How Do You Pronounce Your Last Name?

Over the past ten years, I’ve attended many Catholic conferences and retreats, selling and signing my books. The question that people most often asked was not “How do you find time to write” or “How do you come up with ideas for your cartoon” or “Are you working on any new novels?”

The one question that people most often ask me is “How do you pronounce your last (married) name?”

This is probably the main reason that James and I decided that I should use my maiden name (Gable) as a pen name. Hrkach is decidedly a name that people have a hard time pronouncing, mainly because there are not enough vowels (Hrkach is Croatian in origin. James’ grandfather was born in Mostar, Yugoslavia). The original spelling of the name was: Hrkać.

It is actually an easy name to pronounce (once you know how) and when people have asked me, I give the same answer: “It is pronounced Her cash…and then I add, “as in…my money.”

So now you know how to pronounce my married name: Her cash, as in my money.

And here’s a cool photo (below) with my name on it! No, I haven’t been writing since 1739. This is from the Ben Franklin Museum, a fun gadget that allows you to put your name on the front page of an old book!