Posted in: Comics | Tagged: 1999, christopher priest, entertainment, james priest, kindle, klang, priest, quantum and woody, valiant

A Priest By Any Other Name

Published Sat, 19 Sep 2015 10:00:31 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Comments

The Klang! ebook about the doings and don'tings of Quantum And Woody isn't written by Priest, Or Christopher Priest. Or even Jim Osley. But by James Priest.

So what's with the latest change in nomenclature? I asked the man in question. He told me,

I haven't changed my name again :-) Most people still call me simply "Priest." I agreed with British author Christopher Priest (with whom I share a URL) to use some alternate name (my middle name, "James") for non-comics projects so as to avoid confusion between us.

Of course, I've now discovered there already is a "James Priest" who writes fantasy fiction. Ah, well…

FTR: I've used the name "Christopher Priest" as a writer's credit only rarely, maybe three or four times since I legally changed my name in 1993. I've repeatedly instructed publishers to credit me simply as "Priest," you know, like "Cher," but they keep adding "Christopher" to the published credits. If you look at my scripts (in KLANG! for example) you'll notice I never use the name "Christopher" in the credits.

I've tried repeatedly to get this fixed at Amazon, but so long as publishers keep listing my work as "Christopher," Amazon is obliged to catalogue it that way. So, now, even though I am publishing my own work under "James Priest," I have to list "Christopher" anyway in order for that work to be listed along with my larger catalog.

Mr. Priest has, in his own remarkable way, expressed his displeasure about this, and I've assured him, repeatedly, that most of this problem is simply out of my hands. However, to the extent that the matter is under my control, I would take steps to avoid confusion between us.

I was born with the names "Christopher" and "James," most people I've grown up with (and my family) call me "Chris." I only started calling myself "Jim" because that's what people at Marvel started calling me when I began interning there (in school, everyone called me "James," which is how I introduced myself at Marvel. The staffers shortened it to "Jim").

Which is way more than anybody ever wanted to know about me.

Well one other thing, as well as Klang! he has an ebook serialised novel out too, called 1999. By James Priest. Available here in the US, here in Canada and here in the UK.