Here’s my shock for 2009.

James Chartrand, who writes for Men with Pens, the blog that I always refer to as Men With Penis, because it just reads that way to me…

… is a woman.

Born a woman and still is a woman.

Why the change? She couldn’t get work when she pitched clients as a woman. And for the work she got, she was paid less and hassled more.

I had high-quality skills and a good education. I was fast on turnaround and very professional. I hustled and I delivered on my promises, every single time. I worked hard and built the business, putting in long hours and reinvesting a lot of the money I made.

I really, really wanted to make this work.

But I was still having a hard time landing jobs. I was being turned down for gigs I should’ve gotten, for reasons I couldn’t put a finger on.

She started pitching clients using James Chartrand and her world did a 180. She even pitched the same clients as a woman and as James Chartrand.

Taking a man’s name opened up a new world. It helped me earn double and triple the income of my true name, with the same work and service.

No hassles. Higher acceptance. And gratifying respect for my talents and round-the-clock work ethic.

James, or as many of her readers will probably call her now, Jamie, said she was “outed” by a former trusted colleague. Another woman writing as a man!

James is still not revealing her real name, but with all the notoriety her revelation will bring, it’s just a matter of time before we see the real James Chartrand – but probably not in her underpants.