Writer/Artist of Farlaine the Goblin
When I first started Farlaine the Goblin I didn't want to put a name in it.
I only planned to do this one series, so why does it matter who I am? There are no other books to find, there won't be anything in the future, just Farlaine. So instead of juggling two properties - me the artist and Farlaine the book - I focused entirely on Farlaine. Everything was labeled Farlaine the Goblin. At conventions I'd register as Farlaine the Goblin.
To me, it was all about the book, and I wanted the work to speak for itself. In my mind, you like the comic or you don't. It shouldn't matter who made it.
So that's how the first few books came out. But over time, I started to realize a few things.
First and foremost - it was tougher to do a follow-up, which I had now decided to do. People wouldn't know to connect the anonymous book with the new book.
There were also some logistical issues I kept running into at cons where they'd insist on having a name. For a while I'd just tell them Farlaine the Goblin, but that didn't always work.
I'd always liked the idea of a pen name, but when I wrote that first issue of Farlaine I hadn't come up with one I was happy with, and the worst thing to do would be put out a book with a pen name you weren't happy with. I'd forever be known by a name that didn't fit.
At some point when I was midway through the series I finally came up with a pen name I liked - Pug Grumble. It was a play on Mark Twain type pen names that had an actual meaning and were sort of tongue in cheek. For those who don't know, if you have a bunch of pug dogs together it's called a grumble.
I liked how the name looked visually, it was short and to the point, it was unique and memorable, and most of all it conveyed the kind of work I wanted to produce - some kind of innocent medley of funny, quirky, and creative.
I sat on the name for a year, letting it stew. Book 4 was released anonymously.
Finally, with Book 5, I unveiled it.
Since then I've used it on the remaining books and any reprints that have happened, and have updated it on Amazon and places that sell my books. Over time, I'll put the name on the rest of the series, and whatever I do in the future.
- Pug Grumble, Artist and Writer of Farlaine the Goblin