The Company I Keep

Well, I am always surprised to find my name popping up in unexpected places...and usually not because I am an author so much as my Japanese name draws attention. I was named after my mother's best friend in college, and it has served me well. Especially considering that the BBC News Magazine thought it intriguing enough to write a little feature on the name in "Why Midori?".

And of course here's the best part:

"Midori crops up in Japanese placenames, and it is a relatively common girl's name. Here's where it becomes connotation-laden. Midori is a Japanese violinist, but another Midori is a "prominent human sexuality writer" and a third Midori is a porn actress. There is a Midori Snyder who writes fantasy novels, and a Midori Matsuo who is an aspirant underwear designer."

That would be me...right after the porn actress and before the aspirant underwear designer. This is why when I first started publishing, I was reluctant to let my children look up my name on the internet -- too often it brought up "Midori's House of Pain." Oy....