writing a memoir under a pseudonym -- any advice? - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T11:29:05Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/537324:Topic:114161?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A115630&feed=yes&xn_auth=noSo you have lived! I thought…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-18:537324:Comment:1161542008-01-18T08:59:01.661ZJames K. Bashkinhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/chemrat
So you have lived! I thought so anyway, but great annecdote. Fantastic, isn't life? Now I'm reading a Corpse in the Koryo- crime fiction in North Korea and very good. A cosmic coincidence, if ever there was one.<br />
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I did a quick trip through Seoul, Taejon and Pohang once, during a slight lull in student riots (good, accidental timing). Trains, buses- I was on my own for a lot of the travel. Luckily I had studied my Korean phrasebook and tape very seriously on the flight over. I'm sure you can…
So you have lived! I thought so anyway, but great annecdote. Fantastic, isn't life? Now I'm reading a Corpse in the Koryo- crime fiction in North Korea and very good. A cosmic coincidence, if ever there was one.<br />
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I did a quick trip through Seoul, Taejon and Pohang once, during a slight lull in student riots (good, accidental timing). Trains, buses- I was on my own for a lot of the travel. Luckily I had studied my Korean phrasebook and tape very seriously on the flight over. I'm sure you can imagine how much good will that gained me with the terrific people I met, and how little communication I actually achieved with them while we smiled at each other in a relaxed, respectful and satisfied way.<br />
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See, we have multiple volumes of memoirs just waiting to jump onto the page. Perhaps we should set up a site for dueling annecdotes... and make one life out of the best of them. Kind of like the "best ball" version of golf.<br />
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Alternatively, Norman already has my permission to incorporate my discussion here into her memoir. It would save me a lot of trouble, seeing as how I'm not a writer. I had a similar experience li…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-18:537324:Comment:1161452008-01-18T06:00:24.643ZKaryn J. Powershttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/karyning
I had a similar experience living in Seoul, Korea. The hot water was a light switch on the wall. I flipped it and waited for some mysterious process that happened two floors below in the land lady's abode. About 30 minutes later I could make a cup of instant coffee in the spray coming out of the shower head. Oh, did I mention that the tub/shower was fitted with just one spigot? I turned it on and got scalding water or I took a cold shower and then made a cup of instant joe to warm up.…
I had a similar experience living in Seoul, Korea. The hot water was a light switch on the wall. I flipped it and waited for some mysterious process that happened two floors below in the land lady's abode. About 30 minutes later I could make a cup of instant coffee in the spray coming out of the shower head. Oh, did I mention that the tub/shower was fitted with just one spigot? I turned it on and got scalding water or I took a cold shower and then made a cup of instant joe to warm up. Personally, I think the light switch just lit up a colored light (maybe a different one for each floor) and then the land lady probably diverted some of the boiler water according to who was <i>asking for it</i>. thanks, bill. (((bill)))
you…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-17:537324:Comment:1158732008-01-17T18:52:29.252ZAnne Frasierhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/annefrasier
thanks, bill. (((bill)))<br />
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you really hit what i've been feeling but couldn't properly analyze or articulate. the idea of writing under my given name seems so strange and alien to me. like returning to my maiden name, or picking up a nickname someone called me in grade school. i can feel an identity crisis coming on. :D anne does seem more like who i am now. more like me. almost everybody calls me that. if it comes down to a legal issue, i imagine there are ways around it. and as i write this…
thanks, bill. (((bill)))<br />
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you really hit what i've been feeling but couldn't properly analyze or articulate. the idea of writing under my given name seems so strange and alien to me. like returning to my maiden name, or picking up a nickname someone called me in grade school. i can feel an identity crisis coming on. :D anne does seem more like who i am now. more like me. almost everybody calls me that. if it comes down to a legal issue, i imagine there are ways around it. and as i write this memoir i really see some strong similarities between it and my last two fiction books. the themes are very close to being the same, which i hadn't expected. harley, my initial feelings r…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-17:537324:Comment:1158692008-01-17T18:31:59.197ZAnne Frasierhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/annefrasier
harley, my initial feelings ran the same direction, and i didn't even consider using frasier at first. but as i thought about it more it seemed that using my real name didn't make all that much sense since nobody knows me by that. everybody calls me anne, and i introduce myself that way. not that i'm well known, but it takes a long time to build a name and using my real name would equate to starting over. nora roberts doesn't write under her real name, but if she were to write a memoir (and…
harley, my initial feelings ran the same direction, and i didn't even consider using frasier at first. but as i thought about it more it seemed that using my real name didn't make all that much sense since nobody knows me by that. everybody calls me anne, and i introduce myself that way. not that i'm well known, but it takes a long time to build a name and using my real name would equate to starting over. nora roberts doesn't write under her real name, but if she were to write a memoir (and maybe she has) i would imagine she would publish it under nora roberts. back when actors were given names by studios, they became known by those names and used them for everything. i was given the name anne frasier by my publisher, and the copyright page says anne frasier. but when those copyrights are filed, they're filed under both names. Harley, I am pretty sure that…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-17:537324:Comment:1158532008-01-17T18:08:20.284ZJames K. Bashkinhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/chemrat
Harley, I am pretty sure that John Le Carre' didn't let his real name be associated with his books for many, many years, He was, I believe, still in government service (the British Foreign Office) when he started writing, and wanted to keep the worlds separate for a number of reasons, including perhaps legal ones, at that time.
