Two more questions rolled in yesterday, and because I’m working on Grimspace edits, I love not having to think of a blog topic. So I’m making it official: this is ASK ANNIE week. Whatever you’ve wanted to know, email me it to me at ann.aguirre@gmail.com.

“This might seem dumb, but what do you prefer people to call you? I never know if I should use Ann, Annie, or what.”

That’s a good one, not dumb at all. To be perfectly honest, nobody but Linnea Sinclair has ever called me Annie. She started doing it years ago as an affectionate thing, so when it came time for me to pick a pseudonym, that was an obvious choice for the first name. I needed something simple and something I could remember easily.

But for the most part, people don’t call me Annie in real life. Except Linnea, my friends call me Ann. So that’s fine. But it doesn’t bother me if you call me Annie either. I’m used to it now.

Making matters more complicated, family and close friends here in Mexico call me Anita (Ah-nee-tah). It’s an endearment, as folks here often put “ita” or “ito” on a word or name. For example, my mother in law calls my niece “mamita.” The name Ann is Anglo, and before I became Anita, people called me Ana (Ah-nah) because Ann just isn’t a name they’re used to.

In conclusion, I will answer to Ann, Annie, Anita, or Ana. Ann is fine, though, as that’s my name. People are always saying, “Oh, I didn’t know you write as Ann Aguirre!” Well, that’s my name, actually.

Final thought — if in doubt, call me Ann. If you call me Anita, you’d better know when my birthday is and pony up a present ‘cos that’s for people who are close to me. Annie falls somewhere in between.

I’ll answer another question tomorrow, and boy, is it a good one!