A Pseudonym By Any Other Name

A few people in my professional circle have raised their eyebrows at my releasing a new novel full of what many would consider decisively unprofessional humor. Truth be told, this was not an easy decision on my part either. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted "Rick: the online professional" to be associated with "Rick: the guy with a book full of dick jokes". After all, I have no doubt there are many businesses who might might make a snap judgement that such a person would not fit into their esteemed organization.

I agonized over this for several weeks before I had an epiphany of sorts: Does hiding this side of me really change who I am? Am I not proud of the work I put into writing a full length story? Would I really want to work for a company that doesn't accept that there are many facets to me, i.e. what makes me me?

Does hiding this part of me change who I am? Not at all. I like who I am, and my results speak for themselves. There isn't any one part of me I can separate from the whole and tell to sit in an office and get the job done. That's just silly. I am who I am. There's plenty of room inside of me for all my facets, and I like to think I'm more than mature enough to know which of those facets to bring to the forefront at which times.

Am I not proud of the work it took to write a novel? This is almost too absurd to ask. Great work of art or not, I'm damn proud that I had the commitment to sit down and give birth to this story that I had floating around in my head. No one can take that away from me.

Would I really want to work for a company that doesn't accept me as me? In short, no. There is no corporate-minded Rick. No novelist Rick. There's just me. And that person has the self discipline to know when it's time to put together a serious PowerPoint presentation for upper management, and when it's time to take the hero of his story and toss his ass out of a third story window for nothing more than laughs.

I'm a package deal. Much like Cable TV, I don't come A la carte.

If you are a professional during the day who masquerades as a writer by night, much like a somewhat less heroic Batman, than I hope I've given you something to think about. Be proud of your work and who you are. I know I am.

As for the rest of you, what are you still doing here.....go check out my book! :)