Who is hollijana?
I have a new website, three domains, and a blog!
One of the things my publisher told me was it would be a good idea to have an author website where I could focus my communications toward my writing. He is particularly interested in me sharing info about my memoir, Dream, girl, coming out in December. This website is the result of that hard work! I found a website designer, Ingrid Getzan, on Reedsy and she and I immediately clicked.
I have had a lot of good luck on Reedsy as a place to find writing resources.
My new logo
The first thing I had to do was decide what domains I wanted to purchase. I chose my legal name, of course. That’s the name attached to the upcoming memoir. And then I decided to buy '“dreamgirlmemoir” as another domain in case I want to make stickers, etc. as soon as the final decision is made on the title of the book.
But I also chose the domain “hollijana.” Why that name?
If you follow me on any social media platforms at all you may see that name referenced there. It’s pronounced “HOLL-ee-yana” It’s a version of my first name and my middle name combined. Some people who know me well may automatically think it may have been my stage name at one point, but unfortunately, it wasn’t.
Going back in time, I would have chosen that for sure.
The many different versions of hollijana
Why the need for a different name?
Ever since I can remember I have created someone “else” to be other than myself. It was easier for me to create a new persona if I didn’t like my current life. It’s almost as if by creating a new name, I could create a new me. When I was in my teenage angsty years in high school, I decided a new name was what I needed. I changed my first name from “Holly” to “Holleigh.” I thought if I had to have what I thought was a boring name, the least I could do was make it different in its spelling. Then I decided I didn’t like my middle name, either, so I changed that from “Jane” to “Brooke”.
Which would have been fine if it were just for fun when writing notes to my friends or on the inside of my yearbook. But if you know me at all, you know I do things 110% and fully commit when I embark on something. I signed my school papers that way, I put it on my standardized college test application. And I even used it for my driver’s training permit (which came to light when I had to return to my driver’s ed instructor, Mr. Slayton, and inform him I needed a new permit or else I couldn’t get my license). He was also one of my regular teachers and angry that I had infiltrated the entire school system with this new name having never legally changed it.
Baby Holly’s first driver’s license photo
But my multiple name changes didn’t stop there. As a dancer in the adult entertainment industry, I had to choose a name for myself. For safety reasons, primarily. I went through various stage names and I felt an attachment to each one.
Holly aka “Alexis” around 1998
Depending on the club I worked at I chose a name that resonated with me at the time. So overall, I have had many names over the years and changing my name wasn’t really a big deal to me. I didn’t want anyone to take hollijana so I made sure to create a domain for it that links to this website.
After all, who knows when I may need a new name again? ;)
Either way, be sure to come back to this website to see what’s happening in my life. I may even have a newsletter at some point!
-H
