Monica is my given name. However, I chose not to use my married name as an author. I thought about using my maiden name, but then asked why use my father’s father’s name? Why not my mother’s father’s name? Or my mother’s mother’s name? So, I chose to use my grandmother’s names: Grandma Goertzen (a Mennonite name) and Grandma Hertlein (a German name). Since they might be hard to spell (if you’re not Mennonite or German), I planned to use MonicaGH for my domain. And I did.
I researched the names to ensure I wasn’t competing against dozens of other authors named Monica Hertlein or Monica Goertzen because with SEO (search engine optimization), at the very least you want to rank high in a search for your own name. I failed to research Monica GH so if you’re searching for me online Monica GH writer or Monica GH author finds me but otherwise you get a lot of info about a character on General Hospital. Oops. Not me.
