Most of us come into the world with a first and last name and some of us have a middle name. It should be a fairly simple, straightforward thing. But my name has never been simple or straightforward and I’m beginning to think the situation may be part of a karmic pattern.
I wrote my first two novels under my maiden name – Trish Janeshutz. That last name has been problematic. My dad’s family hailed from Yugoslavia – now Serbia – and at one time, the name was spelled like this: Janeshitz. At some point during my grandfather’s immigration to this country, that i was changed to a u. At any rate, when I was growing up in Venezuela, this name was the brunt of jokes, nicknames, bewilderment. No one could spell it correctly.
After my first two novels were published under my maiden name, I started a series and my editor at the time, Chris Cox, called to ask me to change my name. “Mysteries by men are outselling mysteries by women. Can you come up with an androgynous name? Besides, no one knows how to spell or pronounce Janeshutz.”
Not good. By then, though, I was married and became TJ MacGregor. Chris loved that name. It has stuck with me. But on this name journey I have also been: Alison Drake, Victoria Gotti, Jamie Cromwell, Dionne Warwick,
In the early 1990s, I wrote a novel called Tango Key, set on a fictional island by the same name, and once again Chris asked if I would use a different name. Now, he informed me, mysteries by women were outselling mysteries by men and since this was a different series, a new name made sense. I wrote Tango Key and three subsequent books as Alison Drake.
“Who’s Alison Drake?” my parents asked.
“What’s wrong with your own name?” my sister asked.
“Why did you choose that name, Mom?” my daughter asked some years later.
Well, I asked a friend who was a numerologist what number would be good for a new name. “Five,” Renie said. “Let’s come up with a five name. Fives are about freedom.” Alison Drake was a five name. It conferred so much freedom that the books went out of print a couple of years later.
This confusion about names was exacerbated by the fact that I wrote non-fiction as Trish MacGregor. It became a standing joke in the family. Who are you today? An attorney friend who was drawing up our wills asked me which name she should use on my will. “All of them,” I told her.
Many T.J. MacGregor books later, I wrote a fantasy novel that took place in Ecuador – Esperanza, the first in a trilogy- and my editor at TOR/FORGE asked me to pick a name. Here we go again, I thought, and became Trish J MacGregor. I moved the second book, Ghost Key, to Cedar Key, Florida, and the third book, Apparition, took place in Esperanza again. I’m not sure what will happen to Trish J MacGregor after that book. It’s too many names to track through Internet domains!
As rights have been reverted on my back list titles, I thought about which name to use and felt a sudden, liberating sense about it. I could use any name I wanted! What a concept, right? I realized that somewhere over the years, I had reached a kind of peace with this name karma, so the books I wrote as Alison Drake and Trish Janeshutz are now enjoying a second incarnation as e-books, through Crossroad Press, under the name T.J. MacGregor.
I think that next time around, I’ll order an easy name that anyone can spell. Jane Smith.
Hard to keep up with you, Trish! I like T.J. MacGregor – it sounds hip and refined all at the same time.
my own [given] name was a bit of hassle during my childhood when most little girls were named mary or sue of linda or betty – my classmates rarely pronounced it correctly – even my teachers failed – even at times asking what i wanted to be called – i always was amazed at such a question and always answered the same: well, by my name: jenean –
Funny! U r definitely a Jenean!
I go by either Vicki or Victoria. I actually sometimes make a conscious decision which I will use.
I often let others decide which they prefer, but when I do psychic things, I tend to want to use Victoria.
I’ve always thought it was just weird thing of mine!
Your name choices are crazy! There are so many! I think it each name represents a different “you” at those times.
To me you are Trish MacGregor. I came upon your writing as TJ but when I found out that you were Trish, it has stuck. The Trish J. MacGregor is ok but the J feels out of synch, to me.
Ha, it’s weird all of these name things.
My husband, Vince, is constantly and I mean constantly called Steve. I introduced him to someone once and they said “it’s so nice to meet you Steve.” What really blew our minds was that we were with about 6 other peopl and NONE of them reacted to the wrong name being used. I even mentioned it to my friend and she said that she didn’t notice! I’ve even kidded around and called him Steve in front of other people and no one reacts!!
We find it eerily strange.
To me, you’re vicki!
Wonder if vince was a steve in a past life!?
Interesting but I’m not surprised you chose Vicki. The people who choose that usually end up being very good friends!
We think that Vince mist definitely was a Steve in a past life!
Vicki it definitely is!
Interesting to read about all of those names. Never had that problem myself other than with my first name. As a child, being Michael, I was always called Mick by my friends and it stayed that way also through my first serious relationship. I met Karin and she called me Michael but when I moved to a new job in Cornwall I became Mike for business. So maybe our names do sometimes change to fit our lives at a particular time.
First name changes – I went through that, too. Patricia to Patty to Trish….
I think of you as Trish, and your last name hardly figures into my universe. Of course, some of your books grace my bookshelves, but I haven’t read anything other than the MacGregor series. I see you are S.H. MacGregor on 7 Secrets. Somehow, Alison Drake sounds like a pseudonym to me. What fun you’ve had with names, Trish!
I myself went through many iterations of my last name, as I went through husbands, and I finally returned to my maiden name ,and when I married the last time, more than twenty years ago, I never changed my name at all. Those other names never fit. 🙂