David Wolverton writes his fantasy under the pseudonym of David Farland as another example. It is done by many authors and is nothing unusual.

However, I would disagree that you should mention it in a query letter. There is no reason to raise the issue at that point. Just send out the queries under your own name. I've seen agents say it looks a bit unprofessional for an author to worry about a pen name in a query. Once you have an agent, they can handle details like that.

If you send out short fiction, then on you put your pen name in the byline space under the title.

Since avoiding the entire issue is the best solution, I do advise a pen name. I know a couple of authors who use pen names for exactly that reason.

Nor do I think it's "moral" to push one's unsecular views upon others to the extent they feel obliged to write under a pseudonym.

I'm not sure how well a pen name would work though, if your objective is to hide your identity. Suppose the book sells--how will you handle publicity, book signings and the like?

Also, if you live in a community where everyone talks to everyone about everyone, and if your book is successful, you'll tell your friends, right? And they'll tell their friends, and so on, and someone will be a parent ...

I think it would be sad to visit the bookshop and have to not say, "Hey, look at that--my book!"

Good luck.
Pat

Edited to add: If your district would support you, and if you'd be able to take work in a more liberal part of the USA, maybe publishing under your real name and causing a big mess would be the right thing to do.

And, um, as a person who lives in the Bible Belt and who definitely doesn't read erotica and such (i.e. a "nut"), I wonder how much of your concern is real and how much is perceived. Frankly, I don't care if you write about witchcraft, about sex, or about witches having a orgy. I just wouldn't want you forcing my children to read it "for their own good." I think you'll find most "nuts" aren't trying to sequester their children away from all "immoral" contact, they just want to have control of when and how that contact is made so that they can discuss the differences between worldviews. As in, they want a fair chance at passing their worldview on just as much as you want to pass your worldview onto. Fair is fair, after all.

My Grandparents won't let me play frisbee on sunday because it is the Lord's day of rest. They also, when I was a young boy, wouldn't let me go to the pool on hot sundays at our family church camp.

I don't live in the Bible Belt, but I am a christian. Don't attack him. He has approached this manner in the most mature way possible.

Oblomova, my advice to you would be not to use a pen name. If you publish a book that a parent has a problem with, you can deal with that rather simply. If the parents of your children see a book you have writen under a "fake" name (as that is what pen names are), it could be a much bigger problem.

Also he or she did not say he or she was going to force his or her work on anyone.

One aspect of avoiding flame wars is mutual tolerance, methinks.

Um ... If you google Oblomova you get dozens of results, too many to go through. But if you google "Oblomova writer" your introduction to Hatrack turns up on the third page of search results, so just by posing the question you might have blown your annonymity if your name is really Oblomova.

I don't know about novels, but in short stories you format thus:

Real Name
Pen Name
adress
email
telephone number

THIS IS A FAKE STORY
by Pen Name

who will care when when we are all dead and gone but our works are quite fameious.

I would say his concerns are justified.

I would say more, but this forum is valuable to me.

And I too fear censorship.

My greatest fear is that, I sell something to somebody, and when I finally get a copy, I find---my name is misspelled...

[edited for clumsy phrasing---it's still no great shakes.]

Moving on to my next dilemma, I feel I should mention that I'm female. I'm curious how it turned out that everyone thought I was a male, but that's a discusison for another thread! I'm also not named "Oblomova." Oblomov is the titular hero of a book by Goncharov--he's really lazy, like me, and I thought the addition of the "a" would feminize it a bit. This must not have worked very well since people thought I was a man.

I also appreciate the discussion of academic freedom and the need for honesty. I especially like the "cumbs of the truth" metaphor. I agree in many ways, but still want to make sure that future students won't be able to pick something up under my name that they shouldn't be reading. Most students can't even understand that teachers leave the classroom at night to go shopping in the grocery store, much less that they write fantasy or science fiction!

As a compromise between total integrity, which would be publishing under my own name, and total secrecy, which would require posthumus publishing, I'm hoping for a pen name as a kind of fig leaf.

I'm also hoping that most parents will agree with the poster (was it Debbie KW or Kolona?) who said she was more concerned with protecting her children from force-feeding in the classroom than with punishing teachers for their private lives. Is that true?

