A Rose by Any Other Name

What? You were expecting a picture of a rose? Only if I couldn't find a picture of a cute dog.

Sometimes I'm like a dog with a bone, and when I want to get answers, I chew. A lot.

One of my bones was this question: Why would someone chose to write using a pseudonym?

Here's what I've come up with so far:

• Your real name is too difficult to pronounce. Something Norwegian with a lot of consonants with funny things over them, and no vowels;
• Your real name is immanently forgettable. Jane Smith comes to mind;
• You write in more than one genre, like Roberts-Robb;
• You would be embarrassed if people knew you wrote that kind of book;
• You're under the illusion you'll maintain some kind of privacy;
• You want to know what people really think about your writing;
• You want to suffer the pain of bad reviews in private;
• You write in a genre where it seems those of your opposite sex find more success. Women romance writers or male horror writers.
• Your name has already been taken by another writer;
• Your name is well known, and not in a good way. Casey Anthony. Jim Jones.
• You're at the top of your game in the corporate world, and if your peers or clients knew you were 'wasting your time' writing a fiction book, your business would suffer;
• You're a surgeon who writes about a serial killer who dismembers his victims; or
• You're a divorce lawyer who writes sweet romance.

I plan on using my own name for a couple of reasons:

• ego;
• sales. Some people will buy the book(s) because they know me. Why lose those sales?

If you used or use a pen name, why?

If you don't, why not?

As a reader, what goes through your mind when you learn that an author is using a pseudonym?

Peg Brantley is working toward publication, picking herself up from frequent stumbles. Metaphorically. Asking her to do that literally could be a bad thing.