posted
Though I have been using the pen name "Thunderduck" for quite some time, I recently became the brunt of "Family" jokes over using it. I created the name because a writer once commented that my poetic works had both power and softness to them. So now I ask you pros your opinions. Is the name ok?
Posts: 26 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
If you're asking me how I think I would respond to the name if I saw it on a book...that's one thing. If you're asking me how the average reader would respond...that's something else entirely. For me, Thunderduck would inspire enough curiosity to take a second look at the spine of the book in question. For others, well...I can't say. It greatly depends on the kind of book you put it on. I'd estimate a high probability that children and adults (like myself) who are still in touch with their inner child would absolutely love it. Others...perhaps not so much. I agree with mike in that the decision is entirely up to you, and should probably be bereft of input from others. After all, we don't know you even half as well as you know yourself. And a pen name usually is a reflection of the named, no?
Inkwell ----------------- "The difference between a writer and someone who says they want to write is merely the width of a postage stamp." -Anonymous
posted
Power and softness...thunderduck sounds about right to me. As was previously mentioned, who cares what others think? If it bothers you so much to be ridiculed by family, maybe you should get a slightly thicker skin (I personally think the name is pretty cute). I dont know your style, so I cant really make any recommendations for a new name. Good luck finding one though.
Posts: 35 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I'd fully expect the book to be comedic or something tongue in cheek. Maybe a Lemony Snicket kind of thing. I would have a VERY hard time taking any book written by someone named Thunderduck seriously.
posted
I guess when I read between the lines of the comments so far I guess it's a great choice. So I'll stick with it. Strange how comments were serious up to a point, then you add the "Comic" factor and suddenly everybody wants to be a comedian. Maybe I'll write comedy and challenge the beaten path.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I'm thoroughly horrified by the name Thunderduck. I think it's offensive to ducks -- and believe me, you don't want to get ducks angry at you.
Posts: 2830 | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
I'm a bit puzzled, because all the comments before Thunderducks last post seemed to be perfectly serious.
Then he says that everybody wants to be a comedian, and we start getting tongue in cheek comments about offending ducks.
But he was the one that first mentioned that some people think the name is a joke. I'm still confused as to whether it is supposed to be a joke or not. If it isn't, then that's a bit of a problem. I cannot, for the life of me, take that name seriously. I'm thinking of things like Disney characters dressed up as comic book superheroes and real ducks quacking thundrously and a fictional device designed to test critical reentry parts by throwing ducks at supersonic velocities into the tested part...those are all pretty funny images in my mind.
posted
You shouldn't have tried to read between my lines, Tduck. Because there's nothing there. My post was plain and up front. I think it's a silly name. So if you want to inform your audience--right from your pen name on the cover--that your book is going to be silly, go for it. But if you want to be taken seriously, change it.
posted
I mentioned no one particular in my "Between the lines" comment. So if some inner moment of thought leads anyone to think I meant them, then they, not I have placed themselves within a given catagory. So far I've sold over 900 copies of said Pen Name and resales are climbing. My question was more on what to do with my family and they're joking. My apologies if I wasn't clear enough on the subject. As far as the name Thunderduck goes. If you type it in any search window you'll find lots of sites, companies, and colleges that use it. Now just how funny is it in the real world? Once again my apologies if I wasn't clear on my meaning. Hey I'm a rookie in here lol.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Yes, my first thought was a Saturday morning cartoon. I wondered if Thunder Cats hunted ThunderDucks or are they more civilized than that -- seeing as how they come from another planet.
I don't think you can do anything about your family's joking unless you plan to change your name. The name ThunderDuck just spawns too many jokes -- you can't change that. Especially since many poets tend to be so serious, a Poet named ThunderDuck is just too tempting a target. Any number of funny situations and/or stories pop into mind just thinking about it. I'd say either change your pen name or let the comments flow off your back like -- well -- like a duck's.
posted
I guess I achieved an objective though I wasn't originally intending to reach for one. To some the name is funny, to some it is down right silly. And to others it draws deeper meanings. I guess all in all it did the one thing that all pen names should. It drew attention.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
You asked for opinions. If you only want validation, then say that up front.
