It never occurred to me how many authors on Vocal use pen names. When I take the time to write a story, I want everyone to know it was me, not a pseudo me that wrote it. Yes, that means the world knows I wrote a great tale or some rubbish, but that’s okay.
Maybe some people have common names or ones that are hard to pronounce, so they’re looking for some distinction. That makes sense, but don’t you want people to know it’s you who wrote that masterpiece instead of “Who was that masked man?”
About the Creator
Mark Gagnon
My life has been spent traveling here and abroad. Now it's time to write.
I have three published books: Mitigating Circumstances, Short Stories for Open Minds, and Short Stories from an Untethered Mind. Unmitigated Greed is do out soon.
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Finders Keepers
What do you consider valuable? Is it a piece of jewelry, a work of art, or maybe a family photo? Some wealthy people gauge their success by the number of rare items they’ve collected. Finding missing treasures for rich investors is what I do¬ — I’m a finder. My job takes me from small antique shops to private collectors who are in financial distress and looking to liquidate valuable assets. The work is always interesting and occasionally dangerous if multiple finders are searching for the same object. We don’t get paid unless we recover a requested item.
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Fiction
Stories Before a Wedding, or The Happily Ever After of Cinderella
Cinderella had always dreamt of marrying a prince. She had dreamt of nothing else since she was a small girl. Now, however, as the Prince’s wife of three days, she had to admit that the reality was not as she had dreamt it to be.
By Dionearia Red3 days ago in Fiction
The Short Career of a Serial Killer
He was a happy man he really was, Fred had it all. A wonderful wife named Laura and two little girls - Megan and Pam. He was a nine to five man, working at the local cannery. They packed up vegetables and he even got cans to take home. Being a middle size town, the cannery was the center of it all. So each noon the big whistle would blow, announcing that lunchtime had arrived. It happened rather oddly, strangely I might say.
By Rasma Raisters7 days ago in Fiction
Why Black History Matters in America?
The United States of America is celebrating their 250th anniversary in 2026. I'm proud to be an American and as someone who was born here, I wouldn't imagine myself living anywhere else. This is a country where opportunities are possible. Where anyone can be successful in anything they desire to do. Equality, community, and togetherness are the backbones of what America is and should be about. However, we have an administration who wants to erase and disregard those who have made positive, meaningful impacts in our country, specifically Black figures, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Maya Angelou. President Trump and his administration have been constantly complaining and fighting against what they call the "Woke agenda". They use this excuse as a distraction from other issues they refuse to address, such as the high cost of living, climate change, and inflation. That equality is dividing America, when in reality, it's bringing us together. Being woke is not tied to a specific political party. No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, you can still care about other people and their plights. Compassion and empathy for others isn't tied to a political party, either. We were taught as children to treat others the way we want to be treated and not judge others because they're different from us. Caring about others isn't a personal attack on your beliefs. It doesn't make you any less of a person. People who are easily offended over African American figures, past or present, or anything related to it, are grasping at straws. Current and future generations need to know who people like Harriet Tubman and Shirley Chisholm were, especially in the classroom. Black History is part of American History. It should be recognized, not hidden or forgotten. Besides, you can't shield children from everything, just because your feelings are easily hurt.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 5 days ago in The Swamp
Comments (6)
My pen name is for safety reasons because I have a former abuser who looks me up online. However, my pen name is also my new name that I will be published under and that I go by in real life. I left my old name and identify behind when I left my abuser.
Relate to this, because like you I want the world to know it was me! In my work I am rarely credited so for non-work writing I just use my name! great piec! you have a new subscriber!
Pernoste may be a secret agent... not quite sure... and I am mysterious in everything but my name. 💙 Anneliese
I write under my partial name haha… I’d like to use my full name but I’m also happy with going by this for writing purposes. I can definitely see why people that have some kind of active professional license (in a medical or legal field for example) under their real name don’t want their vocal page of short stories or personal poetry to be what comes up first in a google search 🤷🏼♀️. And secret agents, like you said hahah
I love this piece Mark, it really hits home for me. I write under a pseudonym for a lot of reasons. Mostly because I'm from a small town where everyone knows everyone and I just don't like people knowing my business. I'm not confident enough in myself or my work yet, so I worry about receiving poor feedback and in crumpling my fragile ego. The other reason is that I have relatives that like to scam people and I don't want the negative association.
I write under my own name, though some writers use pen names for more descretion.