For a while, I was leaning towards Ginger, which is the name I always wanted to be called when I was a kid. However, I decided that the fact that I often dye my ever-changing hair RED, Ginger might not be a good idea. Oh, that and the fact that it sounds like a stripper. And a stripper I am not. Nobody would pay to see my big butt strip. Just sayin'.
I thought about something glamorous, like Francesca or Melania or Raven, but the bottom line is: every time I picked out a fancy name, it made me giggle, and so help me if I am in the middle of a book signing (someday...one can dream) and someone says, "Raven, will you sign my book?" and I snort to myself, it will take away from the moment a bit. Plus, I am not a Raven. I am pasty white and pudgy. Ravens are never pasty white and pudgy. Again, just sayin'. So I decided on my middle name, and my actual last name. Brooke Moss. Yes, they're two nature words, and that's a bit weird, but hey, you work with what you've got, right? Plus, I've always liked my middle name more than my first. Sarah. So boring, and biblical. And I consider myself not at all boring, and only mildly biblical...at times. So Sarah? Blah. Brooke? YES!
Why a pen name? I get asked that all the time. And the answer is: I am a fairly religious person. I go to church every week, and I am raising my kids with certain standards and morals, that as a parent, I am hoping they will uphold in adulthood. This having been said, I have a certain moral code that I set for myself within my books. Certain rules I won't break. I never describe the act of sex. No really, I don't! I give everything prior, and everything post, and my lovely "fans" (all 25 of them) fill in the blanks with their own filthy minds. I never mention a man or womans private parts, nor do I bring up the word nipple. I also don't let my characters take the Lords name in vain.
However, my characters DO have sex. And sometimes, *GASP* they're not married yet. Do I want my kids to have premarital sex? No. Do I think the rest of the world should have premarital sex? Probably not. Do I think it's realistic to expect the rest of the world to comply with my morals? No. What I write is contemporary romance. And in my stories, the characters are as true to life as possible, meaning, they make the same choices that 75% of Americans make every single day. Good choices, bad choices, etc. That's what I write about. It is written purely for entertainment. When Stephen King writes about murderers and psychotic clowns, does that mean he is advocating murder? Certainly not. He writes it to entertain. When I write about a couple of consenting adults who sleep together, am I advocating premarital sex? No. I'm writing a true-to-life story for the purpose of entertaining a reader. Period. If this makes me a hypocrite, then whatever. I dare someone to write to Stephen King and call him an "Advocate of Murder" or a hypocrite.
Besides, maybe I'll write a love story about a couple who abstains someday. Don't rule that out yet. You never know...
The reason I shared all of this is because I want my career as a writer (or what I hope will become a career) to be separated from my home/family life. I want a certain amount of privacy concerning my role as wife and mother and church member, and if a pen name helps sustain that, then a pen name it is. If someone wants to ask me about my beliefs, then ask away. I will answer frankly, and share openly. But if someone wants to talk about my books, then keep it separate, and we'll talk books.
Brooke Moss. I like the sound of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment