What's in a Name?

Naming my children was always so fun, but also . . . so "heavy." I mean, you are bestowing on a child this name for their whole lives. You think of every nickname. You think of what it "says" about them. My oldest has a name of Russian heritage with a middle name after my grandmother. Next in line has a name of Russian heritage with a middle name after my father. Next, a Hispanic name with a middle name after my mother. Next an Irish name with a middle name after his Hispanic grandfather. They each have a name of their own, and a name of their lineage, with their heritage tossed in.

I wonder if people who read books realize how much energy goes into naming characters. Sometimes, I character "arrives" with a name. Sometimes it a more involved process not unlike naming a baby. What does the name "say"? It is tied to a heritage?

I think of some of my characters like--Teddi and Billie. They got named after men in their families--and not only was it about giving them gender-neutral names . . . it was a clear intention to show their families were part of the front and center storyline (mobbed up that they were).

Skye, a gambling addict, was named after Skye Masterson in Guys and Dolls--also a gambling addict.

In my new YA, the lead character's are Calliope and August . . . dramatic names, I thought, for teens with a dramatic love affair.

So what's in a name in your work in progress?

Character Building

So where do these people in my head come from? I often wonder, since they chatter away incessantly.

I am playing around with a Shiny New Idea. And I am dissecting the process of character creation as I am doing it.

In this case, I started with a career because the career is central to the plot. But I have had many books in which the main character's career was a side note, a way for them to earn a paycheck until the real crux of the problem took over.

Next a name. Tricky. I usually start with a baby name book. I almost always have characters with identifiable families of origin. They are Irish or Italian or Russian or African-American or bi-racial, or . . . My own experience is that some of my life has been most definitely colored by the traditions of my mother's Slavic family--from the foods we ate at holidays to the weddings we had, to our funeral luncheons. So I tend to give my characters families that do the same.

Appearance. I spend very little time on this. I don't know why, but beyond a couple of identifying details, I don't think it's important. Most readers are going to create a picture of the character in their own mind anyway. I have actually had readers write to me and say, "I picture Teddi as looking like Elaine on Seinfeld . . . am I close?" Hey, if that is what works for them . . . go for it.

Traits. I nearly always write about geniuses because I suppose I don't think it would be terribly interesting to write about people who aren't smart. Sometimes the genius is very upfront (Cassie Hayes in Spanish Disco wore her genius a little closer to the surface). Sometimes it's just something I know. Or they may not be true geniuses, but they are very bright, plus have other talents. While I never watched the show, I always thought the MacGyver was a fun hero because he could use his brains to invent crap on the fly. I need to know my character's talents. Good cook? Writer? Compassionate? Scientific? Once I figure out the traits, then it's on to the best part.

The back story. Mine are hugely elaborate. I have helped a couple of famous people write their memoirs. And I always came back to the point that for most of us, though we are shaped by our entire lives, when recounting the highlights and lowest points, we usually have ten or so seminal moments--those events that we really think are KEY to who we are. The back stories for my characters are about those moments.

In Invisible Girl, my character is a recovering alcoholic. When she is confronted with having to stitch her brother up with a sewing needle and thread on her living room floor, she finds it's rather like riding a bicycle. Her seminal moment, the first time she drank for courage, was having to stitch up her father's bullet wound on his back when she was a teen. He told her to pour them both shots, and he talked her through the process for digging out the bullet with a knife, which nearly makes her pass out, and then stitching the wound up. Afterwards, she drank until she passed out and stopped her brain from thinking about the bullet wound--and more importantly, the type of father who gets bullet wounds. Not only did my character discover that the shot or two of alcohol give her courage, but she had tried not to think about her father and what he did when he didn't come home at night. Now there was no avoiding the truth. A seminal moment.

Some of these moments make it in the book. Some are just a single line sneaked in here or there. One time, I read a review of one of my books in which a woman just was furious that I had clearly not made my character's age right because she couldn't have been going to clubs at a certain age unless she was much older. Except that the woman missed "club kid"--which is a specific reference to kids getting into clubs below legal age.

Once this immense back story is created, then I get to write the first word. It's not that certain events don't happen when I am writing so that I add more back story . . . but I need most of this in place before I can even begin.

How about you?

Call Me Mitzi

On my very first day of sophomore year in college, I somehow was dragged to a frat party (I was never into fraternity guys). I was bored out of my mind, when along came a tall then-senior, clutching a beer.

"What's your name?"

"Erica."

"Nope."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're most definitely not an Erica. Henceforth, you will be Mitzi to me."

And henceforth I was.

Now . . . I have to say, I kind of chuckle at the memory. But I "get" that sometimes people don't seem to fit their names. Somehow, this stranger, who became a friend, must have discerned an eccentric soul . . . and felt Mitzi fit me better.

Oldest has a friend whose name is Amazing Grace, and has siblings with names like Maximum Jazz and Chances Are Good. I actually really LIKE Maximum Jazz. And of course, we all know about celebs with unusually named children.

I know there's a certain torture to having unusual names. But then again, when you get older, perhaps you appreciate being the only Mitzi in the room.

So it is with character names. They have to fit. I rarely have a plain-name heroine or hero. An upcoming release has a Calliope and August. Magickeepers concerns young Nicholai Rostov. I love my characters' names--they speak to me somehow. I have had Georgia Ray Miller and Teddi Gallo, and a woman named Skye.

And just like giving birth and the awesome responsibility of naming your child . . . I give a lot of AGONIZING thought to names. They "come" to me from nowhere most times. Other times, I comb baby books and then research name origins.

And one of these days, I think I will have to have a Mitzi.

How do you name your characters?

And for the record, Demon Baby's Naked Strike continues. The housekeepers here today are amused.