Pen Names and Cherries

Trying to figure out what pen name to use is difficult. You want to pick something memorable, something easy to say, and something you would respond to. I thought about using a different first name so that I can keep my personal life from colliding with my author life, but I would never respond to the name Caryn (one of the first names I thought of and liked) or Alexis (a name I decided to use as a character in my WIP because I love the nickname). With the name like mine, there are not many variations that I can come up with. I can't go with my initials because I've never responded to CC. I thought about going with a name that sounds like my name, like Jessica, but I didn't want to use the name Jessica. I realized after hanging with my bestie and her sisters, who are just a hair shy of being my besties too (I tell my best friend slightly more things than I do with her sisters) that the perfect first name for my pen name is Chassy. That's how they refer to me sometimes—usually it's Chassypooh but that doesn't sound like a great romance novelist name.

Now to come up with a last name for my pen name. I didn't want to use something like my current last name because, like I said before, not a fan of worlds colliding. My maiden name is also prone to worlds colliding. Even variations of either name would not do. Also, many places tend to use your maiden name as a security feature, so that was out of the question. Then I thought about my middle name and it seemed appropriate since I would probably respond to the pen name if it was similar to my middle name. And I have plenty of aunts that would call upon me as "Chas dear". Chérie is dear in french. So, I just dropped the e and there we go.

I know that Chéri has nothing to do with cherries. Cherry in french is cerise. It's similar but that's not why I chose cherries as my logo. I love cherries. Oddly enough, I don't like eating the fruit unless they are white cherries. I find that they tend to be too sweet and tart. White cherries are subtle but expensive. I also like the flavor of black cherry or regular cherry in drinks and desserts just not maraschino cherries or black forest cake because I don't like mixing chocolate with anything—chocolate is too divine to muddy its flavor with anything else.

I do love the way cherries look though. Bright red or dark red, round and succulent.They make a great pattern from purses to dresses, of which I own both. So, I made a logo out of cherries and used it for all my social profiles, including the background image on the cover photos. I do plan on posting a picture of myself (I do have one on my website) but I'm waiting for the day when I debut my cute cherry patterned dress and get dolled up the debut of my book. I'm also in the process of making a petticoat to go with the dress so that I can get the full rockabilly look.

Now, back to the petticoat...and writing...and social media...