I've just written a little solitaire game. The kind that uses dice and tokens. It has a vague tranny connection.
The problem is who do I assign the writing credit to?
Assign it to Pandora
Pros
- No worries with outing myself
- Can distribute it via the Trannisphere
- Can't discuss the game in the gaming forums as I'm registered as "Bob"
- Don't get to add it to my portfolio of work
Assign it to "Bob"
Pros
- Can discuss the game on gaming forums
- Adds to my portfolio of work
Cons
- Tranny connection may raise questions
- Can't put it on this blog
I suppose I could co-credit it, but that may lead to an inadvertent outing. And besides it just seems weird.
Any suggestions?
9 comments:
Sorry, no solution.
I'm facing the same conundrum. My wife and I have spent many an hour discussing it; the only "real" solution is outing yourself. Any other solution relies on an unsustainable "fiction" of one sort or another.
My problem is related to a project that I'm working on that I hope will make me some money; but in order to use as a part of my resume, under what name do I release it? "Outing" myself is an option, but not one I really want to pursue - at the moment. On the other hand, once this litle project is completed, I want to trumpet it, loudly, across my blog... (Hang on, didn't you just say that?.. :-) )
So far I'm leaning toward doing a Grayson Perry and saying "Sod it, I might as well do something!" But that will lead to my losing a few clients - not that I have that maby, right now, anyway!
Round and round it goes. Sorry.
Carolyn Ann
This may sound obvious, but since a con is being able to sign on and discuss it on the game site, why can't you create a new account under pandora? You might lose a bit of credit for past work but can take it all for the new creation and all the future stuff.
@Carolyn - Its tricky isn't it? I'm not quite ready for full-scale outing yet, but I think it may come one day. Good luck if you decide to go that route!
@Liz - Not a bad idea, although they are quite harsh on sockpuppet accounts. However, I have noticed my gaming accounts are under a handle not my real name, so I might just get my handle changed to Pandora, and write games as her.
Dunno if this is practical, but make 2 versions of the game, the one you have now and another one with less/no Tranny related content if that's possible. Release the less/non tranny one as Bob on the gaming forums and add it to you portfolio and the tranified one as Pandora on the T-sphere slightly later, with a disclaimer in the read me/documentation etc, that is was created from Bob's version with full permissions in case any one finds both version and asks awkward questions.
Which group do you think will enjoy and appreciate it more? And where do you think it will get the greater reach?
If you are not yet comfortable with anyone knowing both your identities don't cross post the game less likely to make mistakes that way.
Is it 'skinable'? The vanilla version is Bob's and the TG+ version is Pandoras. Would that work?
Thanks for all your insightful comments. You've all been a big help with this decision.
Re-reading my work, the TG aspect is mostly unnoticeable to someone outside the Trannisphere, but it is probably of interest (even is just as a casual read) to one or two of you here.
I think Pandora is going to get the credit though.
I don't mind revealing I write as Pandora to people that ask "Bob" about it. But I don't want my real name known to people that find Pandora first. If that makes any sense?
As I posted above, I think I'll rebrand my gaming forum profile. I'm not established enough for it to matter, and my real ID is not connected to my forum handle anyhow.
Looking back at my portfolio, hardly any of it is attributed to Bob anyway. Most of it is under internet handles. And has aged badly :)
@Helena and Lynn - Its a 4 page .pdf. Not really enough to hide a credit, or re-skin, but thanks for the ideas.
I think Pandora opened this box before & all we were left with was hope. I hope you find a solution.
I was going to say somthing down the same lines as Helean & Lynn, so I wont bother repeating.
All I can say is there is a history of writers publishing under names in the opposite sex.
If questioned the suggestion can be that youv'e published this way to test the waters as it were. If things went well you would then publish future projects under your own name. A sort of double bluff to protect yourself.
At the risk of complicating things, how about a THIRD identity? An alter-ego that both Bob and Pandora can claim, but links directly to neither.
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