Saturday 22 March 2014

Sometimes I've thought about being someone else

I don't love my name. I suppose over the years I've kind of gotten used to it. But still, there are times when it irks me.

Firstly, it's too long. Three syllables is far too many for something as simple as a name. I think two is fine, and one would be even better.

Secondly, nobody seems to know how to spell it. You wouldn't believe the number of different combinations there are out there. O's instead of A's, and H's cropping up in all sorts of strange places. And the worst part is, because people have no idea how to spell it, there are now kids being born who officially have their name spelt incorrectly. It's extremely frustrating.

Thirdly, it seems to be one of those names that is always used for nerdy sorts of characters. I have no idea why. There doesn't seem to be anything inherently nerdy about it (except possibly its length). But whenever you have a character who wears glasses and a vest and long socks under shorts, he always seems to be called Jonathan.

In my younger years, I have thought of changing it. In my older years, I've thought of coming up with a pseudonym, just for the writing.

I've considered using my middle name, David, which I think is a good, solid, easy to spell, and not too long kind of name. David Gould. I could just see it on those book covers. Has a nice ring to it.

I've also thought of being a bit more creative. I've thought of reversing the name and then messing around with it a bit, so it sounded kind of presentable. The result I came up with was Nathan Ojdluog.  Doesn't sound too bad. Little bit exotic. For a while, I thought it might have some potential.

But in the end, I went with my name as given. I can't even tell you why. Maybe I've become a bit more used to it over the years. Maybe I really wasn't that imaginative. Or maybe, it's because I feel like my books are a big part of me, and I wanted to be able to identify myself with them as fully as I could.

No idea really. In the end, whether they were written by Nathan or David or Jonathan, they're still the same books. I hope you like them.