I stared at him, baffled that he knew the name. Jimmy took in my baffled expressed and gestured at the white board. “Chase. It’s written on your whiteboard. You know, the one you just finished showing us?”
Matteo snickered.
I’d forgotten that I’d retitled my writing board. I sighed. “Still no word from her. She asked me to stop sending her things, and I respected her wishes.”
“Does she know about the book?” he asked.
I shook my head. “If she still follows me on social media, she’ll know about it soon, but I don’t know if she’ll read it.”
Matteo watched us, his confusion apparent in his wrinkled brow. “Wait, what? Chase has a girlfriend? How did I miss that?”
“Less has and more like had,” I admitted. “For like, one night if I’m honest. I’m trying to turn our relationship into something longer-lasting, but it’s not going well.”
He slapped me on the back but must have sensed I didn’t want to discuss it further. We went on to eat dinner and play. For a while, I wasn’t thinking about Tamra. Matteo had surprised me with how accepting he was of my writing career. It gave me an extra confidence boost; maybe writing as myself wasn’t the issue I thought it’d be. Tamra had accepted me as a writer. Maybe my readers would too.
BEFORE RELEASING The Wedding Date, I wanted to be more honest with my readers about my identity. No more keeping secrets. I was proud of my work, and I could weather the rejection that came with disappointing fans. When I started my career as a male author, I worried I’d have trouble getting traction in a genre whose main readers were female. Readers were understandably wary of the male lens after too many books advertised as romance that highlighted suffering instead of hope and happiness.
My faith in my readers was stronger after revealing myself to Tamra and Matteo. Seeing my pen name persona through Tamra’s eyes and the betrayal when she learned I was a guy made me realize that I needed to be myself. My pen name wouldn’t change, but I wanted to share more of my true self with my dedicated readers, updating my author bio and avatars with a picture for transparency.
My phone buzzed with an incoming call as I was putting the final touches on my big reveal. I let out a breath at the name on caller ID.
“Hey, Mom. How are you and Dad?” I asked.
“We’re both good, but I hadn’t heard from you in a while. Everything okay?”
I bit my lip. Whining about my love life to my mother might not be my best move. But warning her and Dad about my upcoming identity reveal was only fair. Even if I didn’t use my full name, some of her friends might connect the dots.
“Yes, everything’s fine. I’ve just been busy with work. But that reminds me, I wanted to give you and Dad a heads up.”
She paused, and I pictured her eyebrows arching above her glasses. She knew to wait me out.
I sighed. “I’m going to reveal my identity to my readers.”
“What brought this on?”
She and my dad had urged me to be more open from the beginning about my pen name, so her surprise was warranted.
I cleared my throat. “A friend convinced me it was time.”
Friend. Or woman of my dreams. Close enough. My mom probably wouldn’t be fooled.
“A friend, huh? Will your father and I get to meet this friend sometime soon?”
I shifted uncomfortably. The gentle prodding left me swallowing my disappointment. My parents would love Tamra. I took a deep breath. Letting myself get rattled and awkwardly trying to change the subject wouldn’t fool her.
“I think she’s moved on,” I said quietly.
Her tone softened at my obvious dismay. “I’m sorry to hear that. What are your plans for the big reveal?”
My shoulders relaxed as I outlined how I had planned to orchestrate my own possible professional demise, then to her plans to travel to Hawaii with my dad. As much as my life had changed since meeting Tamra, my parents remained comfortingly the same. Steadfast and supportive.
After her shot of encouragement, I prepared and scheduled my next newsletter, including a photo of myself holding an early copy of The Wedding Date with the following letter.
Dear Reader,
I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the release of my latest romance, The Wedding Date. Writing romance brings me joy, and I hope I’ve shared that exhilaration with you. I try to write about people finding love and happiness by accepting their true selves. Recently, I met a woman who convinced me that I needed to drop anonymity and embrace openness in my own life. Today I stop hiding behind my pen name.
As you’re aware, writing in our genre is fraught with challenges. My romance origin story starts with stealing my parents’ books and evolved into openly reading what I loved. The backlash with my male peers in high school was severe, and it took years to shake off the nicknames and teasing. But it’s no excuse for not being brave enough to be myself. I want to fight for your happily-ever-after, and revealing my identity is part of fighting for my own.
I’ve generally led a life of (male) privilege and writing as Virginia Rothman gave me a window into a whole other world of trolling and misogyny. It’s also welcomed me into the incredible community of Romancelandia that fights for love and acceptance. (We know how to bring the knives.)
Thank you to all who have read me faithfully these last ten years. I hope you will forgive the deception and still enjoy my work.
To the special woman in my life, this book’s dedicated to you. Thank you for inspiring me and for helping me see a different, better life ... I still hope I can make my mistakes up to you.
Sincerely,
Chase Hoffman, AKA Virginia
