I have decided to use a pen name for my science fiction/fantasy/alternative writing. It is Mercury Lynch. I like the word mercury for a variety of reasons: 1)It is the hottest planet in our solar system and closest to the sun, which I like thinking about as I am a big freeze baby 2)Mercury the metal is poisonous and contact with it in even small amounts can lead to insanity. Mental illness runs in both sides of my family and I have been directly affected by it (just one example: one of my older sisters tried to kill me when I was eight) and I have…both a deep fear and fascination of becoming crazy. Taking Mercury as a name is sort of a way for me to confront and embrace my fear, and 3) I just like the way the word sounds and always have. When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade there was a girl in my class when I was in Catholic school whose last name was Mercurio, I used to make up teasing songs about her just so I could say her name a lot. Suffice it to say she didn’t appreciate that very much ha ha.

Lynch is my husband’s last name. When we married I went right on using my maiden name because I never understood why I should change my birth name or my title, and it was no big deal to him; he didn’t care either way. However other people care, like some people in both our families and even total strangers so I get addressed as Mrs. Lynch instead of Ms. Breckenridge quite frequently, which both irritates me and frightens me. Using his name as my pen surname is sort of my way of embracing his name and acknowledging a cultural standard for married women as well as confronting all the reasons why I (rightfully) fear losing my birth name.

I’ve got a bunch of sci-fi stories done and I’m going to start submitting them around. They are quite different from my mama-oriented work, which is another reason for the pen name. We shall see how they are accepted, I am excited about this phase as a writer.

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