Kris said:
Having other names is in some ways a chance to get your freedoms back. The freedom to try new things, the freedom not have have reader expectations to live up to, the freedom to try a different voice, and even the freedom to fail by the standards usually expected of you (even by yourself).
Excellent observations, Kris - and impressive, too! Taking on a pen name can be liberating for the well-known author who wants to try something new. Readers can be fickle. After all, you've invited them into your world of characters and they develop a certain level of expectations. To deviate from those expectations is, at times, a gamble and one publishers aren't willing to risk -- especially in today's high-priced print publishers.
On a couple of occasions I've ended up with two names on the same forum (usually because I'd forgotten the original name and/or password and registered another, only to rediscover the first one). Well, it was enormous fun. I could jump in and support myself, stage fights with myself, ridicule myself or simply try out two different viewpoints that I was trying to choose between.
LOL - I've done the same thing. I have joined a fewsites and quickly forgot the name or password only to become comfortable with a new nickname. I've created some pretty amusing dramas all by myself. But in the end, I eventually let the forum members know it was me all along. I dislike playing with people's trust - even on the internet. My 'guilt' gene is enormous and always over active. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Faralas <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" />
