"Gist Express: Why the use of a “pen name”?Myne: I coined my first pen name when I began to write fiction seriously in secondary school. Most of the books I read were in English, and since I was writing in English too, I decided my name would be the same. Also, it sparked the creative side of me that I could make up a name for myself to use whenever I liked. So the pseudonym is a play on the transliterated words of my maiden name, Nkem Okotcha. As a published author, I chose to use this form of my name because it gives me some privacy, and also to meet the demands of my career in public health.
