If you’re wondering about my name…

I’m one of the many Kate Elliotts you’ll find if you google around.

Most of us probably spend a lot of our time tentatively saying, “Oh! It’s with 2 ells and 2 tees.”

I often repeat a story I was once told so people will remember how to spell my name: “Elliotts with 2 ells and 2 tees got kicked off their land in Scotland for stealing pigs and sheep.” People like the story. Sometimes they even remember how to spell my name. The story may or may not be true.

A long-ago high school student (now a good friend) would start all her tests and exam papers for my classes with my name. Beside “Teacher:” she would print my name and draw neat arrows to the consonants. “Far too many consonants,” she would write. Or sometimes simply: “Redundant.” Once her arrows chided, “You are exhausting the alphabet”; and another time: “Leave some for other people!”

A prolific and well-loved fantasy writer chose my name as their pseudonym. When I’m in writerly virtual spaces with my camera off and just my (real) name showing, I might receive excited direct messages like this one: Oh, wow! Some of us are wondering, are you the *real* [insert my real name here]? My answer is bound to disappoint.

As an assemblage of humans, Kate Elliotts are a diverse and interesting group.

We are involved in many kinds work — researching, writing, health-caring and healing, studying anthropology and metallurgy, teaching, organizing, managing, accounting, mentoring, curating, parenting, and participating in and supporting a variety of athletic and community endeavours. As a collective, we’re a pretty well-rounded set of humans.

At a glance, we come off as caring and curious.

One day, I’d love to get to know more of us.

As for the *real* me, if you want more accurate googling, try combining my name with “Simon Fraser University” and “FASS” or “Object Biographies” or “Urban Dirt.”

On my Linkedin page, I’ve added an “R” for my middle name.

So, why “Kaet” instead of “Kate,” you’re still wondering. What’s that silliness all about?

Well, that’s the artist in me: I let the letters play around, and that’s what they offered me.