The Social Porcupine

My favorite postcard, sent from my Dad to me when he was in Guatemala when I was nine years old.  Most of the time I've VERY forgiving when people mispronounce/ misspell my name. Actually, I'm usually surprised when someone gets my name right ( if they don't know me). I expect people to say my name a good fifty times before remembering it, and I don't expect strangers to ever remember how to spell my name. I mean, I think it'd be unfair of me to be otherwise with such a name as I have.  None of this is to say that I don't like my name. I love my name. But I also know that my name is not common, and as a result, the reality is that my name will be difficult for many.  All that being said, I do love giving people a hard time about my name, especially if I like you ;)  Maybe it's cruel, but I find it funny how people slaughter my name and then become flustered. The only times I get slightly annoyed is when people misspell my name through FB me...

For a writer social media is just another platform, a stage, a place for a writer to show their work to their audience. Thus, just as in real life, the name one chooses for oneself is very important. Especially if you have several different social sites you are active on. In my writing I have chosen to always use my real name. I don't necessarily think everyone should do this, but I thought it would be fun to share my reasons for doing so, and maybe even explain why I think all should follow along. Haha... not totally serious. 1. I use it because I like my name. Hey, I'm not trying to be humble. I love my name. I am very proud of it. So why shouldn't I use it? On a side note, I love the author Charles Lamb. Not necessarily becauseI love his writing (I do but I haven't had much opportunity to read much of his stuff) but mostly because of his last name. But what if you don't like your name? And there's no author that you like to...