Pseudonymous Me.

 As my girlfriend and I strolled through Rome yesterday, we stopped by a cool bookstore called Libreria Fahrenheit. When you step inside, to the left there's a whole display full of Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 books, as well as posters for the movie scattered throughout the store. But what caught my eye was at the very back of the store, there's an excellent shelf of Horror titles. As I scanned the books, one jumped out at me. "No way," I said, and pulled it down. Inside, among the TOC, was yours truly...though you wouldn't know it if you didn't know I used to write under a pseudonym.

Since my name is John Smith, it almost seemed mandatory to create a pen name, what with the zillion-and-fourteen other John Smiths in the world (I know my estimate might be short, but...). Sketching out possibilities--it's the early 1990's when I did this--I chose an odd one, Kiel Alexander. Kiel, it just sounded right to me--there was a band called Keel in the early 80s that might have been in the back of my mind when I thought of it, since I liked the name--and Alexander, for whatever reason, is a name I have always liked. I rolled with that for a while, but then got into music journalism, writing as J.C. Smith. That interfered with the fiction writing until the early 2000s. When I decided to focus on fiction again, the thought came to me that Kiel, even though I know how it's pronounced, might be dicey for others. Keel or Kyle? I also thought if made send to insert my real first name into the mix, to make it easier for potential readers or...whatever. I lot of oddness goes into thinking about the appeal and function of choosing a pen name.

So, John Kiel Alexander. 

Darkness Rising was published in 2005, a beautiful hardcover collection of horror fiction. I smiled seeing some names on the TOC I knew of then or perhaps more so, now. But there, on page 285, was some bloke named John Kiel Alexander with a tale entitled, "Burning Man in the House of Lies," which, if I remember correctly, I kind of shaped the title in a manner that might have related to a short story collection I was reading at the time by the late, great Tom Piccirilli, me taking his lead and running with it. Or not. The brain remembers as it wants to, whether that's true or not. Right? Right! 

Seeing this book in a small bookstore in Rome brought a smile, as you can imagine. 

I should probably collect that tale in a future collection sooner than later. As a funny aside, I have a whole slew of earlier tales I've yet to insert into a collection. At some point, maybe an early tales' collection will happen. Either that or a few will sneak into collections as they take shape from now on, at least that tales that don't make me cringe. 

At some point, before my first OOP book was published--The Dark is Light Enough for Me--I decided to use my real name. Not just John Smith, that would be ridiculous, but the whole thing, as you can see here. John Claude Smith. (And when I say 'real,' is this true? There is evidence through my mother's, um...interesting history, that my name might not be what you read here. Sure, John and probably John Claude, but the last name...? Uncertainty looms... haha...) Nonetheless, I sometimes think I might publish some work from JKA again, though. Hmmm...

Below is a photo of the book, as well as the TOC page. 

Also: a reminder, I have a massive reissue collection out now you might want to check out. Contains some of my best writing and clocks in at 25 stories! Check it out at the link here: Autumn in the Abyss Redux.