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Battle, Blog, Holly Michael, Jeff Goins, Michael the Archangel, www.writingstraight.com Kristen Lamb
Battling with a Porn Star
After reading Kristen Lamb’s blog, Why Pen Names Suck and Can Make us Crazy, I decided to stick with my real name as an author and blogger.
Holly Michael. I like my name. My husband is an Anglican Bishop from South India. So glad his Surname is Michael. What if it was Sringavasgaravanswamy or Sowmiyanarayananan? Couldn’t fit those names on a novel, not even sideways on an over-sized coffee table book.
Michael is a good name. And it reflects the ancient Christian roots in my husband’s family. Michael is a warrior angel. I like my name.
But so does Holly Michael, the porn star.
Yep, I share my name with a porn star. I discovered this when I bragged about my new blog to a writer friend. He plugged my name into Google search on his iPhone, then blushed.
“You’re not a porn star, are you?”
“Um…no.”
He showed me his finding, then I blushed.
My blog is: www.writingstraight.com. Not sure if the other Holly Michael is living “straight,” but I am writing straight. See this post to understand why I named my blog Holly Michael’s Writing Straight. (And for a super-dooper awesome website to help with naming your blog or any helpful information about blogging, check out Jeff Goins award-winning web-site).
And as a new blogger, trying to create a great site, it looks like I have to compete with a porn star for rankings on Google. I hope, as a Christian writer, Michael the Archangel will be in my corner. Hey, maybe a porn addict surfing the web will find Holly Michael, the Christian Author, and get saved. Yeah, I like that.
Oh well. I’m banking on Romans 8:28 working in my favor. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
The real battles in our lives belong to God and I’ve learned that the best we can do in any situation is pray and hand everything over to Him. So with that and a prayer to God, I say, “rally the troops, St. Michael the Archangel, protect our name!”
Holly Michael's Writing Straight 
How funny! When I was an editor at Golden Books we ran a book promotion where parents could call an 888 number to hear a “Parenting Tip of the Day.” Unfortunately, the number was misprinted as an 800 number and–you guessed it, that 800 number led to a porn site. Maybe the OTHER Holly Michael had something to do with that?
Haha Jean. You have to be careful. Google God or Jesus and you can come up with some bad stuff too. Where there is good, there is evil lurking close behind
wonderful, funny, and so, so true (wrote Catherine, a.k.a. Violet)
God, bless both Holly Michaels. Amen.
:o)
c
Thanks!!
I hadn’t thought of this. I know that there are two other people who have my real name, and they both live in the SF Bay Area. But as for my Pen Name, I found out she was arrested for drugs the day after I posted Michal’s Window!
RACHELLE AYALA | Arrested on February 25, 2012 | JailBase
http://www.jailbase.com/en/…/nv…/rachelle-ayala-2012-02-25-02720917
Feb 25, 2012 – RACHELLE AYALA was arrested in Clark County, NV on February 25, 2012 for Drug Offenses, Other.
Wow, that’s really frustrating. Well, I wonder if the negative publicity will bring people to your site, then they’ll figure it out.
Maybe I should send her a copy of Michal’s Window while she cools her heels.
Great post, Holly. Hopefully your words come true.
Thank Jennifer. Me too!
Thanks for yet another chuckle, Holly!
🙂
That’s too funny! And to think I was bummed to have to use my full name for my url because cindydwyer.com was already taken by a realtor! You’ve proved it could have been worse!
Thanks for the laugh.
YW 😉
Oh, Holly, you are a riot! Love the new post, and what a story!
I also have a funny story to go with my name and it concerns cars, strangely enough. For some mysterious reason, I keep getting tons of +K’s on Klout (measure of SM influence) about cars, even though I’ve never written anything about cars in my life. And all kinds of Ferrari and Mercedes dealerships want to be my Twi-pals!
Don’t you love a great mystery? I do!
I’ve gotten to the bottom of this one and one day, I’ll reveal it on my blog.
Cheers! 🙂
Can’t wait to read that!
And in ALL things God has a purpose!
Yep! He’s great!
Hi Holly. Loved the article. Had to laugh. I’ve had similar experience. Good to know I’m not alone! Gail J
Hi Holly. What an unfortunate coincidence. You just keep writing and putting that great name of yours out there. TIme is on your side. You have chosen an occupation in which you can hone your craft, improve your skills, build upon your body of work, and you will only get better as time goes by. You have decades to “make a name for yourself,” whereas the other Holly’s (dare I say it) body of work more likely has a limited shelf life. Best of luck. And thanks for following my blog!
haha funny! Thanks for the encouragement
I left a reply earlier, but I don’t see it! 😦 Well, there was a Kristen Lamb arrested for distributing child pornography….yeah, great. Not me, by the way. So any name can seriously stink even at the drop of a hat. Some idiot with your name gets arrested, makes headlines….yeah. So what you do is you contribute A LOT of content to the web and tag ALL of it with your name and you will push the Bad Holly to the back pages of the search ;).
Thanks Kristen. That sounds like a great plan!
AUNT UR ROCKING
Hello Holly,
I also share my name with a porn star – a gay male porn star. Fortunately his place on Google searches has steadily dropped over the years and does not show up much at all in the first few pages. The best revenge is living well, right? Great post! 🙂 I believe longevity and strength of purpose are on your side.
