Lane Everett's Blog - Posts Tagged "pen-name"
Who is Lane Everett?
“Who is John Galt?” Ayn Rand, one of the most influential authors’ in my life as a reader and a writer asks time and again in her magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged. Although the man John Galt is not identified by name until late in the novel, anyone who has read Atlas Shrugged will have that question, "Who is John Galt?" ingrained in their memory, even if nothing else about the man, the myth or the legendary quest to discover the answer particularly sticks.
And, “Who is Lane Everett?”
Lane Everett is a nom de plume, that is a pen name.
If you’re wondering whether Lane Everett is a man or a woman -- thank you! That was my intention. When writing A Northern Gentleman I wanted the author’s gender to be ambiguous. It’s a story about a man’s quest -- and it examines gender roles and archetypes. I wanted the reader to be free to consider any questions that brought up, and to enjoy Drucker’s epic quest, without the burden of the author’s gender weighing on their minds.
So, why Lane Everett?
I wanted to use a pen name for several reasons. For one, I wanted to draw a line between fact and fiction in my own life. That is, the fact of the matter is that I have a day job that pays the bills and that I enjoy very much. I didn’t want to intermingle my professional identity as an advertising executive in New York City with my identity as the author of A Northern Gentleman and other forthcoming works of fiction.
If your question is “but why Lane Everett?” I can tell you this: I wanted a name that was unisex and All-American. Ultimately, I chose a name that shared my initials, so that I could relate to it, but in all other ways was distinct from my own name. I wanted the ability to create an identity for myself and so like the hero of A Northern Gentleman, that is what I did.
And, “Who is Lane Everett?”
Lane Everett is a nom de plume, that is a pen name.
If you’re wondering whether Lane Everett is a man or a woman -- thank you! That was my intention. When writing A Northern Gentleman I wanted the author’s gender to be ambiguous. It’s a story about a man’s quest -- and it examines gender roles and archetypes. I wanted the reader to be free to consider any questions that brought up, and to enjoy Drucker’s epic quest, without the burden of the author’s gender weighing on their minds.
So, why Lane Everett?
I wanted to use a pen name for several reasons. For one, I wanted to draw a line between fact and fiction in my own life. That is, the fact of the matter is that I have a day job that pays the bills and that I enjoy very much. I didn’t want to intermingle my professional identity as an advertising executive in New York City with my identity as the author of A Northern Gentleman and other forthcoming works of fiction.
If your question is “but why Lane Everett?” I can tell you this: I wanted a name that was unisex and All-American. Ultimately, I chose a name that shared my initials, so that I could relate to it, but in all other ways was distinct from my own name. I wanted the ability to create an identity for myself and so like the hero of A Northern Gentleman, that is what I did.
