Literary Doubles

Writers publish under pen names for many reasons, whether it is to conceal gender, hide political or religious affiliation, or to avoid the pressures of an overbearing audience. I too began this blog under the name "Basket Case" so I could write whatever I wanted without it getting back to me (you know... to avoid a spandex fetish scandal when I'm the first female president of the Moon). The only problem with this is that my nom de plume is pointless-- the only people who read my blog are my friends who have been instructed to read this OR foreigners who mistakenly wander across these pages after googling strange things like "linen sheath condoms" or "fuck gay vintage" (true story, unfortunately). And to them, I am but a mere speck in the universe. So, I have since changed my pen name to simply "KT" which rings a little closer to the truth of who I am.

Readership aside, blogging on the internet is a curious phenomenon, especially for the writer. When I was first starting out, I was both overwhelmed at the thought of putting myself out there for any and all strangers, and relieved to know that most likely no one was reading this. It's an odd feeling, having an imaginary audience amongst a few real ones. There is also the pressure to be incredibly witty, funny, or interesting. Sometimes, I think I pull this off, but mostly probably not.

Any who, I encountered these feelings again when I asked my very dear friend if she would consider writing for me from time to time. I've made this offer to many of my friends actually, but none seemed interested in the challenge. ("Yeah, sure KT... psht, whatever." - Friends.) My friend was overwhelmed by the task of producing something interesting for the amusement of others. I feel ya gurl. So, I suggested a pen name... I wonder what it will be. Or if she'll ever write for me.

In honor of anonymity, here are some stories behind famous authors and their literary doubles.

Dr. Seuss -
Theodor Seuss Geisel started using pen names after he was fired from a position as editor of the Darmouth paper for partying too hard. He has also published under Theodor Lesieg (his last name spelled backwards) and once as Rosetta Stone. Dr. Seuss stuck because he thought it was an ideal name for a children's book author. It also rhymes with Mother Goose.

J. K. Rowling -
Joanne "Jo" Rowling doesn't actually have a middle name! Who knew! Her publishers feared that her target audience, teenage boys, wouldn't want to read books written by a woman and insisted she use her initials instead of her full name. She chose the middle initial K after her grandmother Kathleen.

Ian Flemming -
The famed James Bond author invented a co-author for his experimental novel, The Spy Who Loved Me. He did this because the novel is written from the perspective of its female protagonist, Vivienne Michel, up until James Bond swoops in and rescues her. Flemming even claimed that Michel wrote the entire novel and that he had merely found the manuscript. But most people saw through that.

Stephen King -
This master of horror published four novels under the name Richard Bachman because he didn't think the public would buy more than one novel per year from a single author. Haha ohhh Stephen King.

These more modern examples seem to be clearly motivated by the sale of books. Which, in my opinion, is a lot less awesome than writers who sought to overcome the confines of society for their work. I'm looking at you, George Eliot! You go girl!

Care to share an example I left out? There are a million of them, some more famous than others. Use those trivia-filled brains!