Face Optional, Words Required ☕
Between the Name and the Face: Finding My Creative Middle
There’s this idea floating around the Internet that if people can’t see you, they can’t trust you. As if credibility now comes with a camera filter and the perfect lighting setup.
I get it, we’ve built a world where a selfie gets more validation than a story. Where people scroll past brilliant ideas because they didn’t vibe with someone’s hairstyle or expression, or the angle of their face. But, I’ve never wanted to sell my face. I want to share my words.
When I started writing publicly, I made a conscious choice. My face doesn’t need to be part of my author brand. (I like my face, don’t get me wrong, we’ve been through a lot together.) But I didn’t want it to do the talking for me. I wanted readers to hear me before they see me.
You know how some people separate their life into neat compartments (work, hobbies, passions), as if they all belong to different versions of themselves? I used to think I had to do that, too.
On one side, there’s the professional me: the translator, the editor, the one who writes emails in clean lines and edits with precision. On the other, there’s the creative me. The one who writes self-help books for chronic illness warriors, who speaks from the heart and sometimes cries mid-draft because the truth finally found its words.
At first, I thought those two couldn’t exist in the same space. So I built a bridge - my pen name.
My pen name isn’t a disguise. It’s a room I built inside myself, where the words sound more like me. It gave me permission to speak in a different tone. Tone that is softer, braver, maybe even bolder. And the avatars? For my indie author work, there’s a drawing of a red-haired woman reading - she is the one that holds the book-shaped parts of my heart. Here on Substack, I use a cartoonized version of myself, a playful AI-enhanced middle ground. Neither is hiding me. They’re simply holding space for the parts of me that don’t want to be filtered through how I look that day, or what my chronic illness decided today should feel like, or whether I managed to put on makeup.
They are the symbol of my creative middle ground. The spot where professionalism meets passion, where empathy meets edge.
I write because I crave connection through language, through words, not looks. I’m not hiding. I’m simply curating my presence. Choosing where and how I show up is part of protecting my creative energy. And honestly? The avatar I use for my Substack here feels freeing. It’s me, but distilled. Like, a little mystery, a little humor, a little “come for the coffee, stay for the words.”
I don’t see my pen name and avatars as a separation. I see them as an expansion. They let me move freely between worlds without having to choose one. Because maybe that’s the real art of authenticity. To not narrow ourselves down to a single face, but to allow every voice in us to have its turn at the mic.
So no, I’m not hiding. I’m not escaping my identity. I’m inhabiting it, fully, freely, and on my own terms.
I’m just choosing my entrance. Because sometimes the truest kind of visibility starts with letting your words walk in first.
And maybe the truest version of us isn’t what people see. It’s what we allow to be read.
What about you? Have you ever felt the pressure to show your face to be “real” online? Or maybe you’ve found your own creative middle ground? Hit comment, I’d love to hear how you navigate the space between who you are and how you show up. ☕💜
Between the Lines
Page Turner: Damien’s Mate by Anastasia Wilde
Yup, we’re back to shapeshifters – wolves, leopards, owls, tigresses, and some feel-good paranormal romance with crew bonds.
Mind Soundtrack: “My Naughty List” by Ruby Darkrose
Ruby Darkrose started releasing a song per day beginning November 17th, and you can’t help but feel the rhythm and love each release. Shout out to all the dark romance readers – this is a must for your Spotify playlist.
Food for Thought: I’ll leave you with this quote:
“You never fail, you quit and shrink back to a mediocre state.” – Dr. Joe Dispenza