Most people know their own name. I have had so many of them in my life of ghost writing that I am no longer sure.

As a teenager, my first short stories were published under my maiden name of Mildred Augustine. Though the initial one paid only a pathetic $2.50, no other published work ever brought more satisfaction.

My first fling at ghost writing came unintentionally. I had submitted an article on party planning to the Dennison Party Magazine, a publication that specialized in the sale of party entertainment items. Why I selected this subject I will never know, for I attended few parties, and never planned or gave them.

Nevertheless, the article made a sale, but only with the provision that I permitted the magazine to run it under another person's name.

I agreed, and so it was that my work appeared under the name of Clara Bow, then a popular movie star known as "The It Girl."

I never met the actress or heard from her. I was paid for my contribution, but I feel certain that Clara Bow received far more for the use of her name.

During early college days, I paid some of my school expenses by selling short stories, all of which appeared under the name Mildred Augustine.

While still in college, I sold my first book, a series volume titled, Ruth Fielding and Her Great Scenario.

The series had been started by another writer whose name I did not learn. I was given no choice. In order to be paid, I agreed to use an already established pen name of Alice Emerson. For a number of years, I continued to use this pen name, although I also published under my married name of Mildred A. Wirt.

During my prolific years, my Nancy Drew mystery stories were published under the pen name of Carolyn Keene. It was commonplace in those days to require writers to use pen names owned by others. This was a device that protected the publisher, allowing the firm to control the series.

Nancy Drew books sold at a fast pace, so the publisher also hooked the Carolyn Keene byline to the Dana Girls series, which I wrote for years. While the Nancy Drew stories gained popularity, I also ghosted the Kay Tracey series under a pen name of Frances Judd, as well as the Honey Bunch series for younger children under the name of Helen Thorndyke.

The market kept absorbing books under my own name, though publishers in few instances gae me unrequested pen names. One of these was Joan Clark, and another was Ann Wirt, because a shorter name than Mildred Wirt was wanted. Frank Bell was requested by one publisher who explained that boys did not like to read books they knew were written by women.

These are by no means all of the pen names I hae used, but some no longer come to mind. The latest nonseries books I wrote appeared under my present name of Mildred Benson.

Ghosting often provides a source of income for a beginning writer who might find it difficult to break into print. But is it the way one should go? Probably not.

Once an established ghost writer, it is difficult toi build up one's own name. Though it may take longer to get a start, young writers probably will do the best for themselves in the long run, by using one name only, staying with it until recognition is gained.

First Published August 12, 2000, 4:00 a.m.