November 4, 2019
Do you Google yourself?
I admit, I have Googled myself. And the results for my pen name are rather 
boring. My Facebook page, my Amazon listings, this blog, and lots of blogs I’ve had guest posts on. I don’t believe there is anyone else using this name and that limits the potential for exciting finds. I got all the way to page 7 of the results before I gave up. (I did find a poem I published in a literary magazine before I started writing books. That came as a pleasant surprise.)
Googling my given name is more interesting. There’s a former middleweight fighter in Canada that shares a form of my name. And a hip-hop artist, although most of the information about him isn’t in English. (I think he’s French, but couldn’t find his bio. And his Instagram account only has two posts.) Then there’s a bridge in Tennessee that bears my name, although it’s a memorial to someone else. I know it sits at an elevation of 594 feet, but I couldn’t find any information about the person it was named after.
We’ll skip all those people finder sites. They don’t count.
Then there are the obituaries. More than I anticipated. It’s fascinating reading the stories of people who shared your name but are are gone now. All of the ones I read seemed to be your standard salt-of-the-earth type people. And that’s an okay legacy to leave. “Loving mother.” “Dear sister.” “She was baptized on a winter day in Storms Creek in the early years of raising her children.”
I did find a record of someone bearing the same name as me being involved in a shooting at a political gathering in 1902. He survived, his opponent was expected to die. There was also a census record from the early 1900’s that I suspect is tied to the bridge I mentioned earlier. (Same state and city, so now I know his parents’ names but not what he did to deserve having a bridge named for him!)
A few months back, we talked about names on this blog hop, and I mentioned how I frequently search for the names of my characters so I don’t accidentally use a real person’s name. On one of the comments, it was suggested that Harmony Duprie, the main character in my mysteries, probably has a namesake out there in the world somewhere.
That comment sparked a subplot in my current WIP. Yes, Harmony is searching for herself. With good reason. I won’t reveal the results, but she, too, sees dead people. (And at least one person who is still alive!)
So, how about you? Do you Google yourself? Are your results any different than mine? Let’s talk in the comments.
Until then, I’m going to go check out the other authors and their results. You can come with me by clicking on the boxes below.
November 4, 2019
Do you Google yourself?
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
It feels self-centered, but unless you know what people are saying about you, it’s really hard to address any inaccuracies. I don’t do it very often and usually I only find good under my author name, but I’ve had enough struggles with clearing my legal name that I just think it’s a good idea.
Beyond the people finder sites, I didn’t even find myself under my legal name. I guess I’m really boring!
I must admit, I never thought of checking out my ancestors, or even anyone else who might share my pen name. Perhaps I’ll break my own rules and take a peek.
Of course, they weren’t my ancestors, but they might have been my husband’s. 🙂 It would be interesting to google my maiden name and see what turns up.