Outed! Hide, hide, hide

I'm not out, dear friends.  I write as though I'm fearless, and don't give a damn.  But that's because I write under a pen-name; people who actually know me only know me as a weird recluse, and not as a lesbian, let alone a lesbian author of lesbian romance.

Well, this changed over the weekend!

I have a lady friend, of whom I'm very fond, and she had visitors over the weekend.  One of them was a man, whom I knew from previous visits.  He sat me down, and wanted to know what I did all day long (as I'm sure many of you would like to know too).  I hedged for as long as I could, and then revealed that I read.  What do you read, he asked.  In a moment of foolishness, I said I'm a writer, and I love to read my own books.

He was now very interested, thinking he has just discovered an author--well, I suppose he had, really--and he wondered whether I had written anything he would like to read.

The answer, of course, was no; not unless he was into lesfic.  I mean, I don't write porn; but just like I cringe at the thought of two guys cuddling in bed (though I probably shouldn't, at this point), I assumed this guy would be uncomfortable reading about lesbian intimacy.

So I thought furiously, and happened to mention that I had written a 255-thousand word piece of science fiction (Galactic Voyager), and presently he was looking at my Smashwords page, with all the titles, most of them offered for free.  He was amused that I wrote under a pen name, but then lunch was announced, and the conversation moved on.

Man, save me from inquisitive men.  I should have said something like: I'm sorry, but I'm unable to satisfy your curiosity on that point; or I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.  I would not have so much trouble with a woman whom I didn't know.  It just struck me that I didn't have to reveal that I had written Galaxy, but only that I was reading it!!  I had got flustered.

Anyway, as soon as the visit was over and I was back home, I opened up Galaxy, and examined it from the point of view of what a guy who knew me slightly would think of it, and now I'm in the thick of reading it yet again.

Kay.