Harley, I am pretty sure that John Le Carre' didn't let his real name be associated with his books for many, many years, He was, I believe, still in government service (the British Foreign Office) when he started writing, and wanted to keep the worlds separate for a number of reasons, including perhaps legal ones, at that time. And, by definition, a memoir…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-17:537324:Comment:1158252008-01-17T17:28:16.696ZBill Cameronhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/bcameron
And, by definition, a memoir is a highly subjective truth. Given the elastic quality of memory, no memoir can ever be said to be objectively true. Any memoir is going to start from the foundation of who you are when you write it. Tell the same personal history twice at different times and the story you tell will be different not because the events themselves changed but because the person telling them changed.<br />
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I don't see it as Anne hiding the truth behind a pseudonym so much as Anne revealing…
And, by definition, a memoir is a highly subjective truth. Given the elastic quality of memory, no memoir can ever be said to be objectively true. Any memoir is going to start from the foundation of who you are when you write it. Tell the same personal history twice at different times and the story you tell will be different not because the events themselves changed but because the person telling them changed.<br />
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I don't see it as Anne hiding the truth behind a pseudonym so much as Anne revealing the truth from within who she is now. She's obviously not making an effort to intentionally obfuscate or inflate the truth, á al James Frey, but is trying to be as truthful as possible from the context of her current life.<br />
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It's also a service to her readers, who may know her only as Anne -- through the memoir they'll learn more, of course. It's also a practical choice. Anne Frasier likely has more marketing power than Normal Gimmelstaub, as cool as Normal Gimmelstaub is!<br />
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I trust Anne to tell an honest story no matter the name on the cover, and I believe at this time time and place, "by Anne Frasier" may actually be more honest a byline than her given name. Next year or next decade, or ten years ago, who knows? But right now, Anne may, in fact, be WHO she is. If this is a memoir it's abou…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-17:537324:Comment:1158072008-01-17T16:44:06.427ZHarley L. Sachshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/HarleySachs
If this is a memoir it's about you, and though you write under a pseudonym, your pseudonym isn't you, it's a persona that exists only in a limited context, not your whole life. I suggest you use your own name, but add "a.k.a. (pseudonym)" under the title.<br />
The use of pseudonyms may be used by people who write in different genres and don't want fans to be confused. Judy Bloom should have done her "Wifey" under a pseudonym so as not to confuse kiddie readers, and John le Carre is not his real…
If this is a memoir it's about you, and though you write under a pseudonym, your pseudonym isn't you, it's a persona that exists only in a limited context, not your whole life. I suggest you use your own name, but add "a.k.a. (pseudonym)" under the title.<br />
The use of pseudonyms may be used by people who write in different genres and don't want fans to be confused. Judy Bloom should have done her "Wifey" under a pseudonym so as not to confuse kiddie readers, and John le Carre is not his real name, but his real name appears on the copyright pages.<br />
Since a memoir purports to be the truth, at least as seen through the eyes of the writer, hiding behind a pseudonym is deceptive.<br />
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Harley L. Sachs <a href="http://www.hu.mtu.edu/~hlsachs">www.hu.mtu.edu/~hlsachs</a> I see your point. Luckily, I…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-17:537324:Comment:1156482008-01-17T05:41:31.266ZJames K. Bashkinhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/chemrat
I see your point. Luckily, I don't think a strictly linear chronology is called for here.<br />
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In my case, it was 5 years of penury. I had a bigger problem though. Living in England from 77-82, I was (flat broke) in a flat where you had to put coins in a meter to get electricity. This electricity was required to run the electric bar heater in my room. The problem was that, as with parking meters, you could only put so many coins in at once. So, at 3:30 am every winter morning, I'd wake up freezing…
I see your point. Luckily, I don't think a strictly linear chronology is called for here.<br />
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In my case, it was 5 years of penury. I had a bigger problem though. Living in England from 77-82, I was (flat broke) in a flat where you had to put coins in a meter to get electricity. This electricity was required to run the electric bar heater in my room. The problem was that, as with parking meters, you could only put so many coins in at once. So, at 3:30 am every winter morning, I'd wake up freezing (and broke), and have to go down the hall to add more coins. In the dark! I did become quite an accomplished meter feeder, but those first few nights, trying to figure out what was going on, feeling my way down the hall, shivering... You just haven't lived until you've wrestled with power meters in the dark. Maybe this is why I never play the slot machines. tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-17:537324:Comment:1156362008-01-17T03:43:47.336ZAnne Frasierhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/annefrasier
<p style="text-align: left;"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/33607086?profile=RESIZE_320x320" alt="" width="300" height="437"/></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/33607086?profile=RESIZE_320x320" alt="" width="300" height="437"/></p> I'd write about my grad schoo…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-17:537324:Comment:1156332008-01-17T03:38:28.466ZKaryn J. Powershttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/karyning
I'd write about my grad school years, but how many times can you begin a chapter with, "Crap, I woke up this morning and I'm still flat broke."
I'd write about my grad school years, but how many times can you begin a chapter with, "Crap, I woke up this morning and I'm still flat broke."