This might sound a little clickbait-y—I know. But it’s not a lie, not really. It’s just a soft truth I’ve been dancing around for a while now. So here it is, plain and honest:
My name is Lynn Lesher.
Some of you know me better as “L. Bachman”, the name I’ve written under for years—the name I built my fiction around, the name I’ve guarded like a flickering candle in the dark. I chose it for privacy, for a layer of separation. But the truth is, that veil wore thin quickly.
Just a few months into this wild, indie writer life, I found a review that called me “Lynn”. At the time, only a handful of people knew me by that name in this space: some in the industry, a few trusted friends, family. It wasn’t a secret, not really—but it was something I was holding tightly, quietly.
Still, I kept writing as “L. Bachman”. I loved her—she carried me far. But lately, I’ve felt the walls of that name start to creak. I’ve reached a moment in my life where the lines I once drew between who I am and what I create have started to blur. And I’m okay with that now.
More than okay—I’m ready.
So here it is: fiction will stay under “L. Bachman”. That’s her world, and she’s still got more stories to tell.
But everything else? The nonfiction. The poetry. The essays and thoughts and heart-on-sleeve stuff? That’s Lynn’s.
Two poetry collections have already made the crossing, acting as a bridge from one name to another. They were quiet steps, gentle shifts. But this—this is a full breath. This is me saying it out loud:
I am both. I am all of it.
And some of the other names you’ve seen me try to claim—“iartist” and others—are nods to my roots. My teenage self, wrapped in black lace and writing with too much eyeliner on my notebook margins. Those names are echoes of where it all began. There’s something kind of beautiful about that—a circle closing, a return to the beginning with clearer eyes and stronger hands.
I’ve always struggled with how much of myself to give. I’m a private person living a public life, and that’s never been simple. But I’ve come to believe that sharing more of myself isn’t weakness. It’s truth. And truth is all I’ve ever wanted to give through my words.
So if you’re seeing “Lynn Lesher” more and more, and “L. Bachman” a little less, know this: the story isn’t ending—it’s evolving. The pen just has two hands now.
The storyteller remains. Just more wholly seen.
Thanks for sticking with me through all my chapters.
There’s still so much more to write.
—Lynn
(yes, still L. Bachman too)
