Back in 2020, I wrote a series of posts about pen names including reasons a writer might choose to write with a nom de plume and some tips for choosing one of your own.
However, I haven't talked as much about the inspiration behind my pen name.
Pseudonyms have a purpose. And for many writers who use them, there's often a meaningful reason behind the name they adopt.
I knew I wanted to write with a pen name as early as the first draft of my first attempt at writing a novel at 13-14 years old. There were a few iterations and possibilities I tested out before settling on the one that felt perfect for me.
Since this is my 300th post on this blog, I wanted to get a little more personal and share a bit of the story behind Avril Marie Aalund.
Why Use A Nom De Plume?
Since I wrote the original pen name posts pretty early on in my blog's existence, I figure it's a good idea to quickly go over some of the reasons I've decided to write with (and hopefully eventually publish under) a pen name.
Back in the day, I think a lot of the inspiration to do so was somewhere between a creative choice and genre convention. It seemed that quite a few romance authors use a pen name and wanting to fit within that crowd, I assumed I ought to do the same. And it sounded fun. A bit of flair, if you will.
Pen names allow for mobility as a writer. Some authors write in multiple genres and use pen names to draw a line between those zones. Let's say there's a writer named Rebecca de la Cruz who publishes romance novels as Rose de la Cruz and wants to break into the sci-fi scene. She could continue to use the same pen name for her sci-fi books, but that might generate a little confusion among readers. Her romance fans might pick up her new sci-fi book and feel out of place or disappointed because it's not as romance-focused, meanwhile, fans of her sci-fi work might not be interested in her romances. So Rebecca de la Cruz might choose to publish sci-fi under Ruby de la Cruz instead to create a line between the genres.
As someone with a handful of still-vague ideas for stories outside of historical romance that I might want to pursue in the future, I see myself doing so under a different pen name than Avril; this would also be likely if I stepped outside of the Regency Era and dabbled in another time period or writing contemporary pieces.
It's also been historically common for female authors to take up a masculine pseudonym as a means of working around prejudices or gendered expectations; authors may also publish with a unisex pseudonym or initials in order to quote-unquote blend in on the shelves, worrying that potential readers may choose to skip a book written by a certain gender. While this is not my personal lived experience, it's also worth noting that some authors might use a pen name that more closely aligns with their gender identity or culture. In these examples, Rebecca de la Cruz might go by Beck de la Cruz or R.B. de la Cruz.
Boundaries were another motivator. In the past, I've talked about how my experience with D.A.R.E. in the fifth grade made me fearful of engaging on social media (something I'm still trying to work through nearly twenty years later), and I think that kernel of fear influenced my wanting to publish with a pen name. As an adult, it's not exactly a worry that someone online will see me posting about how my favorite candy is Sweedish Fish and then attempt to lure me into a van with the promise of Sweedish Fish if I get into the vehicle with them (like in that one video my class's visiting police officer showed us), but simply valuing privacy. I like that there's a boundary between my personal life and my public, online life.
It's also helpful as far as headspace goes. I aspire to be not only published but writing novels full-time. And like any job, I want to make sure I can separate myself from it.
I'm fortunate to have a day job that I wholeheartedly love, but I'm also able to walk away at the end of my shift; once I've taken off my nametag and clocked out, I do my best to turn off the work sector of my brain. Writing under a pseudonym works in a similar fashion for me. A distinct mental separation between work and life. Like taking off your uniform after you've locked up and shut down for the night.
So even though my mother likens my writing and being on social media under a pseudonym to having a secret identity in the vein of Batman, there are reasons behind it.
Now that we've reviewed the why of using a nom de plume in general, why did I decide on Avril Marie Aalund specifically? What's the story behind my pen name?
All About Aalund
Avril Marie Aalund is a half-pseudomyn. It's a combination of my legal name and an invented one.
Like a lot of 90s babies, my middle name is Marie.
The surname of Aalund is where things start to get more personal. Aalund acts as a second middle name for me. My parents gave me both of their surnames but didn't hyphenate, and I go by just my father's. However, I ended up wanting to use Aalund, my mother's surname, as an author. Her father, my grandfather, immigrated to the States from Estonia as a refugee during WWII with his mother and aunt; to put a long, complicated political story short, Estonia was no longer a country of its own at that time. My grandfather was someone I loved dearly, even becoming a father figure when my own father unexpectedly passed in 2014. Using his surname as part of my pen name is a small tribute, but it feels like the perfect way of honoring his memory and our family's story.
There's also a bit of history within my family that the name carries. When my great-grandmother divorced (something that just wasn't done back then), she went to change her name and Aalund was what they gave her at town hall. It speaks to the Aalund legacy of strong women making a name for themselves, and I want to continue that in my own way.
Plus, as a few relatives have pointed out, it'll be particularly easy to find me on bookshelves organized alphabetically by surname. That wasn't a specific reason I chose to use Aalund as part of my pen name, but it is a nice little perk...
Where Does Avril Come From?
This is where we get into the invented half of my half-pseudonym.
When people hear the name "Avril," there's usually one Avril they think of.
And if you're thinking that she was the inspiration for my wanting to write as Avril, you would be correct.
Avril Lavigne has long since been a favorite artist of mine. And, frankly, she was everything I wanted to be when I was in middle school, especially around the time I was casually playing with the idea of writing books someday. And the majority of my WIP playlists feature at least one of her tracks so drawing inspiration from her and that early chapter of my writing life feels almost inevitable somehow. Meant to be.
As a side note, getting to see her live was an absolute dream come true.
There's also a little inside joke that comes with "Avril." I had a math teacher who repeatedly called me "April" while taking attendance, to the point I more or less accepted it after a couple of weeks. "Avril" happens to be French for "April," another thing that contributed to ultimately writing as Avril.
April is also my favorite character on Parks and Rec.
And that, readers, is the story behind Avril Marie Aalund—so far, at least. There is so much more to come not only in terms of my fiction projects but here on the blog.
I cannot believe this is the 300th blog post. When I launched this site back in 2018, I had no idea what to expect (or frankly what I was even doing early on). I am so grateful for every reader who's spent a little time in my corner of the internet. Whether you've only popped in for the occasional post or check back every week, thank you. ♡
Here's to the next 300 posts and all of the exciting things that the future has in store!
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