I am not Miranda Cane.
My name is something else – and, to illustrate how unreasonable I am, my name is recognized as a bit of an authority in another world. If I wrote this blog and published novels under my real name, I’d have a built-in base of readers to follow that work from the start.
But I’m not writing for those readers or the goals of that brand, and I don’t want to convolute it by convincing them to embrace both what I’m already writing and the new professional and personal journey I’m embarking on and exploring through this blog.
Also, I’ve been building a brand online through mere experimentation and flying by the seat of my pants for three years. Now I want to apply everything I’ve learned and see if it all really works by starting from scratch with a better plan for Miranda Cane.
I love a good experiment – and life is the biggest experiment of all, right?
Also, I’ve Got Secrets – for Now
I can’t ignore the sensitivity of some of what I want to talk about here. As a writer, professionally, I’m taking the journey of building a platform for romantic and personal fiction – that’s fairly vanilla, but also quite vulnerable!
As a person, I’m on the journey of shaping the personal and romantic life that feels right for me. In the face of a culture and family that don’t understand or embrace it (yet). That’s a rockier road.
(Are you feelin’ the ice cream metaphor? It just came to me.)
To explore both of these paths with total candor and honesty, and the depth of reflection I need, I have to leave my known identity out of it. As someone who so values openness, authenticity, and unbridled honesty, I want to apologize for this upfront.
(But kind of, I take back that apology. Because I’m super excited about this experiment, and it can only happen this way.)
What it’s Like to Write Under a Pseudonym
It’s immediately strange to write with “Miranda Cane” in the byline. To tweet about my real life as @notmirandacane. To talk to you all as someone I’m kind of not.
It’s like crawling into a new skin. Or watching myself from above.
When I face this page, unlike any other I face under my real name, I feel an incredible freedom and responsibility. I feel the freedom to finally be whatever I want – and a responsibility to use that freedom to be uncomfortably honest with you (and myself).
Miranda Cane is me, without any secrets or expectations.
After fumbling to find myself as a writer for three years, I desperately need this freedom to show myself to you.
And I’m so fucking stoked to have this platform to do it!
OK, writers, I’d love to hear from you: Do you write under a pseudonym? How does it feel – and do you have any tips for me??
Thanks for sharing!
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