J is for Jones

My last name is Jones. Before I was married, my last name was something else. Now, I’m not going to say what… that’s for the next post.

I like the last name of “Jones.” There’s a certain anonymity about it, as there are a gazillion and fifteen other people with that last name. If the newspaper headlines read, “Sara Jones Arrested for Attacking a Sock Monkey,” acquaintances wouldn’t be able to assume it was me. Close friends… well, they might figure it out since that sounds like something I might do.

On the other hand, I want to make a name for myself as a writer. I don’t want to be famous and recognizable when I walk into a restaurant (as if that would ever happen), but I also don’t want crickets to chirp when (if) someone says, “I just finished a book by S. Jones.”  The reply would most likely be, “Jones? Zzzz…”

That is why I use a pen name. Well, part of the reason. The other reason is because I don’t want everyone in the world to know what I write. Some people I know wouldn’t appreciate my dark stories.

For the most part, Jones is a good name. I’ll keep it.