiful name. I have an old-fashioned name (Lorraine) and my other daughter is Emma (which has had a resurgence of popularity but is still classic).

[sholio]

Hmmm. *looks up Emma Kerr on Amazon*

[lunabee34]

Oooh, that I like a lot.

[affreca]

I like Emma Kerr. Kerr makes me think fondly of Katherine Kerr, who's Deverry series was a touchstone of my reading history for a long time, but I didn't like Alyssa with that. But the older fashioned first name goes good with Kerr.

[sholio]

Sadly, there is already an Emma Kerr on Amazon - so someone else obviously liked it too! :D But yeah, I love the surname Kerr for this. There is now a follow-up poll with the top vote-getters (more or less).

[frith_in_thorns]

Haha, in my school at present we have two teachers called Lorraine and three called Emma! :D

[lunabee34]

Ha!

I have only ever met two people named Lorraine. I love having a name unique for this area.

[sholio]

Ha, no, this is helpful! I do like Genni Lynd a lot for the sound of it. It is too close to Jenny Lind for my liking, though. I'll try pairing Genni with some of the other surnames I have in my list and see if there's anything I like. I think a runoff poll is coming ... :D

Fiona is a nice name, but I've noticed that there's a particular set of sounds that tends to sound like "me" in a pen name, and Fiona doesn't really have the right cadence to it. (Lots of L's, A's, and E's, and generally kind of a liquid sound - words that resemble my given name, basically.)

[kore]

That's by Leigh Hunt, who is now maybe most famous for being a BFF to Keats and Shelley, and writing a rather scathing book on Byron.

Delaney might be OK but "Delany" is distinctive enough people might expect a connection with Samuel R.

[lunabee34]

I voted for Genni and Evelyn. I see Genni's out from the thread, but I really like Evelyn Rae. I agree that it maybe sounds older, but it sounds like a romance writer name to me, and all those glorious old fashioned names are coming back in style. Nowadays, if I hear that somebody's name is Stella, I automatically assume she's 5 instead of 85 like I would have 20 years ago. LOL

[sholio]

Ha, yeah, everything old is new again. :D

[frith_in_thorns]

I don't like Melissa for the very petty reason that I have known several Melissas and they were all really annoying :P

[sholio]

LOL, I actually had a bad experience with a Melissa, but I've also known a couple of nice ones and I liked the name, so I decided not to let that put me off. I think it's hilarious that Melissa is the ONLY name on the poll that I had that problem with, though.