What is in a name…
I think of that sometimes and I know there is much in a name,
My kids names translates to handsome one and king, and take my word,
They believe….grinning…
Anyway…
During the late part of 2005 when I held, ‘Black’s Obsession’ in my hot little hands,
I was trying to decide what I was going to call myself,
I knew that Vernon was going to be in there somewhere,
It was time to do that maiden name thang,
A bit, but I just didn’t know…
So after much consideration, I found my Nom de Plume,
Pen Name if you will,
I became acVernon Menchan,
There were many extenuating circumstances and reasons,
But I must admit the biggest was to hide, in plain site, so to speak…
The first book had very little sex,
But there was some cussing and language to be sure,
After all I was writing as a Black man who was all about keeping it real,
Hah…
And I wasn’t sure how folks would feel,
Mostly family folks,
Didn’t want to care but I did,
Ironically when people talk about my books,
That first one remains a cult favorite for many,
Because those who got it,
Knew it wasn’t about the language but the message,
Anyway,
After book four I was tired of writing under a pen name,
Diana Ross’ ‘I’m Coming Out’ rang in my head,
So I took the safe route and penned my first young adult book,
As…Angelia Vernon Menchan…who I be…
Now on my fourth book as me…
Someone asked me the other day when they discovered,
I was writing, MRS. BLACK?
If I were going back to my pen name,
And they told me they hoped not,
Well I disabused them of that notion,
Told them it had never even occurred to me,
I am so far removed from being concerned about what anyone thinks about my books,
And understanding that what people take from it is about them,
Not about me,
I am a writer and I write,
And I was doing myself and my work,
A great disservice by hiding in the closet…
Because I believe in my stories,
My characters,
And most importantly I believe in me,
And Angelia Vernon Menchan,
Is WHO I BE…
BE BLESSED!
Angelia
www.angeliavmenchan.com
www.mammproductions.blogspot.com
3 comments:
Thank you for writing this. I just had a discussion with my husband about stepping out of my comfort one to write a little steamier and told him I don't want my mother to be ashamed of me. He told me I have to do what I need to do and to use my pen name if I want. I guess I should just be me and no one else.
Jen,
you are welcome, that is a largely personal thing...you can do what I did and try it and then later change it...some people write under a pen name forever...others never do...for me it was an absolute growth spurt...and I am too grown to be worried about all that...but it took getting there for real...the more you write...the more you will know...
Smooches!
angelia
Right on! There are a lot of reasons why writers use pen names.
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