BLOG: The perils of protecting identity

I am currently in Australia for the launch of HEAD OVER HEEL. As part of the publicity campaign, on March 17th I did a 30-minute radio interview with Sylvia Rosenblum on Eastside Radio for her Arts Wednesday series.

Syliva was an author's dream. She had read the book thoroughly and sang its praises highly. However, when she asked me a question pertaining to Mario - a minor character in HEAD OVER HEEL - not even the author could remember who he was.

I had changed certain names to protect people's identities. I needed no better proof that it had worked.

When I did finally place Mario, I realised I couldn't use his real name - Simone. This made speaking spontaneously about him somewhat difficult, and I ummed and ahhed for such a long time that listeners must have thought Sylvia had erred from the station's strict jazz format to play a rap song!

The moral of the story: When writing your next tour de force, use real names where possible.

*Note - certain names have been changed to protect people's identities.