|
|
||||||||||||
|
The Name GameJust to make sure you know what it really is, my name is Laurin (yes, that's an "I" not an "E") Wittig (no "H's", no "N's"). My first name is the masculine spelling because I was named after my great-uncle, Lauch McLaurin Magruder. Laurin/Lauren is like Francis/Frances. Interestingly, the only man I've ever met who shared my first name spelled his with the E. Go figure. My last name comes from my husband's German roots, though everyone likes to try to Anglicize it by putting extra consonants in there. It's simple and is actually pronounced exactly the way it looks: "Wit" with an "ig" on the end of it. Now that we have that straight, here's the game: How many different ways can you spell my names? Just for fun I've decided to start compiling all the variations.
If you come across a unique spelling please let me know Drum roll, please... Laurin Witting - okay, this one is the most common misspelling of my last name but it deserves a special place of honor as my publisher spelled it this way on the spine of the original marketing covers they made for The Devil of Kilmartin. Seriously. Lauren Whitkick - this is the most creative spelling of my name that I have found to date. It was on a sign where I made a recent appearance. I kept the sign! Lauran Whittig. I won't name names because the webmaster where I found this knows me and should know better. :-) 4/5/04 Then there are the other common ones for my first name: Laura, Lauren, Laurie, etc. It's Laurin with an I. I'm named after my great uncle, Lauch MacLaurin Magruder but hey, I'll answer to anything that sounds close. And the common ones for my last name: Whitting, Whittig, Witting, Whiting. Then there is Willig and Wiffig which occasionally crop up. There's a historical author at NAL. So what? you ask. Her name is Lauren Willig! Look carefully, it's close, but different. Even so, mistakes will happen. Already I've been contacted by a British agent threatening copyright infringement if I publish Ms. Willig's book in Britain (I assured her I would do no such thing, but she might really like to contact the author in question), and someone who knows me told me she went to buy my new book but didn't because it was in hardback. Eh hem. I write paperbacks -- the other writer with a similar name has a hardback. We're both using our real names so there's nothing to be done but try to make sure everyone knows there are two of us and though we both write historical romances they are very, very different. AND MINE IS THE PAPERBACK!
Loren
Whittig - Donna K. says she had a friend in elementary school - a guy - with
this variation. Thanks for sending this in Donna! 5/16/04
K. Whittig sent in these that he's run
into over the years: Whiplag, Whitlage, Widdick, Wiltage, and, well, I'm not
sure I want to put the last one here, but substitute an "S" for the "W" in
Whittig and you'll figure it out. 1/05 Latest name find: Okay, I found this one...sigh. In the May issue of the Berkley/Jove electronic newsletter sent out by Writerspace my name was mangled, not once, but twice. The first instance was the traditional Lauren-with-an-E. The second time was a completely new way to misspell Laurin...wait for it... L-I-N-D-A. Well they got the first letter right at least. 6/1/05 Send any variations you find to
Laurin@Wittig.com.
|
|||||||||||