Blessings,
Chris
That’s right. Hopefully the porn star will decrease and I will increase. Haha. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
I like your name too, Holly! And even more important, Jesus loved you and your name so much, He wrote it on the palm of His hand. Wow!
Blessings on your ministry…
Vonda
Aww! Thanks Vonda. Bless you!
Oh, how funny! I’m lucky to share my name with an artist, then!
Imagine…I picked today to check out your blog. LOL Well, like you said, it’s all in God’s hands. I know He will bless you.
Thanks Terry. Appreciate your coming by!
Hmm… Maybe I did a good thing picking an extinct surname for my pen name. No competition.
; )
You just never know. Thanks for coming by.
Wowza, Bet you weren’t expecting that, huh? 🙂 I admire your outlook, Holly. What a great opportunity to be a light.
Thanks Sarah
I am luckier than you in the name department. I’m Shirley McLain, in another life right now :), but won’t those coming to your site be surprised. Expecting one thing and totally getting the opposite. I’m betting on you winning over some lost souls. I liked your blog and I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Easter.
Shirley, I get at least two visit a day from those looking for the porn star. Haha! Sorry! Most of my posts are about Christianity. Yes, I think they will be surprised. Hope I do win some lost souls! All for the glory of God!
Holly Michael
Blogging @ http://www.writingstraight.com Twitter: @HollyMichael Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hollyjmichael Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorHollyMichael
hjmichael@sbcglobal.net
Great post and I can’t wait to try out some of those links. lol. Thanks for stopping by my blog at http://cubbyholes.wordpress.com (Cobwebs and Cubbyholes). It’s great to meet you and I can’t wait to read more of your blog. It’s 5am here and not been to bed yet, so I’ll be reading it later today. grins.
Hi Holly~ Well, I like your BOTH your names…especially the 1st one. =0) As for the last name, I really like your idea of Michael the Archangel…I bet they are so much more than we can imagine. Did you ever read Frank Peretti’s, “This Present Darkness”? It made me rethink my idea of “angels”. I’m so glad I found you too! thank you for stopping by.
Blessings!
Holly
Hi Holly! I haven’t read that book, but I’ve wanted to read it. I saw a quote from Mother Teresa on your blog. My husband, who is from India, met her as a young seminarian.
I like that too! Apparently there are some naughty “aunties” because I’m always seeing searches with “mature” or “video” or worse… and I hope the same thing. What a shock it must be to search for a XXX video and find a middle-aged Texan woman teaching how to make pie crust! Thanks for the follow, and I’m following you back!
Thanks Auntie Em! Too funny. Haha. Great to find your blog!
Now I know there are two personalities of your name which is not uncommon really. One a porn star and the other a very good Christian. I am a Muslim man and I like the Christian Holly. BTW, is there a way to check if the porn star might just be using that as a pseudonym?
Lol, not sure I want to google that and find out. Never know what will pop up. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I know the feeling. I’m MorgEn Bailey and get MorgAn ALL the time. One of the Morgan Baileys is a transexual porn star. 🙂 (others include coffee and construction companies)
Haha. Hope we get more popular on the web then them!
Liked reading this one. Thanks! And, so glad you popped over to check out mine. Happy to connect with you, the world needs more smiles and yours did that for me. 🙂
Thanks! Have a wonderful weekend! God Bless!
I share my real name (middle initial and all) with an atheist who hates that I write Christian suspense. She once posted on my Twitter account that she’d rather share her name with a stripper than a Christian. So sad.
On a happier note, there’s also a chaplain who also shares my name (middle initial and all). It’s funny how things work out, isn’t it?
It is. God works His good through all things! Thanks for stopping by.
Michael is a fantastic name – it means “who is like God.” Can’t go wrong with a name like that! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God works all things together for good. I’ve witnessed this hundreds of times throughout my life. I can’t wait to hear the end of THIS story! God is good. 🙂
\o/
That was a wonderful read! It’s interesting that you have a bit of South India in your background, Holly. I’m from South India too…Chennai to be exact. Where does your husband hail from?
Hi Hanna, we were in Chennai last month. My husband is from Bangalore, and also grew up in his younger years in Yercaud,.
Oh wow, small world huh? 🙂 Yercaud is a lovely place to grow up in. Your husband must have had a wonderful childhood there.
He did, until he left at age 14 to join a religious community. Did you grow up in India?
I’ve lived here all my life, Holly and loved every minute of it! 🙂
You were so sweet to drop in on me at my place, I thought I’d return the kindness. I’m so sorry you have to *share* the name. Just a thought: add the initial of your maiden name. That would help. I’ve had to that in a couple of places. New Year’s blessings to you!
great attitude about a sticky situation…..God could indeed be working in this situation! Thank God that I found your blog because you found mine! 🙂
🙂
Interesting post, Holly! There are several gay books advertised along with my “struggling to find a Christ-like response to homosexuality” novel on Amazon, so I have some sense of your battle.
Googling Jesus Christ will bring up horrible images. Where God is, so is the devil.
There is a singer, Italian, I think, named Nikki Chillemi. I also believe her to be a distant relative of my husband. When I started friends, family, and readers would Google my name and get photos of her half (sometimes less than half) clad body.
That’s not good. But at least out names draw visitors. Hope they aren’t too disappointed to not find porn on my site. 😊
Good thing there is no porn stars with the name- LF6, lol…May each of them find peace for their souls…
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Godspeed
Thanks for stopping by!