I’m sure some people would call my name a pen name but it’s not. It’s true that this isn’t my government name but I don’t use my government name for anything but formal government bullshit.

The name I use is the name I am known as. The government name is dead to everyone except the fucking government. I was even baptized with this name. I am MaryClare.

I won’t use a pen name for the same reasons I won’t ghost write. I want my work to be known as mine. And ghost writing is not right because a person is claiming they wrote something they actually paid someone else to write. It’s dishonest.