Authors and Authenticity
I have always been exactly who I say I am, but given the recent dust-up with another indie author, I wanted to talk a little about authenticity.
There was recently a big mess over an indie author being accused of portraying themself as someone they aren’t. While I confess to be on the fence about the whole thing for reasons I’m not going to get into here, I do want to address the overall concept for anyone who follows me.
One of the cornerstones of my branding is that I am exactly who I say I am. As a general rule, I wear my heart on my sleeve and do my best to be myself in all circumstances. I don’t hide elements of myself from the public, though there are certainly things I don’t discuss very frequently since my audience isn’t here for those elements.
However, in interest of complete transparency, I wanted to share the full details of exactly who I am.
I publish under “E” because prior to going by “Ellis”, my full name would have been very long on a book cover. Ellis is actually short for “Elizabeth.” Before coming out as non-binary, I was looking for a sign-off that was more gender neutral because I was tired of people giving me more trouble about editing certain genres than was worth. There were people who didn’t believe I am a martial artist and so on because I am female. My husband was helping and discovered that “Ellis” is actually a Welsh shortening of “Elizabeth.” I fell in love with it and have Welsh heritage, so I dove on it. However, in light of my non-binary-ness, I also stuck with Ellis because it’s a gender neutral name and is very pretty.
Besides, I view it as a gift from my husband, and since I cherish him, that makes it even sweeter.
As far as race goes, I identify with “white” despite having a small amount of non-white (African) heritage because I was raised so strongly in white culture (specifically New England farmer/academic). It feels wrong to try and claim to be anything else. To be more specific, I am primarily Scottish and Irish with some English, German, and Welsh. The African heritage comes from the Moors of Spain a very long way back in our genetic lineage, but it does show up on DNA test kits, which is interesting.
I am very open about my autism, ADHD, CPTSD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia. My neurodivergence is an important part of who I am, and claiming that identity proudly is something I value and pursue with great gusto. I am late-diagnosed autistic (my formal diagnosis was in 2022) but was raised knowing I had ADHD. Part of my openness about these things is a strong desire to destigmatize having those conditions.
Likewise, I am open about being queer and non-binary (they/them). I go with “queer” because I wear that badge with pride after having it thrown at me in high school as an insult. I come from the age where that was one of the more common insults, and at this point? Yeah. I’m queer. Try and take it from me. While I am in a hetero-passing marriage, I am not less queer for it. I fell in love with my husband for who he is, not because of his gender or expression.
Beyond those more overt facts about me, I am Christian by faith practice (Presbyterian Church USA) and a worship leader at my church. I don’t talk a great deal about my faith due to the current climate of toxic evangelicalism, but it is something important to me. That said, I firmly, firmly believe in everyone’s right to express their relationship to the divine however they choose or to have nothing whatsoever to do with it. I’m not here to convert anyone and generally only discuss my faith if asked questions about it directly.
Finally, I am physically disabled. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which comes with a lot of comorbidities like postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, Raynaud’s syndrome, small fiber neuropathy, and constant issues with arthritis and tendinitis. I am also diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic migraines.
Now, with all the solemn identity things out of the way, here’s some more fun stuff to know about me!
As a historian (B.A. in European history) I am a gigantic nerd. I am deeply involved in my local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism and am a fencer and bard in the society. I am currently the head safety officer for my region, and I have won a few awards for it. In addition to fencing, I’m a musician and enjoy performing either solo or with others in the society. It’s one of my favorite communities in the world.
In addition to fencing, I have studied martial arts since I could walk, starting with Aikido and Uechi Ryu. Over my life, I have studied Aikido, Uechi Ryu, Kenpo, Kenjutsu, Aikijujutsu, Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Filipino Knife, Yanagi Ryu, and Nami Ryu. I taught Kenjutsu and Aikijujutsu for a number of years and am very passionate about martial arts. This is reflected in my editing because I often work with clients writing high fantasy. There’s a benefit to having an editor who’s held the swords and fought with them as well as worn the armor.
Alongside my Eastern martial arts experience, I have also been handling firearms since I was around eight. I am not an expert or a crack shot, but I know enough to handle myself safely around them and enough to be able to write realistically about characters using them. I did some tactical firearms training back in the day, but not enough to really brag about. It’s more than most folks have done but less than a professional would lay claim to.
The rest of my hobbies are more mundane: knitting, spinning yarn, crochet, watercolor painting, fantasy mapmaking (though I also do that professionally), TTRPGs, video games, and being a home cook. I also watch a whole lot of true crime.
My accolades in the writing community are well discussed on here, but I’ve been editing since 2008, and I have a number of short story publications in addition to the three novels to my name. I ran Insomnia Publishing for almost eight years before switching gears to providing self-publishing services, and I currently am the New England chapter coordinator for the Editorial Freelancers Association as well as the New England regional head for Author Nation. I’m speaking at Author Nation 2024 and run the Neurodivergent Publishing Conference.
This is who I am. There are pieces and parts that I haven’t listed, I’m sure, but the above is more or less the core of me. I do my best to be exactly who I appear to be, and I endeavor to be kind, honest, genuine, and trustworthy. Even if I am just a pile of weird hobbies in a trench coat.