{"id":6393,"date":"2014-01-22T01:00:45","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T06:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allandouglas.com\/blog\/?p=6393"},"modified":"2025-04-21T01:56:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T05:56:40","slug":"murdered-allan-douglas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/murdered-allan-douglas\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Allan Douglas was Murdered"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"death,murder,<\/a>On the morning of Sunday, January 19th, <\/sup>2014 Allan Douglas passed over the bridge to pound the great typewriter in the sky.\u00a0 He died by my hand.\u00a0 Although I prefer the term \u201cassisted suicide\u201d to \u201cmurder\u201d because Allan Douglas and I had in fact discussed this situation and the way things might play out.\u00a0 But should anyone elect to prefer charges…<\/p>\n

Before the NSA data-mining center flags this post and sends the FBI over to break down my door, I should explain that Allan Douglas was my pen name.\u00a0\u00a0 A pseudonym I began using way back in the late 1970\u2019s when I first began writing for periodicals.<\/p>\n

I chose to use that name because it was easier to remember \u2013 and to spell \u2013 than Douglas Bittinger.\u00a0 I also felt it sounded more artistic: more\u2026writerly.\u00a0 And since it was indeed my own first and middle names, just deranged, it was still \u201cme\u201d any way you sliced it.<\/p>\n

Why Kill Allan Douglas?<\/h2>\n

So what would motivate me to cast aside a moniker that I had served me well for so long and I had spent so much time building up?\u00a0 I can explain that in one word: Phoneyism.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Yes, I made that up.\u00a0 Grammar Nazi\u2019s please line up to the left and wait your turns beating up on me for it.<\/p>\n

Phoneyism<\/h2>\n

The vast majority of my work has been in the venue of print publications: paper books and real-life magazines.\u00a0 My editors and publishers knew my real name and conversed with me as such.\u00a0 Readers never spoke directly to me, they communicated through the periodical.<\/p>\n

Since getting into ePublishing and becoming active on social media, that changed.\u00a0 For several years now I have had a growing audience addressing me as Allan.\u00a0 And I felt obliged to respond as such.\u00a0 What was once a pen name has become an alias.\u00a0 In my mind, there is a vast difference.<\/p>\n

One of the uglier aspects of the internet is the anonymity it affords.\u00a0 Some people abuse that aspect by bullying and harassing others.\u00a0 I count using an alias to say things you would not have the guts to say under your own name as cowardice.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never done this, but I have come to feel that I\u2019m being dishonest by wearing a mask, even if the mask is a mold of my own face.\u00a0 I\u2019m not ashamed of my work.\u00a0 I\u2019m not shielding my family from my public – or vice versa.<\/p>\n

Heartfelt Discussion<\/h2>\n

I recently talked this over with a friend and co-worker.\u00a0 We discussed what might simply be paranoia over misrepresentation.\u00a0 After all, the vast majority of people on social media use some \u201chandle\u201d.\u00a0 But if I disapprove of that aspect of the internet, should I be engaging in it?<\/p>\n

Is my following so large and devoted that suddenly being told that Allan Douglas is fictitious would cause them to grab pitchforks and storm the gates?\u00a0 Or more likely, walk away shaking their heads over being duped?\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

During this discussion it occurred to me that the friend I was discussing this with was Allan Douglas.\u00a0 That\u2019s pretty creepy.\u00a0 He agreed.\u00a0 It\u2019s time we reassemble.\u00a0 And since he\u2019s the fictitious one, he is the one to go away.\u00a0 Flesh rules over fantasy, unless Rod Serling is involved.<\/p>\n

The deed is done.\u00a0 I admit to it freely and throw myself on the mercy of the courts.\u00a0 Rest in peace, Allan Douglas.\u00a0 I Douglas Allan Bittinger, will carry on in your place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the morning of Sunday, January 19th, 2014 Allan Douglas passed over the bridge to pound the great typewriter in the sky.  He died by my hand.  Although I prefer the term “assisted suicide” to “murder” because Allan Douglas and I had in fact discussed this situation and the way things might play out.  But … Continue reading “Why Allan Douglas was Murdered”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[58,6],"class_list":["post-6393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-relationships","tag-writer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6393"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19425,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6393\/revisions\/19425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}