I'm not surprised that the term gets a lot of hits. It's a funny name. If you like that, then it's all to the good. But if you don't, then we can't make it any less funny.
posted
Survivor, First of all I appreciate your comment. If you read the string "completely", you'll find that it wasn't my intention. I mean honestly, the only thing I've ever needed validated was a parking ticket.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I don't understand what you're saying. At first, you said you wanted opinions. Then, more recently, you claimed that you didn't get what you were after.
But everything you got was opinions. So just what is it that you got that wasn't what you wanted?
posted
No, survivor, in his reply to me, he's claiming that he didn't just want *attention*. I don't think he's saying he didn't want opinions.
Posts: 1750 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Maybe we should turn this into a more general discussion of pen names.
If you had to use a pen name, for whatever reason, how would you pick it?
Would you use some variation on a family name (as some writers have done) or would you try to come up with something totally different?
Would you use a different pen name for different kinds of work? Would you use something romantic sounding for romance, or would you choose against type?
posted
I used a pen name for years when I was younger becasue I didn't want to do or write something stupid and be personally associated with it for the rest of life. It was the name of a character in some of the first stories I ever wrote, and I never plan on using it (the name) professionally, unless I some day publish those stories (which isn't very likely). Then I was out of the writing loop for a while, and when I recently decided to get back in I thought it was time to go in as my true self.
Actually, I posted quite a bit to this board under my pen name at the time, which is why I'm listed as a "new member" here, even though in reality I've been around for quite some time.
posted
You two must have some weird kind of telepathy. I didn't understand that exchange at all.
I don't think that I would bother with using a pen name, as such. But I would probably use different variations/arrangments of my given name for very different genres.
When a pen-name is conventional/required, I have mixed luck. I picked out "Survivor" only months before someone decided to use it as the name of some stupid "reality" show. I've only watched part of one episode of Survivor, it was the final episode of the first season, and it was soooo long and pointless and boring. Maybe it would have been interesting if I'd watched all the other episodes, but I assumed (or perhaps just hoped) that it would be canceled pretty soon.
Actually, it's been a while since I heard of it. Maybe it was eventually canceled.
Some other "pen" names, "Obsidian Solitaire", "Azrael", "WraithSword", "Imperitor Ferx", stuff like that. Sometimes the imagery is obvious, sometimes rather abstruse. Occasionally I'm being a bit funny or at least ironic. I sometimes choose manga/comic characters, too. It's hard to find good ones, though. Making up a nom de plume is usually much easier.
If I had to write under a convincing pseudonym, I'd go Varishta's route and just pick something boring.
posted
Yes it's true brains of higher calibre often posess this "Weird" telepathy. But really it's simple enough that if you actually read the string that you can grasp it. I find "Survivor" the show to be an indepth study of human abilities. Not that I watch it all the time, but when I do I try to learn more about the nature of those sharing this world with me. Sometimes it saddens me, and other times I'm cracking up inside. Thanks for your comment Survivor, as always it's appreciated.
[This message has been edited by Thunderduck (edited August 22, 2005).]
If the author's name sounds too pretentious or it sounds too fake, I won't read it. Regardless. And if it sounds like an internet or forum handle, I won't read it either. Generally, I want to see that there is a human sounding name behind what I read. If it sounds made up, I tend to shy away from it, because that reads to me as people taking themselves too seriously.
quote:If the author's name sounds too pretentious or it sounds too fake, I won't read it
What do you think of the name "Wellington DaSilva"?
It it too pretentious?
How about:
W. M. DaSilva
Wellington M. DaSilva
Wellington Marques DaSilva?
The reason I ask is that, well, those are my real names, and for some reason they feel like fake names. Brazillians have a penchant for obscure, royal sounding names...
quote:a fictional device designed to test critical reentry parts by throwing ducks at supersonic velocities into the tested part...
I guess the fictional aspect of this description is that it throws ducks instead of frozen chickens.
Thunderduck, are you any relation to Safety Duck? Probably not, but I had to ask. The best part about Safety Duck was his theme song, which was comprised of the Janet Jackson hit "Nasty Boys" just with "Safety Duck" replacing the title phrase. I guess Safety Duck was simply an emanation of my passive agression on a day when I had to drive to the city dump with my 13 year old brother-in-law. It was a stuffed toy duck whose head was nearly as bit as its body.
posted
I found it on the web Spaceman. I had to order some just for the bottle, being a collector of ducks. Comes in a gel too. Thanks. The stuff I was talking about was some other bath product made in France I think.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Aug 2005
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