I wanted our family to have one name, but not the name I grew up with, which was Pike.I was 11 when my mother left my father. Now I don’t know whether to mind or not that we’ve got the same name. It means the name of Myerson is in the world of fiction, but it’s largely hers at the moment. (Of course, that will all change!)Since Myerson is a rare name in Britain, I presume that people notice it and assume we’re related.

Since very few couples who work in the same area have the same names, it’s quite nice that we do, but it may mean that people compare us.Not long ago, I approached a literary editor who commissions Julie, and I’m sure she didn’t use me because she didn’t want two Myersons on the same page.Still, I’m glad she changed her name. When he killed himself, she said that although she didn’t want to get married, she also didn’t want to have a different name from the children So she decided to change her name by deed poll. Since she’s not very good at getting paperwork done, I was absolutely convinced and content in the knowledge that it would never happen Then one day she just walked in with the deed of covenant. Instead of getting married and keeping her name, she’d changed her name without getting married. She could have just taken my name, but I think it was an important statement for her to do it legally.At the time, there was no professional overlap in our lives because I was – and still am – a dramatist and Julie was in publishing. She then became a novelist and later, I followed in her footsteps. It only became a problem when our first child was born and she realised she was going to have a different name from her children.For years, Julie had been walking around with the name of a father she never saw and never wanted to see.

To my mind, it only makes sense to do it once.
“I rather imposed this on Julie who, at the time would have happily got married, although as the years have passed, she’s become a passionate advocate of never getting married. I don’t think I could accept someone else having a strong relationship with them.”I’m getting so close to the older one, it’s quite scary. I think now is the time to leave, before she gets any closer. I love her to bits.”The trouble about leaving is, how is someone else going to bring them up? How are they going to treat them, will they deal with them properly? That’s the thing that’s holding me back.”. JULIE MYERSON, 38, bestselling author of three novels, lives in south London with author and dramatist Jonathan Myerson, 38.

When their first child was born, Julie decided to change her name from Pike to Myerson by deed poll They describe their relationship as “a partnership”. Jonathan Myerson: “The background to all this is that I made a foolish marriage in my twenties and was divorced by 26. Time moved on, I met Julie and, as things got more serious, I realised that I didn’t want to get married again. I had food poisoning once and went to work.”Fran: “You want to take a day off but you’re working out all these little ways you can get the children through their day, and you think: `I might as well go in.’ “Rose: “By the time they reach school age, you just have to start again with another family. The parents don’t want you to leave, but they can’t afford to pay you.”When I left my first job after five years, I felt I’d achieved all the things I’d wanted to do with her. It is rewarding because you are a big part of their life.”Fran: “I couldn’t handle my children crying for another person. If the kids have got a bug and the mum and dad catch it, they’ll be off work, guaranteed.