Authors like Stephen King and Nora Roberts have enjoyed a very open claim to their
pen names; instead of hiding their identities, they are simply
used as a
means to let readers know that this title may not be what is expected from their beloved author.
On the other hand, if you'd decided that writing in a new genre
meant you had to
use a different
pen name, then you'd be starting at ground zero with this new novel.
My close college friends and I
named ourselves feminists, cursed loudly in public, flirted with insults instead of hair flips, gave one another dead roses for Valentine's Day, and even
penned a poster for our apartment that read «The Hairy - Leg Café» to play with the negative stereotypes of feminists we knew some of our peers held.2 For me,
using the F - word as a proud marker of my belief in equality
means that I hear subtle and not so subtle put - downs when I'm critical of sexual double standards, traditional heterosexual marriage, differences in pay and prestige, and who cleans the bathroom.