CAROLYN or CC?

I was christened Carolyn Cain Hart, named after my mother’s close friend Carol Duffessy. With our family’s short last name, my mother felt I should have a longer first, and my father wanted me to carry Cain, his mother’s maiden name, as my middle. For much of my childhood, I was called Carol. In seventh grade, I reclaimed that extra syllable and insisted on Carolyn.

A few people from earlier chapters of my life still call me Carol. Most know me as Carolyn, including my massage therapy clients. But within my creative work and in the neurodivergence community, I am most often known as CC.

I began using the name CC Hart for my writing and artistic work in 2006, after learning that another author, Carolyn Hart, had already established a significant presence in mystery fiction. She has built an impressive body of work and a devoted readership, and she also owns the domain carolynhart.com.

At the time, I spoke with my writing instructor, Lewis Buzbee, about how best to distinguish my work. I considered adopting a family name as a pseudonym. When I mentioned that my middle name was Cain, he suggested using my initials instead. From that conversation, CC Hart emerged.

My classmates in the MFA in Writing program at the University of San Francisco began calling me CC, and my early published work appeared under that name. Over time, it became the name most closely associated with my creative and research practice.

Because my work is shaped by lived experience with neurodivergence, it makes sense that many in that community know me as CC. Still, the name Carolyn persists in meaningful ways. My friend James Wannerton, a lexical–gustatory synesthete, once told me that Carolyn simply tastes better.

Carol, Carolyn, CC—each name marks a different context, a different relationship, a different way of being known.

CC Hart (also known as Carolyn Hart) is an artist, writer, and researcher with published work, exhibitions, and media appearances under both names.