Did anyone notice that my maiden name, Alice Y. Chen, is on the cover of the book? Anyone do a double take?
Along with the 2,479 (-ish) other decisions to be made in the creation, production and publication of a book, my name also became a significant decision. I started this book when I was Alice Y. Chen in 2005. I finished this book in 2012, years after I got married.
Why are names important? How important is it to attribute the work one way or the other? I chose to take my husband’s name to “be” a part of his family, but I included my maiden name in my legal name, so that I’d still have that identity associated with me.
So, why else are names important?
The answer for me surprisingly, is LEGACY.
I have thought about what I will leave behind, on behalf of the family who raised me. All of my father’s male siblings had daughters. So I realized that this generation may see the end of my father’s surname, and that made me a bit sad.
So here is my humble “legacy” to my family, a crazy idea in the form of a children’s book!
Along with the 2,479 (-ish) other decisions to be made in the creation, production and publication of a book, my name also became a significant decision. I started this book when I was Alice Y. Chen in 2005. I finished this book in 2012, years after I got married.
Why are names important? How important is it to attribute the work one way or the other? I chose to take my husband’s name to “be” a part of his family, but I included my maiden name in my legal name, so that I’d still have that identity associated with me.
So, why else are names important?
The answer for me surprisingly, is LEGACY.
I have thought about what I will leave behind, on behalf of the family who raised me. All of my father’s male siblings had daughters. So I realized that this generation may see the end of my father’s surname, and that made me a bit sad.
So here is my humble “legacy” to my family, a crazy idea in the form of a children’s book!
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