Blog RSS FeedI yam what I yam.
Recently, due in part to having to renew some domain names and wanting to start up a redesign of ye olde website (look for it in April), I gave a good deal of thought to the question of my name. Mind you, I see nothing wrong with the name Katie. I have known a few Katies in my day, and I’m pleased to report that we are a mischievous lot. The name itself and the implications of it are dear to me.
But as an author…? My book is a thriller. It’s told in what I hope is a fresh, funny voice, but when you come down to it, scary things are happening, and the overall effect is on the darker side. And judging by my work-in-progress, there’s more of the same where that came from.
Is that writer really a Katie? I started to have my doubts. I began to think about other possibilities: K.S. Alender. Kate Alender. Kat Alender. Kade Alender. My husband vetoed a couple right off the bat, but there were one or two that stayed with me. So I did that annoying thing where I ask for everyone’s opinions even though I’m clearly not ready to decide. And, as I tend to do, I agonized a little. Agent M and my lovely editor remained mum, except to offer encouragement in my quest.
So I did a mockup of the web redesign, except I used K.S. Alender instead of Katie Alender. I was at the edge of the platform, one foot off, ready to commit.
And then as I was driving to work one day, I was thinking about the possibility that at some point I may actually meet someone from my target readership. And then I would get to talk to this person about the book!
“My name is Katie,” I will say. “Nice to meet you. I hope you like the book.”
“What’s it about?” asks this reader, who is dressed kind of cool and has no way of knowing that I once dressed in a way that may have been considered cool, especially if you take into account that 90s thing of tucking your jeans into your boots.
“It’s a ghost story about this misfit girl who has nobody to help her when her little sister goes crazy,” I will answer.
“Hmm,” says the girl, and looks at the cover.
“It’s about being yourself,” I will add. “And, like, not having to be what other people think you are.”
“Oh, okay,” she will say. And then she will glance at the cover of the book and see K.S. ALENDER. And she will look back at me and ask, “Why does it say KS Alender if your name is Katie?”
And I will say, “I didn’t think a person named Katie would write a book like this.”
Splat.
That was my lightbulb moment, right there. Everything I write tries to be about being just who you are, not adjusting yourself to fit some mold or expectation. I mean, first and foremost, they try to be good stories, but under that I can’t help but try to make this point again and again.
So what should I do, hide behind some initials because my name doesn’t sound enough like a person who would write this book? But I did write this book. And my name is Katie.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
(Agent M and the Lovely Editor were both like, “Oh, that’s what I hoped you would decide!” Of course.)
Related posts:- In which I discuss today’s events.
- Nice city… I guess I’ll stay forever.
- I had something important to say. (PS – Big News)
February 27th, 2007 Katie Alender
