If you follow me on social media, you might have already seen the signs, but today I’m making it official: I decided to retire my longtime nickname from being part of my brand and social media. It wasn’t an easy decision, but with my books reaching more and more people, it made sense to make this transition, so that they can find me easily.

“Melfka” has been my nickname for over 20 years now. It’s almost as old as my presence on the internet, and all my longtime friends call me Melfka. But when I moved away from Poland and got my first full time job—and then another one—I suddenly became “Jo-ana” to everyone and “Yo-an-nah” to those who cared to try pronounce my first name the Polish way (though it often sounded more like “Yo wanna”). Nobody knew who Melfka was anymore. When 8 years ago, I first launched my website, melfka.com, some people thought this was how you pronounced my surname…

And as I became an author, with my books available all over the world, “Melfka” made no sense to even more people and gave no indication of who I was. So, with a heavy heart, I decided to let Melfka go. It will still be my nickname, especially in private spaces, and everyone is welcome to address me this way, but from now on, I will be present on social media as AuthorJMac, and my new website is authorjm.com. The address melfka.com will still be active throughout 2022 to ensure no one gets lost in the mazes of the Internet when searching for me.