I hope that either Debbie or Kolona will weigh in on the idea of using a pen name being more or less offensive than the real thing. Do either of you think it is worse for a teacher to write under another name? I'd like to think of it as a signal that I'm keeping my writing and teaching separated.

Oh, and in case we want to read each other's stuff someday, I don't think that people who avoid erotica or witchcraft are crazy. I don't even know whether I would write it myself. I was, albeit clumsily, trying to say that crazies were just those who would read something they didn't enjoy for the sole purpose of checking up on a public servant's morality.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this issue, and for the good advice about pen names and fake biographies. I'm glad this didn't degenerate into a complete flame war; I would've hated to be responsible for the first step in that direction!

Edited for grammar and wording

On the subject of pen names, I know I was shocked to recently find out that "Lewis Carrol", the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, was a pen name. It turns out his real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and when asked about it directly always denied having written the books.

So not only could you use a pen name to hide it, you could also make a reputation for yourself by denying the press associated with it!

quote:

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I'm also hoping that most parents will agree with the poster (was it Debbie KW or Kolona?) who said she was more concerned with protecting her children from force-feeding in the classroom than with punishing teachers for their private lives. Is that true?

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I was the one that said this. All I know is that this is true of me and my friends.

quote:

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I agree in many ways, but still want to make sure that future students won't be able to pick something up under my name that they shouldn't be reading. Most students can't even understand that teachers leave the classroom at night to go shopping in the grocery store, much less that they write fantasy or science fiction!

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I appreciate your concern for your students. I never knew the first name of any of my K-12 teachers and only for a few of my college professors. When I was a kid, if I saw a fiction book with my teacher's last name on it, it never would have crossed my mind that it might be my teacher. But that was in pre-internet days, and information is much easier to access now. Here are some suggestions:

-Start your writing with stories that you wouldn't mind the students reading and see if anyone connects the writing to you. If not, the coast may be clear to push the boundries.

-Write the stories that you wouldn't mind the students reading under your real name and your other stories under a pen name.

-Do all your writing under a variation of your real name that people wouldn't immediately connect to you, like (using my name, since I don't know yours): D.K. White or D. Kristine White or Kristine White or Deborah Krist.

Hope this was helpful.

Writing fantasy is NOT something to be ashamed of.

First: I never thought Oblomova was your real name. I never assumed you were male or female, though if I had to address you using gender I would have used male gender(that is standard practice in our society though many are trying to make that not so.). I do not have the too much knowledge problem of Robert. A very funny post BTW.

Second: I dont think very many people understand the freedom of speech and religion clauses(or second amendment rights)which is very sad.

Additional notes:
BTW I always thought JustlnProse had a split personality.

We've established quite firmly that pen names are alive and well.

That was an interesting story about Lewis Carrol. I think I heard it once before, but thanks for reminding me.

I also know of the nuts that you described Oblomova, and didn't think for a minute that you meant me. *Wipes foam from mouth* You caught a lot of flak there. Many people will read the post under your original and take that person's skew on it one step further, making you more radical each time till someone finally steps out and says "That's not what she said at all." thank you Justln. (I know it has happened to me )

I don't think Oblomova was talking about writing pornographically, merely how sensitive christians can be when the words 'sex' or 'witchcraft' are concerned.

Oh and, Annepie; Kids should stay kids till I say they can grow up, darnit!

Lastly: Yes it is appropriate to use a pen name, even if just to avoid conflict.

And please do. You will avoid a lot of silly flak, and save a lot of parents a lot of time argueing about something silly.

quote:

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I hope that either Debbie or Kolona will weigh in on the idea of using a pen name being more or less offensive than the real thing. Do either of you think it is worse for a teacher to write under another name?

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What a person does in the time away from his job is usually not an issue, unless of course he’s a terrorist plotting some nefarious escapade, but with teachers and a number of other professions there’s a notable distinction. My plumber isn’t messing with my kids heads, for instance.

