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People get confused by my last name. Christine Marie sounds like two first names, and I am married to Tolga Katas. But my last name is not Katas, and technically, it’s not exactly even Marie.  The story: When I divorced my ex-husband, I filed for a name change. Since I had written children’s books and already had a nom de plume as Christine Marie which everyone knew me as, I just made that my legal name. I signed my name change papers with a heart after it, as I always did. To my surprise, when the paperwork came back from the state, it included a heart after my new name. I thought, “How cute of them!” However, when I sold my farm, the title company checked with the State of Michigan to get my legal name change document on the record, and they informed me that my signature was not legal without the heart.  I then had to go back and add hearts to every signature on the paperwork before we could close the sale. So now you know.

Signed by a judge, my legal name is Christine Marie ♥.