There are a number of reasons why I’ve chosen to write under a pen name, but the truth is my pen name is my name too. ‘Selina’ is my middle name because my mum loved the song ‘Me and Bobby McGee’. It’s spelt differently though, in the song.

One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away,
He’s looking for that home and I hope he finds it,
But I’d trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding Bobby’s body next to mine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_and_Bobby_McGee

Valen is derived from my maiden name – Eva Helen 🙂 Brown is my maiden name.

I want to have a clear delineation between myself as an author and myself as a writer. Is there really a difference between writing and authoring? Who knows? Maybe not. But to me one means I’m focused on my story and sharing it with readers, while the other is about practicing, using those writing muscles, and playing.

In both cases I have fun and am passionate about quality stories.

Cheers!