Hi Jackie, it can be difficult, but I love pen names because they allow you to go ahead and let your freak flag fly - lol. I started a Quora space called Pen Names, and share a few points about the benefits as well as dilemmas that arise. In my case, no one I knew supported the stuff I wrote under my known name anyway, so it's not like I was losing readers by using a pseudonym anyway. Once readers begin enjoying your work, they'll suport you, no matter what name you write under :-)