Alter Ego

Something funny happened yesterday and I thought I'd share. I was reading last month's Desert Rose RWA newsletter and saw this name in there... for the briefest flash of a second, I thought, "that name looks familiar" (and you know where this is going, right?) - and yes, it was my own. But it wasn't "Kate Sterling" -- it was my "real" name I didn't recognize.

I'm not sure when this happened; when I embraced "Kate" so fully. In the beginning, it was awkward for me to see the name Kate in emails and blog posts. I felt like a fraud. Now, it seems the most natural thing in the world. The "other me" thinks being a writer named Kate Sterling is pretty cool. ;)

The framed tag you see in this picture came from the rose they hand out at the meeting (the rose is surrounding the frame) whenever someone makes a first sale. I keep it on my desk next to my computer. A rose by any other name...

If you write under a pseudonym, do you find it odd to hear it, or to see that name in print? Did you get used to it after a while? Did you, like me, forgot what your co-workers actually call you?

Now, this post is about to become a "two-in-one". Since it's Tuesday, and I missed another Magical Monday, I thought I'd post a list of some of the "magical" books I've read lately. I've had an interesting and unexpected side effect to a new medication I've been taking: it seems to have increased my concentration slightly. Go figure. But I'm all for it. Because of that, I've been reading up a storm the last few days so I'll share some of the magic. :)

Non-fiction:
"The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire" by Deepak Chopra (Edie, Ladonna & Michelle, if you're out there - you might like this one.)
"A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah (I just started this one)

Fiction, Terry Pratchett
"Witches Abroad"
"Hogfather"
"Carpe Jugulum"
"Good Omens"
(Edie, you said you hadn't been able to get into his books, and there were others of his that I had taken out from the library apart from these that didn't "grab" me either. However, I loved these four as well as The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith - I think you might like those and the ones listed here. Of course, you never know.)

Fiction, other authors :)
"Fear No Evil" by Allison Brennan
"Storm Front" by Jim Butcher
"Possession" by Jennifer Armintrout
"Silverlock" by John Myers Myers (working on it now - I'm reading it and A Long Way Gone concurrently. The non-fiction is sad so far, so I need Silverlock to lift my spirits after - so far it's working.)

I also have a couple more that I bought at the same time in the "waiting to be read" pile. One is by a young local author, so I'm going to read it next when I'm done with the Silverlock and A Long Way Gone.

I also started writing again, and have to admit, I see the influence of Pratchett in the new stuff. But that's ok, because it feels very natural to me. I'd written other things that were similar before I ever read his work, so I'm telling myself it's not all a rip off. :)