Behind the pen-name is a writer with a dream.
And this writer has been hidden for too long, it's time to introduce myself properly.
Hi, I’m that nerdy writer from France, loving everything she does with a fierce passion. I’d tell you to get out of my kitchen if you cut the onions wrong. I’d tell you it’s not how you’re supposed to plaster a wall. I’d tell you it’s not how someone introduces themselves. Irony is never lost on me, even more so since I’m a French writing in English. Although I try to erase my literal translations from my books, they’ll probably still creep into my blog posts. Pardon my French.
Where it all started.
I discovered writing when I was 10, after the teacher asked our class to write a story about our school. It felt like opening Pandora’s box. I realized I could write whatever I wanted. I could imagine anything—and I did.
From that day on, writing became my thing. I’d borrow my brother’s laptop to write short stories in a curly font. I’d write in notebooks, on school sheets of paper, and even on my iPod Touch when I was a teen (I cried when iTunes bugged on the export of years’ worth of notes and fanfictions and never used it again).
Now most of my notes and ideas are written on my phone at night, when full drafts require the seriousness of a good old ergonomic keyboard and a computer.
That weird secret hobby called writing.
Even though writing became what I looked forward to doing at the end of each day, I kept it a secret. On the rare occasions I talked about it, I was considered a weird kid with 19th-century hobbies, so I decided it was best not to mention it to anyone. Then, as I grew up, the passion only grew stronger. I discovered the writing community online through YouTube and NaNoWriMo. People shared my passion and talked about it openly, and suddenly being a writer didn’t feel so awkward anymore.
Shyly, I started opening up. First to my closest friends, then to my family, when I participated in my first NaNoWriMo in 2021. I still got the weird looks and comments, but this time they didn’t stop me from stepping out of the writing closet. I met people who were amazed by my passion and dedication, which fueled me to keep talking about it—even though it was still restrained.
Am I allowed to pursue my writer dream?
Becoming a published writer became a dream I kept in a corner of my mind. Until the end of 2022, I thought I was only meant to exist as a writer through traditional publishing and that I shouldn’t even consider myself a writer until I was successful. Then I had an epiphany. Self-publishing became an option I never thought I could pursue. The path I thought was too scary wasn’t impossible to walk anymore. I could figure my way as I went. And that’s what I did.
In early 2023, I officially started the project and registered as an author with the administration. I spent countless hours searching for a pen name that meant something to me and settled on Andrea Conner. Using the feminine version of my father’s first name and the letters of my last name, it felt like I didn’t change or lose my identity entirely. But what I didn’t know was that using a pen name would be liberating. Suddenly, I was someone who fully embraced their passion for writing, wasn’t shy about it, and spoke about it online. It brought me to a new level of openness about my love for words and stories. I even began considering myself a writer. I was not aspiring anymore.
I actually don't want to regret anything.
And here we are in 2026, after three years of hard work. A book is about to be published, and a website has that pen name all over it. Even though I knew this day would come, it still feels surreal. Through all this, I want to remind people they’re allowed to pursue their dreams and to have dreams in the first place. It’s okay to figure it out as we go, and it’s also okay if it doesn’t work out the way we wanted. The most important thing is to give ourselves a chance to achieve what we want instead of living a life of regret for never trying anything.
We got this!
Love, Andy.