Someone has called me a leeching liar. I would be flattered normally, as this is almost poetically alliterative but I wasn't. It seems, ladies and gentlemen, there are many Jennifer Jacksons out there and some of them even write for a living. This individual said I was using my name to claim credit for Jennifer's work.
Well, I ran an Internet search the other night. It turns out there IS another Jennifer Jackson who pens poetry. Her biography, though, is not the same as mine and she hasn't published in the same places I have.
Other variations of our name kept popping up with more and more writers attached to them.
I don't believe a wildly different pseudonym would help me at this point, unless I wanted to start things over on my career. So, I have made the only other choice: I am going to use my middle name from now on. There should be less of a chance there would be a Jennifer RUTH Jackson out there, though not escaping one completely.
I just didn't understand this person's anger towards me. I couldn't even reason with the person to research more in-depth. I am not a phony and I wouldn't steal someone else's work. Honestly, mine isn't even good enough to claim it was stolen...
Has this ever happened to you or to a writer friend of yours? How do you deal with it?
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Photo T. kiya
That is horrible! It really irks me when someone attacks your character and doesn't know you. I'm mad for you!
ReplyDeleteThis hasn't happened to me. Very few Kelleys spell it 'ey' so there aren't too many of us running around out there.
Thanks! I was pretty mad for me too, at first.
DeleteHopefully the middle name helps.
That's just craziness. You really shouldn't have to change your name just because someone else doesn't like it. You have as much right to your name as she does. Jennifer and Jackson are both fairly common names, so it shouldn't be a suprise to anyone that there's more than one of you out there. This hasn't happened to me (yet) but if it did happen I would just ignore it and keep writing.
ReplyDeleteThen you're a better person than me! lol
DeleteThe person, if nothing else, proved a good point in how difficult it could be for people to find me, should they want to read more of what I write.
I have found people on the web using a variation of my maiden name (and she is even a different ethnicity than me), and then I found someone who used two parts of my name, but her last name was different and she also writes. That was weird. And then I found someone who was using the same name I used to have when I was married to my ex. That was strange! But so far, I haven't found anyone using all three parts of my name, so maybe I'm still in luck! Anyway, it isn't your fault, Jennifer, and that person should understand that there are a lot of people out there who share the same name and possibly the same profession. Indeed, it is wise from now on that you use your middle name, so hopefully that will help. Anyway, don't worry about small-minded people. And by the way, don't ever put yourself down; you might surprise yourself in how well you write and one day you might just make it and become more well-known that the other Jennifer Jackson! Take care!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping it will help. Thanks!
DeleteI will let you know how it goes when I start submitting again.
I'm sorry, but who in their right mind thinks names and occupations are so unique. Unbelievable. I've researched my name and it is quite common.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry this happened to you.
It is OK. I am hoping this never happens to anyone else or, if it does, you guys handle it better than I did. My answer was simply to ignore it after awhile and then ponder what should be done.
DeletePerhaps I should have said something more productive than, "There are more than a few of us running around, check things out more in-depth." **Sighs.
I can never find the right thing to say when I need it.
Well, your name is pretty common, I'd guess. I did a quick check in my airline database for frequent fliers with your name and there are about sixty for my airline alone.
ReplyDeleteAnother YA writer friend of mine has the same name as another YA writer, of no coincidence at all. So it's not too surprising. But I like Ruth in the middle. It's a good strong name.
Wow, sixty? Oh boy....
DeleteRuth was my grandmother's name. As a matter of fact, a lot of people that knew me when I was young call me "Ruthie" and not "Jennifer". It confuses people when they meet me, though. lol