Write Under a Different Name?

Recently, James Chartrand came out of the closet.  Not to announce homosexuality, but to announce that she is in fact a she. Historically, many female writers have done just that – George Eliot, Georges Sands and even the Bronte sisters, who wrote under Acton, Curer and Ellis Bell.  But today?  Who would have thought?

According to James, she had much better success as a guy than she did as a woman.  The sad reality is that if you write certain topics, especially ones that are gender-neutral, writing with a guy’s name probably allows for more success.  Of course, this probably wouldn’t apply for Prospere Magazine, which targets professional women. 

Have I ever thought of publishing under a different name?  Yes, definitely.  When I was finishing up my novel, I had considered publishing under a non-Chinese last name.  After all, most writers of Asian descent write what I call “heritage” books – books about growing up in an Asian household. Think Amy Tan, Wayson Choy and the like.  If the stories take place in the western world, the characters are supposed to be isolated in ethnic “ghettos.”  The characters are supposed to be “suffering” and usually, adults work in restaurants or run small businesses.  Even though this is extremely dated, at least in Toronto or Vancouver, publishers still expect this.  They are not looking for chick lit type stories where the main characters are alumnae of a university preparatory schools.  This is likely because people still have a very “Charlotte York” type image of what a prep school alumna looks like.   

However, I was encouraged to publish under my real name – not doing so would be denying my heritage, right?  Would my book have done better had I published as Cynthia Carruthers rather than Cynthia Cheng?  Maybe.  But how would I handle things if people wanted a live interview?  Say that Ms. Carruthers doesn’t do live interviews and answer all questions as her PR rep?  Kind of fishy in this day and age of everyone wanting to be famous.  And if things are successful enough, this is bound to be let out and the whole name thing would have to “come out,” anyway. And what about the guilt?

I do understand why some people would write under a different identity.  However, at the same time, you can try to prove to the world that their narrow image of what’s “normal” for a certain segment is incorrect by writing under your real name.  Perhaps people are just to afraid to change the world.

Image © Jakub Krechowicz/iStockphoto