How My Pen Name Came To Be

If you've ever wondered why I chose the life sentence of being called "Gordlame," "Gordaelme"… really anything but "Gordalme Cross," keep on reading…

Here's where it all began.

Long before I had ever even thought about publishing my work, the name "Gordalme" randomly popped into my mind out of absolutely nowhere on some random day that I can't even remember. So if you didn't catch that, it was random.

I knew the name was unique and interesting, so I decided to save it in my notes so I could potentially give it to a character someday.

Fast forward: When it came time for me to name myself, I actually fell victim to a pseudonym generator online (believe it or not, that exists, or at least it used to). Now hold on a minute, before you accuse me of being a lazy slug, I agree with you, but thankfully, that's not how this story ends. Anyway, needless to say, nothing really gave me a "that's the one" kind of feeling, and deep down, I knew I didn't want my entire writing career to be branded by some arbitrary computer-generated name. No judgement against anyone else who opts to go that route (definitely judging), but that isn't my personal cup of tea. I was just desperate and had no other ideas. Then suddenly, I remembered that I had an interesting name stored in my phone somewhere, I just couldn't remember exactly what it was. But when I read it again for the second time, I knew that it was the one.

What made it so perfect wasn't just the fact that it was completely original, but when I typed it into Google, absolutely nothing came up. I wasn't in danger of picking a pseudonym that was too similar to someone else's. And because the name had come to my mind in such a spontaneous manner, I wondered if maybe it was really God who gave it to me because He knew all along what it would be used for. It's a comforting feeling.

Of course, I chose "Cross" as a way of implementing my faith into something that is so important to me. It's sort of like I was handing God the keys and letting Him do with it whatever He wanted to. But aside from all of that, I like it. It's catchy. And it reminds me that no matter what happens, everything is under His control.

So that's that. Probably not as dynamic as I made it out to be, but it answers the question and gives me an excuse to write. So thanks for reading. If you have any blog requests or simply want to reach out, click the "Share Thoughts" link at the bottom of my Home page, and I'll look forward to the pit in my stomach when I see a new message in my inbox. Don't worry, it's a me thing, not a you thing. Talk soon.