If you know me from my non-writing life, you know that my author name is a pseudonym. There are several reasons an author might use a pen name. Can you guess one reason why? I’ll give you a few examples, and then I’ll tell you why I’m using an alias.

You may already know that the Brontë sisters initially published under male names. Charlotte called herself Currer, Emily was Ellis, and Anne was Acton. They did this to avoid the sexism of their day and the difficulty of getting published as a woman. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since 1846.

But did you know that even modern women will sometimes publish under a male pen name? J.K. Rowling wrote her Cormoran Strike series under the name Robert Galbraith to differentiate the brand for her crime fiction, and to align with readers’ expectations of the crime genre. (For what it’s worth, I like her Robert Galbraith work better than Harry Potter, but mostly because it’s a more interesting genre for me, and it’s still written with Rowling’s expertise.)

Some authors choose a different name to separate their home and work life (with fans).

Tangent: my uncle used to notarize and deliver documents, including movie scripts, in Los Angeles. He once had a script to deliver to “Bryce Pilaf”. When the recipient answered the door, it was Brad Pitt. (And I’m not betraying any confidence, because when I asked Google what Brad Pitt’s pseudonym is, “Bryce” is one of the confirmed names he used while married to Angelina Jolie.)

There are other reasons for pen names, but my reason is less common than most, and it lies with how common my real name is: Mary White.

I like my name, but I didn’t need the following dialogue with multiple food service employees to reaffirm what is obvious:

“What’s the name on the order?”

“Mary White.”

“It doesn’t get much more generic than that.”

Yeah, I know.

I also personally know two other Mary Whites, plus there are several others of us in just my town. According to Google, there are about 10,000 Mary Whites living in the USA today, and there have been up to 120,000 of us in the country’s history. I even found a book at a thrift store with Mary White as the author. (Of course I bought it.)

So to differentiate my online self from Mary White the honky-tonk singer and Mary White the 1977 film, I picked a different name for my writing career: Mary Kinser.

The “-ser” honors part of my maiden name, and the “Kin-” is a nod to the common theme that is showing up in my various book outlines and ideas. I’m interested in telling stories of women dealing with messy family situations and choosing love as the balm for their kin. So it’s Mary Kinser.

As a bonus, when I searched that name online to scope out my competition, I discovered only one other prominent Mary Kinser—and she’s a LIBRARIAN! It’s too perfect.

I’d love to hear in the comments what alias you would choose for yourself. Or tell us if you’re already going by an alias!