Chris the Story Reading Ape 

 

Ah hah! I now know that Christ, the story-reading ape is male. I’ve always wondered whether ‘Chris’ was short for Christopher or Christine. Or simply Chris, whether male or female.

I once spoke with a novel marketing person who suggested that I come up with a pen name that could be either male or female because what I write is more often written by men than women. Then she further suggested that the name should begin with a letter in the first half of the alphabet and be short and simple with connotations that are positive. It was a marketing thing, she said.

I spent a lot of agonizing time trying to come up with a name that fit all of her criteria. And, eventually, gave up. So I’m still Florence Witkop.