“Do you like your name?” That was the question I asked at the end of my last post. Then I asked what name would they have rather been called if they didn’t like their name. One reader, Sharon, turned the question back on me.
I have named hundreds of characters in the over forty books I’ve written. Each book has at least ten names, maybe more, of characters a reader will keep up with while they are reading one of my books. Other names also pop up. Some not that important. Maybe the name of the grocery store clerk or a schoolteacher or a neighbor that just has a mention or two in the story. But they still have names.
But Sharon wasn’t asking about my characters’ names. She was asking about mine. Did I like it and if not, what name would I like?
When a youngster, I did not especially like my name. I didn’t especially not like my name either.
I was a very shy child. When I started school, I would sometimes startle when the teacher said “and” thinking she had said my name. I did not want to be called on. I got over that, but as I got older, I began to think other girls had prettier names. Ann without that “e” was so short. So boring. Nothing exciting about it. Plain Ann.
Then I started dreaming of becoming a writer. I loved to read. I already paid attention to authors’ names and looked for more books by those authors I liked. Even then, I knew authors’ names were important.
Okay, listen up. I’m going to share a secret I’ve very rarely ever told anyone. Maybe never told anyone. Not that it’s an important secret, but when I was that young teen, I decided I needed a pen name. Something that would catch a reader’s attention. Something that sounded pretty. Something that tickled the tongue. Something that would be remembered and sound romantic. Ann Houchin (my name before I married) didn’t seem to push any of those buttons.
I thought and thought about the best name. I’m sure I wrote down dozens of possibilities since that’s what I do now when I’m naming one of my characters. I don’t really remember how I decided on my writing name. That was a long, long time ago. I do remember I kept it a secret. It had a someday feel. Someday when my first story was published. Someday when I hit the bestseller list. Someday when I could call myself a writer out loud and believe I had the right to do so. Someday.
But I didn’t wait until someday to start using my pen name when I wrote a story in my wire-bound notebooks. Of course, no one ever saw those stories. They were hidden away in my desk drawers. But I wrote them and dreamed of someday.
Angie Dawn. That name hit all my most wanted points. Dawn was a word that made me think of promise. A new day coming. Angie was my name with a twist. I thought it perfect.
A few minutes ago, I fished down in a drawer in my childhood desk and pulled out one of those notebooks to see if I actually used Angie Dawn for my author name. The first notebook I found had this list you can see in my picture. Stories I wrote as that teen listed by the years I wrote them and up at the top my author name, Angie Dawn. I don’t remember the stories now, and I didn’t dig deeper in the drawer to see if I still had them. But the titles sound sort of neat.
Also, it appears I was pretty prolific in my story writing. These stories were after I’d outgrown that mystery I’d been writing since I was ten. That might be the only novel I ever started and didn’t finish. Anyway, I was learning to put story words together. I just read bits of one in the notebook I pulled out of the drawer. Amazingly not too bad. A little overly dramatic, but what teenager isn’t?
Then I got married. My name changed. The plain Ann didn’t, but now I was Ann Gabhart. Gabhart didn’t sound particularly romantic the way I’d thought Dawn did. But I wasn’t a dreamy young girl anymore. I was ready to put my own name on my stories. I didn’t want to hide behind a pen name. I might not be ready to claim I was a writer to everyone I met, but I had told the people I loved I was scribbling or mostly typing stories I hoped would find a publisher.
I still thought Ann, without that “e” was boring. The wonderful librarian who helped me do research and was so supportive when I was a newly published writer was also named Ann without that “e.” She told me one day how much she liked her name. She said it was simple and concise and easy for people to say and remember. She gave me a whole new perspective of my name. I changed my thinking about being Ann without the “e.”
Now I’m happy with my name. I left Angie Dawn behind ages ago without the first regret. Yet, I still have a soft spot in my heart for the little girl who thought a fancier name would give her a better chance of making her writing dream come true.
Do you remember authors’ names? If so, does it help you remember if their names are different or more romantic or…?
Comments 10
Hi Ann,
My name is Janet. I always thought my name plain. And I never got a nickname because of it. Of course I could have had the nickname Jan but that was worse than Janet. I always dreamed of “Julia” for a name and in Latin class that is the name I picked. (We got to choose a different name for our class to call us.) I’m an aspiring author and I checked out some books from the library one day and the lady said, “Janet Bryant Brown (that’s my full name) sounds like a great name for an author.” I never told her that I hoped to write a book someday. That gave me the encouragement and the confidence I needed to keep dreaming, and writing.
Author
I’ve known several Janets, and I must have liked them all because when I think about the name, I have a good feeling, Janet. Sounds as if your librarian helped you like your name better just like mine did. I agree with her. Janet Bryant Brown sounds like a very good author name. Not sure my name does, but it’s the book you write that matters most, I suppose. Wishing you joy in writing yours.
I remember author’s names that I read often. I don’t pay much attention to random ones that I read, unless they have a very unusual name.
Author
That’s how I am, Connie. If I’m looking forward to a new book from a certain author, then that name sticks better in my memory. I’m not sure the unusual name would help me remember. I might be quicker to forget that. 🙂
I remember my favorite authors names even from my growing up years. Blessings!
Author
I might remember more of those than the ones I read now, Lucy. I think that’s because I do jump around to various authors and don’t read the same one that often. I do have a few that I have read a whole series of books. I usually do remember those.
Earlier you asked about our names. I always liked my name cause I knew I was named for a child my mom babysat for and she liked the name. But at times I resented it because of being so “individual”……there was no mistaking who was meant when someone said “Nadine”! As a teen for a while my friends called me Dena and that was fun but didn’t last long. I had more problems with my maiden last name which was Pedersen (Danish). It was either spelled with a t and o or was mispronounced.
Author
I’m guessing when they heard Pederson, people automatically thought Peterson. We do often go first to the familiar instead of listening as well as we should, Nadine. I used Nadine for the name of my mother character in my Rosey Corner books. I liked it and it fit for her.
While you had an individual name, I had a common one. But one that was used more for a second name than a first one.
I do remember my favorite author’s names! I may forget the names of their books a few times, but I usually remember characters from them!
Author
That’s great, Trudy. I have problems remembering the authors’ names sometimes when I’m trying to tell others about their books, but maybe that’s because I have so many books I’ve enjoyed reading. When I was teaching last week at the a writing conference, I’d stumble over a title or author name and somebody would grab their phones and have the name for me almost before I finished my sentences. It was a big help.