Who Would You Rather Be?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Names. Don’t even get me started. Okay, too late.

A million years ago, I was offered an anchor job in another city. But, the news director said: you can’t be Hank Phillippi. Come up with another name.

Really? I thought. I could be ANYONE? Sadly, I came up with Amanda Armstrong. (C’mon, it was the 80s.) Happily, I didn’t take the job.

But it did get me thinking about the importance of names and  how we think of people when we hear them. My book TRUST ME just sold in the UK (yay!) and I will be Anna Ryan. Another blog for another day.   (And TRUST ME was just named one of Book Bub's  19 Incredible Thrillers--yay!)

Anyway. You know Mary Sutton, right? She is fabulous, lovely, hilarious, and a true dear darling friend of Jungle Red. A stalwart. A treasure. A FOTR extraordinaire.

And now, we are so gloriously happy to tell you her first book --ROOT OF ALL EVIL-is out! YAY. (Please not blurb on the fabulous cover.)

But. You might never know. Except that you’re wise enough to be here! Because she is using a different name.

Why? Well, let her tell you. And we’re awarding a book to one lovely commenter, no matter what your name is!

The Name Game

  By Mary, er Liz Milliron

First off, thanks to the Reds for having me. I can’t believe I’m guest posting on JRW!

When I first started commenting on JRW, I was just “Mary.” Then a few months ago, I started signing my posts as “Mary/Liz.” Why? Because I write under a pen name – Liz Milliron (that’s mill-iron if you’re wondering).

Now multiple names in fiction is nothing new. Edith Maxwell writes under no less than three (her own, Maddie Day, and Tace Baker). One of the questions I get is “why a pen name”? There are many reasons a writer might choose one. I’d written for kids and I wanted a clean break between my adult fiction and middle-grade.

But this occasions other questions. “Do I call you Mary or Liz?” My answer is usually, “I’ll answer to both.” I’m Mary when I’m with friends, but I’m Liz when I’m “on the clock” so to speak – like at conventions or with readers. As my grandfather would say, “Just don’t call me late to dinner.”

Speaking of conventions, I met Bruce Robert Coffin at Malice this year. He asked if the pen name was like an undercover sting for the police (sort of) and if I ever got my identity confused. I assured him I knew exactly who I was supposed to be at all times. Then I went to check in and forgot which name I’d registered under. Oops.

But the more I write and publish under “Liz Milliron,” the more I realize something. There’s a reason superheroes used special names. It isn’t simply for identity protection. There’s something empowering in the use of a public persona. 

Samuel Clemens used Mark Twain. That's cooler, for some reason.

Writers are often, by nature, introverts. I am. I’m not
particularly smooth when it comes to talking to strangers. I’m a wallflower at parties where I don’t know most of the attendees. I can do public speaking, but I’m a nervous wreck and I hate hearing my voice waver with nerves. Mary is just a woman in her mid-40s, living in the suburbs with two teenage kids, a hum-drum job, and is a bit of a nerd. In a good way, but still a nerd.

Liz is completely different. She’s a lot cooler than I am—and in some ways, a lot braver. Need to introduce yourself to a group of strangers? No sweat. Mingle at conferences or dinners? Easy-peasy. Stand in front of a group and talk? In the bag.

I’m rather jealous of her. Even though she’s me.

I wonder how Marianna Evans felt as George Eliot? Though she had other reasons. 

So Liz is my “mask,” something I can slip on when I need to go out and do things I might not have the guts to do without her. Cool, right?

But Liz wouldn’t exist without Mary. Just like Superman and Clark Kent are intertwined or Bruce Banner and the Hulk (although now I think of it, why does it seem like only the DC Universe superheroes have mild-mannered personas?). 

Without Mary sitting quietly in her house, tapping away at the keyboard, guzzling tea in her yoga pants, Liz wouldn’t have anything to talk about. There’d be no opportunities to meet and greet or pitch books to readers. She’d be a ghost…that is if she even existed at all.

 I guess I’m both – Mary and Liz. And I’m happy with that. Because being Liz is fun and all, but it’s Mary who makes the stories.

Readers, what about you? Do you have a “persona” that helps you push your boundaries? If not, have you ever thought about whether using one would help? One lucky commenter will win a signed copy of Root of All Evil (US entries only, please).

HANK: Oh, good question! I cannot wait to hear. This oughtta be good….

Liz Milliron has been making up stories, and creating her own endings for other people's stories, for as long as she can remember. She survived growing up through reading, cutting her mystery teeth on Agatha Christie, Mary Higgins Clark and, of course, Nancy Drew. As an adult, she finds escape from the world of software documentation through creating her own fictional murder and mayhem. She lives near Pittsburgh with her husband and two teenage children, and fantasizes about owning a dog - one of these days. (Headshot courtesy of www.erinmclainstudio.com)

(Photos of George Eliot and Mark Twain from Flickr; used under Creative Commons license)