Today on the blog, we’re talking about the authors behind the authors you know and love: pen names! Some you may recognize and some may surprise you (as they did some of our staff). Either way, hopefully you’ll learn something new and maybe even find a few new titles for your TBR pile.

Behind the Names:

• Toni Morrison (Chloe Ardelia Wofford) - Several of us on Team OTB didn't know until recently that Toni Morrison was a pen name!

• John le Carré (David John Moore Cornwell) - His reason for choosing a pen name was because he used to be a spy!

• Claire Morgan (Patricia Highsmith) adopted the pen name to write her now canonical LGBTQ novel, The Price of Salt.

• Milla Vane (Meljean Brook) is a romance writer who’s been successful under both her pen name and real name.

• Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire) is a fantasy author who has also been successful under both names.

• Richard Bachman (Stephen King) wanted to write a different kind of horror book under his pen name.

• Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell): similar to King, the books under the Vine pen name had a different feel to them.

• Sense and Sensibility by A Lady; This was the first novel printed under this pen name for her. I love the fact that Jane Austen is referred to in this way, though it was a publisher's decision and a sign of the times. Still, makes me giggle. -Emma (Rare Books Assistant)

• Currer Bell, Ellis Bell, and Acton Bell (Brontë sisters)

  • Come celebrate the brilliance of Charlotte Brontë at our upcoming True Story! Book Club event on Sunday, April 18th at 7 PM.

More Noms de Plume:

• bell hooks (Gloria Jean Watkins)

• Pablo Neruda (Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto)

• Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

• Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)

• George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)

• Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler)

• Yukio Mishima (Kimitake Hiraoka)

• George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans)

• Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie)

• Flann O’Brien (Brian O’Nolan)

The Plot Twist

Last, but certainly not least, we have a pen name reveal that surprises many customers in the shop to this day. In addition to writing non-fiction, advocating for voting rights, and turning the state of Georgia blue, Stacey Abrams also writes romance! She has several backlist titles available under the pen name Selena Montgomery and will be celebrated at this month’s meeting of the Bad Romance Book Club. Mention the club at checkout to receive 10% off your books and be added to the e-vite!

Blog contributions by Jen Cheng, Emma Kiely-Hampson, and Shannon McCarthy.
Photos by Nicole Blair.
Edited by Shannon McCarthy.