I think maybe I might have to do what some other authors do, which is do a variation on my name, just to send readers the message that, 'Yep, this is me, but this is a different part of me. So brace yourself.'
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The one reader I'm trying to please as I write is me, and I'm pretty difficult to please.
It's that kind of thing that readers have. I have it as a reader myself: that expectation that the writer will be that person. Then I meet other writers and realize that they're not.
I was unwise enough to actually mention this in public a few times, and in fact to point out that there were two versions of the book now. One of them had somebody else's name on the cover, one had my name on the cover.
My own life has been doubly disconnected, as I've written books under two different names. As an author, your name almost becomes a brand; readers know what to expect.
It would be an egregious mistake to ever refer to me in the same breath as most of the people I write about.
Don't write for who your reader is. Write for what your reader wants to be.
I don't mind that I am not necessarily a household name, because I think my characters have outshined me. That was by design. And I'm not wanting for appreciation.
I'm still trying to get over the fact that my name is being mentioned with people like Brad Pitt.
I make up names for people all the time - it's part of writing. Very often, the name comes with the character, along with of a sense of who they are and what they do.
I'm determined not to lose my name. It's who I am. It has neither aided my progress nor hampered it. It's just who I am.