Mara who?
I am a big fan of pen names but I admit choosing (and explaining) one can be a little awkward.
For people who know you, the question, 'Why not just use your name?' inevitably comes up. Your friends complain it's difficult for them to find your work, others want to know what’s the story behind the name you’ve chosen.
The more I realize just how finite my time and energy are, the more effort it feels like writing under two different names. (I write non-fiction under my real name, you can check it out here.) Anyhoo, here is the story behind my pen name if anyone’s wondering…
Mara was the name of a character in one of the first short stories I wrote. I shelved the story, but the name stuck with me.
I'm very picky about choosing names in general, for my characters, for my kids; I'm afraid of burdening them with a name that will ill-serve them - one ladened with stereotypes or one that will force them to repeat themselves several times - or be stuck with unfortunate nicknames. It's so much responsibility! Mara felt safe for my character - it's a versatile name - present across countries and cultures - it means a variety of things - from 'bitter' to 'woman' to 'joy’, all important words in my opinion! It's reasonably easy to pronounce. It doesn't draw attention to itself. It's ambiguous. It could be from many places. Hence my decision to choose it as my pen name and this website - where I endeavour to post art, stories and general rambling without too much self-critiquing or judgment. A free space.
There you go, the decision behind Mara. The rest of my name is my own. The stress of thinking up a first name was honestly enough for me!
