Name change

Quote by naughtynurse
I've been "naughtynurse" on this site for sometime. When I joined, I was the only one, but now I find there have been several people join who are using a version of "my" name. This has become increasingly frustrating as a few are neither real nurses nor are they authors who's work I would want to be associated with in anyway. (I'm sure they have some talent, but I would rather they remain disassociated from my work)

So I was thinking of changing my name. Do you as readers notice if your favorite authors start posting with a different name? How do you identify them? What can I as the author do to assist the reader with associating my soon-to-be new identity with my old one?

Quote by naughtynurse
I've been "naughtynurse" on this site for sometime. When I joined, I was the only one, but now I find there have been several people join who are using a version of "my" name. This has become increasingly frustrating as a few are neither real nurses nor are they authors who's work I would want to be associated with in anyway. (I'm sure they have some talent, but I would rather they remain disassociated from my work)

So I was thinking of changing my name. Do you as readers notice if your favorite authors start posting with a different name? How do you identify them? What can I as the author do to assist the reader with associating my soon-to-be new identity with my old one?

Quote by naughtynurse
I've been "naughtynurse" on this site for sometime. When I joined, I was the only one, but now I find there have been several people join who are using a version of "my" name. This has become increasingly frustrating as a few are neither real nurses nor are they authors who's work I would want to be associated with in anyway. (I'm sure they have some talent, but I would rather they remain disassociated from my work)

So I was thinking of changing my name. Do you as readers notice if your favorite authors start posting with a different name? How do you identify them? What can I as the author do to assist the reader with associating my soon-to-be new identity with my old one?

Quote by HopefullAuthor


I can understand why it may be frustrating to have other people using a name that is similar, however, I wonder if changing your name will be the total answer. It may solve the problem for a little while, but what is to stop other people from starting to use a name that is similar to your new one? In that case, you would now be facing the same problem again.

Does it really matter if someone tries to use a similar name? If I (as your reader) love your stories, I certainly will know the exact spelling of your name and won't be fooled by something similar. Even if I did happen to get into the wrong name, I would soon realize that it was a different person by the style and quality of writing.

Since you have worked hard and long to build up your reputation as a high quality author, I'd think that you would be better off in the long run to keep that name and continue building your reputation. That name is your trade name and it is worth a lot. The 'impostors' will soon fall by the way-side because they won't be able to match your talent.

I vote to keep your name and ignore all the others. Just be the best writer you can, and your readers will gladly support you.

Quote by MasterJonathan


I would have to side with HA on this one too. I once thought of changing My name and dropping the Master title, but there are a number of Jonathan's already and like H.A. said, I worked long and hard to get whatever reputation I have. So I decided (along with some input from friends) to keep My name. My readers know Me and look for Me by name. I didn't want to lose any of them in a name change that probably wouldn't be as good as the one I had.

Quote by Dani
I thought of similar things when I changed my name. I don't have some huge story following or anything to worry about, so I can't offer any advice in that realm.

But I will say that it wasn't hard for people to put two and two together given that my profile stayed the same, and my general attitude and the vibe I give off stayed the same. I just got tired of the flashy undies and the whole 'theme' of my slipperywhenwet2012 handle, so I made the change and it turns out my name suits me just fine. Who woulda thunk? Also, when you get a name change your profile always says 'Changed name to _____'. There's no privacy setting you can choose to keep anyone on your friends list from seeing that. Plus, the damn penguins give me away every time.

But on a more serious note, you have a following. And any writer with any sort of following typically has readers who can distinguish their work from others. And if it's that much of a concern for those readers who you aren't friends with, you could always add 'Formerly known as naughtynurse' or something along those lines in your bio for the time being until everyone catches on.

P.S. Boobs. I could recognize those things a million miles away.

Quote by naughtynurse


While this was my opinion for a long time, recently I've had friends get me confused with one other person in particular. I picked the name on a whim when I first joined, with no thoughts of writing at the time, but a desire to not use the name I am active with on several other forums(mostly horse related) Now Im less active on those boards, and very active here. I understand that there are always going to be others similar, I feel that the other naughty nurse's who are relatively regular are counterproductive to my "brand." One in particular writes a fair bit, and in the trashy "porn" style erotica that I try to avoid. Recently, I have had a few friends, not just random people but people I chat with, become confused over a message they got about a story. Not my story and not one I would claim if I could. This is why I would like to change it.


plus im not a naughtynurse. Im a very good nurse, who happens to be a bit dirty too

Quote by HopefullAuthor



I know that this may be slightly off topic, so I hope that everyone will forgive me, but Dani, I do have to ask you this one question. When you changed names, are you sure that you didn't loose a few of your "flock" of penguins? I can see you running around frantically looking all over for them. That was my concern, that she would loose some of her followers when I made my previous comment, and stated that I thought that she should continue with her name.

I'm fairly new here so I wasn't aware of the fact that if a person changes their name, a notation is automatically placed on their profile. This would should cut down the chances of loosing many followers, though may not guarantee that 100%.

Now Dani, back to you. Is there a name that is used to refer to a group of penguins? I used "flock" here for lack of a better term, but since you are the local expert on them, I thought I'd ask you.

Quote by Wilful
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Anyone who has friended you, followed you or favourited one of your stories will just see the new name in their respective lists. Follow that up with a message to all your friends and a short-term note on your profile page and you'll be fine.

I don't know about the rest of you, but a naughty nurse showdown does sound interesting though. Oh my...

Quote by loud_bkr
Love the new name Dirty_D.

I'm thinking of changing my name as well...... was thinking of naughtynurse now that it is available

Quote by Dani


I don't think changing my name has caused me to lose any of my 'flock'. This shouldn't be that big of an issue. I don't foresee anyone who misses out on the name change memo saying, 'I don't know who that is...time for me to unfollow and/or stop reading their stuff.'

Now, as far as what you call a group of penguins, calling them a flock is in fact incorrect. Groups of penguins are called many things, depending on whether or not they're on land or in water, or even certain stages of development.

Generally speaking, a group of penguins is typically called a colony. You can use this to refer to all groups of penguins at any time, whether on land or not. The term rookery, though not as common as a general term, can also be used if they're nesting. And I'll admit, rookery is fun to say out loud (go ahead, try it).

My absolute favorite thing to call them is a Waddle, because it's cute as fuck. But you ONLY call them a Waddle if they're on land. If not, they get terribly offended.

And the sneaky little things prefer to be called a raft if a bunch of them are floating in the water, because they think they're masters of disguise. If they weren't so smart, I'd believe they actually thought they were rafts while floating.

Groups of baby penguins are called a creche, but this is more of a cluster of babies than a group, because they bunch together for warmth because of a lack of adequate plumage and fat and all that good stuff that keeps older/bigger penguins warm.