Pen Names

I just got a tip about another Lutheran writer. Writing under the pen name Dangerosa Jones, these books look like great summer reading! Her latest release is Alignment: A Love Story.

 

I’ll get this and try to post a review pretty soon. Apparently it fits into a genre sometimes known as “chic fic”.

What I’d like to highlight for you at this point is that Lutherans can write in a wide variety of genres. We don’t have to label ourselves overtly with heavy theological dialogue. Although I love that stuff, and it has a more significant place than people sometimes realize, there’s plenty of room for writers to write on all sorts of good things.

And, nom de plumes! With all the seriousness of the world right now, I thought I might tackle the topic of ghost writing, except the heavy hesitancy in my heart regarding the world right now thinks pseudonyms are a much better choice of topic! They are such fun!

I grant them much more than silliness. Pen names can be a tool:

  • Establishing yourself in a particular genre as though a character (like Lemony Snicket, who is not a Lutheran)
  • Easing crossover into a different genre (like Robert Gailbraith, aka J. K. Rowling, sadly not Lutheran)
  • George Eliot used hers, believing she would attract different readers
  • Sometimes publishers even recommend it on similar grounds of appeal, hence J. K. rather than Jo or Joanne Rowling.
  • Sometimes it might help to not be known as that Lutheran pastor or lay person
  • Sometimes it simply frees a person, loosening self-imposed but unnecessary tension

I’ll admit the practice skips over the biblical significance of names:

  • God’s use of names
  • God’s name as powerfully invocative
  • Human names being given and received rather than taken,
  • Names as incorporation, etc.

Hm. So, actually, if you know of any resources exploring biblical themes around names, I’d be happy to read them. A Bible study on the topic would be stellar!

Ok, goofy or serious articles about pseudonyms are also welcome.

Pen names are officially welcome on my list of living Lutheran authors!

And, again, for your consideration:

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