I tend toward qualifying what a teacher might be doing, to say whether I personally would feel better about knowing or not knowing, and the writer using a pen name. Sometimes what you don’t know can hurt you—or your child. I wouldn’t want a published pedophile at the head of my child’s class. And, quite frankly, neither would I want a pole dancer there because I don’t believe that person would value the innocence that is inherent in children. Ditto for someone who writes erotica. Where there's a more innocuous subject matter, like fantasy or sci-fi, a pen name could be appropriate, and might be in Oblomova's case.

But I think we have to distinguish between censorship and censure. Being forbidden to write is not the same thing as enduring disapproval about what is written. Basically, governments censor and the marketplace censures. Words have meanings and sometimes there are consequences. If I’m working for the IRS and publish works that advocate how to cheat on taxes, I don’t think I’ll have a job before long. But I can go on writing about tax cheating all I want.

Having said all that, had Oblomova merely voiced her concern about someone in the Bible Belt complaining about her literary pursuits, I would have nodded and thought, yes, she might have a legitimate concern. But I objected to her referring to those who might complain as “nuts.” I didn’t object because of hurt feelings. I objected because it was just plain wrong. My word, I’ve heard of Hollywood stars who don’t let their kids watch movies or a lot of tv fare because of the content—even if they starred in it—and they are about as far from the Bible Belt as you can get. An involved parent is a good thing.

I have a hard time envisioning someone who “would read something they didn’t enjoy for the sole purpose of checking up on a public servant’s morality,” though I suppose they’re out there. But that would be like someone reading the Bible just to complain about all that morality.

Oblomova graciously apologized for the “nuts” comment, then seemed to negate that apology by commending the “crumbs of truth” metaphor. Especially with the original “Heh” of that comment, it read like an insult. Should I infer that those who value old-fashioned morality have intellectually stunted children? Are they feeding their children crumbs of truth? Hardly. They’re refusing to feed them the garbage that masquerades as truth, such as situational ethics. And they’re trying to preserve and protect that which is most precious in children—their innocence.

Beyond that, though, there was a time when someone with no basic familiarity of the Bible wasn’t considered well educated. Our formerly great universities like Harvard and Yale began as religious institutions whose original mandate was to train Christian ministers to spread the Gospel. Today, there is an appalling ignorance of basic Biblical knowledge, but that’s a soapbox for another venue. Suffice it to say that a person with a Biblical background has that much more knowledge than one without.

Annepin, you made me chuckle when you wrote, “To a certain extent, kids are people too.” To what extent, I wonder.

I will comment that one could debate at length on the ethics, morality, religion, politics, economic and other aspects of this topic at length...and some might say that it's already been done.
Many of you make good points on either the "pro" or "con" "side" of this issue. One might also say that this can not be an easy choice for a writer at times.

I know that I feel like Oblomova does, myself. I am in a different profession, but still one that has an influence on others, from young to old. Don't most of us in one way or another? Isn't that one of the purposes of sharing one's writing?

I am also a parent and a Christian, in fact, I am a "preacher's daughter". There are times when I feel as if I must have a "split personality" or something (<grin> ) because I still value the beliefs I was raised with and taught at length while exploring how my own belief system will "go" as an adult.

I value giving my children(I have three, btw) good morals and values. I also know that there are many different religious and ethical belief systems out there and that, no matter what you do, you are likely to be in "conflict" with someone else's.

In my case, I have debated the use of a pen name because of my own family and the fact that some of the stories I might write, while not "criminal" or "pornographic", could make my family members or people who know me professionally "uncomfortable" because they present adult content with varying perspective of one kind or another.

As someone else pointed out, I try to have characters with different viewpoints in my stories and, invariably, someone will not like one of them. That's part of having a FICTIONAL but plausible world for your stories, I think. Sometimes, just writing about different ideas, causes a writer to think deeper about what they believe or feel. I think that is one of the purposes of it.

Having said all that (yes, one of my problems as a writer is verbosity, sorry), I would like to say that I personally feel as if we've given her (another female writer, yay!) enough "food for thought" and that, ultimately, our purpose here is to provide support for fellow writers, give them that "food for thought", and then allow them the freedom to choose for themselves as their own conscience leads them.

Maybe we should give her credit for being a concerned adult, and some "leeway" for the fact that a writer does not always know exactly how to express oneself in words, after all, and give this subject a rest. Everyone, including Oblomova, had "good points" to make.