Dakota vs. Dakota

So here's the thing. I'm kind of just like my pen name. In fact, when we all get together the people on this blog usually call me Dakota (or D) in person. So do their kids. That's just kind of who I am.

I think that most people choose a pen name to keep their writing lives a secret. It protects their families from answering uncomfortable questions about their parents writing erotica.

Me...well not so much. I tell EVERYONE who I am and what I do. My family, friends, and the people who make my coffee in the morning know that I am Dakota Rebel.

Here's what happened:

When I was around 12 years old I wrote bad poetry. Like most pre-teen girls I would imagine. I still have the beat to hell composition book too. It is filled with such gems as -

I'm dead

...yeah. Stuff like that. That's the whole 'poem' by the way, in case you were hoping for more. Nope. That's all she wrote.

Anyway, back in my youth I thought that ALL writers had pen names. So I came up with Dakota Rebel. And it stuck. My friends who read my terrible writing (Mulder and Samantha...no, still not kidding. That's what we all called each other. I was Dakota, and my friends were Mulder and Samantha. We were weird freakin' kids. FINE. We weren't kids. By this time we were in our late teens and I already had a child. But WHATEVER. That is not the POINT of this blog post.)

Where was I? Oh yeah. Mulder and Sam read all of my terrible writing and they did as good friends do and lied through their teeth to tell me how awesome it was. Thankfully I got better. (I hope.)

So Dakota was born out of youth and naivete. When I started actually writing to actually try to make a career out of it, she sort of stuck around. Which is fabulous because I still love the name 18 years later. It looks so good in print. And it's fun to say.

Are there differences? Sure I guess. Dakota is pretty conceited on this blog, but I am not like that in real life. I swear a lot more than Dakota does...even in her books. I don't usually refer to myself in the third person unless I'm talking about her. But that's okay because she's worth it. ;)

But, for the most part I am Dakota and D is me. We laugh alike, we walk alike, sometimes we even talk alike. You could lose your mind.

Can you Duke Roll someone? I think I just did.

You're welcome.

Dakota Rebel
aka
Dakota Rebel