Tag Archives: Hrkach

How Do You Pronounce Your Last Name?

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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!

 

Copyright 2017 Ellen Gable Hrkach

 

7 Quick Takes Friday – December 9

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Here are the things I’d like to share this week for Seven Quick Takes, hosted at Conversion Diary:

1. Special thanks to Debra Murphy of Catholic Fiction.net for the great review of Stealing Jenny!

2. December is my favorite month for feast days. There are a lot of them: St. Nicholas (Dec. 6), Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec. 12), St. Lucy (Dec. 13), Christmas and the Feast of the Holy Innocents.

3. Interesting article at LifeSiteNews entitled “Contraception a Clear Factor in Decline of Church Numbers.”

4. Just finished reading A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa Hendey! Outstanding book and one that I highly recommend to everyone! Review to follow next week.

5. The “Amazing” Book giveaway at the Amazing Catechists website is continuing until December 15th. Stop by and leave a comment anywhere on the site to be entered!

6. I’m looking forward to reading Elizabeth Schmeidler’s new novel: A Child Will Lead Them

7. Last, but not least, here is the more recent version of my husband and three of our sons playing “Carol of the Bells,” (arrangement by Trans Siberian Orchestra) to the screaming students of ADHS. This version includes my youngest son (age 11) who is playing drums.

To watch the original version, click here.

Find more 7 Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

Copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach