What's in a Name?

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Today I have a treat for you. Barbara Monajem is my guest and she's talking about a subject we've had lots of fun with here on the blog--naming characters.

Let's hear what Barbara has to say about it, though I may pop in on occasion too.
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One of the great pleasures of writing books is getting to name the characters. It’s like having an infinite number of children and being able to give them any names you like, no matter how old-fashioned or just plain weird. In Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil, the first book in the Bayou Gavotte series, I had a great time with names – a heroine called Ophelia who floats down a river with flowers in her hair, a hero named Gideon, and secondary characters with names like Constantine, Zelda, and Artemisia. (I particularly love the name Artemisia, but then I’m partial to plant and flower names.)

Me, too Barb. Did you know Artemisia was the name of my heroine in Distracting the Duchesss? And Daisy was in Vexing the Viscount. Flower names were very popular at one time.

Fast forward to the second book in the series, Tastes of Love and Evil, which was released last week. (This is one of the first ebook only releases from Dorchester. It's a great opportunity for you to download a free Kindle for your computer and try Barabara's newest story! For the purists out there, a trade paperback edition will be available in six months, but I predict you won't want to wait that long.)

I was a few chapters in when I realized I’d given the hero and heroine ordinary names – Jack and Rose. I’d seen those names a lot in other books and on TV. Was I drawing my names from the current collective unconscious? Could be – we’re all affected by what’s going on around us. The names suited my characters, but… sigh. I just couldn’t leave them at that.

Jack in particular. It’s a good name, but it’s usually a nickname for John, which is about as ordinary as you get in English men’s names. Fortunately, about the time I was writing the story, I’d seen a performance of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern. It’s a wonderful theater, small and intimate. You sit so close to the stage that you can really see the players and sometimes even interact with them. In particular, I loved actor Drew Reeves’s rendering of the character of Iachimo.

Iachimo. Now there’s a different name! It could easily be shortened to Jack. So… voilà! Jack’s mother named her son Iachimo after a performance of Cymbeline she just couldn’t forget.
I already knew Rose was my heroine’s second name, and that her first name began with the letter T. Maybe my subconscious was playing with “Rose Trelawny,” a name I always liked the sound of. I’d even named the file for the story “Tearose.” Now, Rose is an irresistible vampire, with a strong sex drive and a vampire’s volatile nature. I‘m not going to tell you what her first name is, but feel free to guess. I had fun with this one. :)

Theresa. Theodosia. Tabitha. Tilly. Tamara. Temperance. Thomasina. Stop me if I'm getting warm.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about Ancient Rome, and I found some fabulous names there, such as Calpurnia, Claudia, and Livia. Rome had such sumptuous names! I already have plans for some of them.

Since I’m here to celebrate the release of my new book, here’s an excerpt from Tastes of Love and Evil. Jack, the hero (a sort of human chameleon, by the way, who can literally fade into the background), has just been shot by some bad guys, and although Rose doesn’t know him (she thinks of him as some random man), she’s given him her hotel room key so he can take refuge. But the bad guys are posing as feds, and they’re searching the hotel.

The room was empty.

No, it just appeared to be. “I told you there was no one here.”

Her nostrils quivering, every sense alert, Rose scanned the bed, the curtains, the embroidered mantle draped on a chair, the Elizabethan gown on the luggage cart. “Now get out of my room!”

The gunman ignored her, ducking in and out of the bathroom, glancing into the closet, going efficiently through every hiding place. Warmer, cried Rose’s senses, warmer, warmer, damn, oh God please no, as he shoved past the luggage cart to the window, and then as he returned, colder, warmer, colder, where the hell is the man? One-handed, the fake fed lifted the mattress and box spring, but no one was concealed underneath.

Sirens cried in the distance, and a second later the gunman’s phone squawked a warning. He left without looking back.

Rose retrieved her breakfast, double-locked the door, and scanned the room. Aha. She’d seen this phenomenon once before. She knew Random Man was in the room, somewhere near the window. “They’ve gone,” she said softly. “You can come out now. You need to have that wound tended.”

Nothing. Where was he?

“I brought coffee and doughnuts.” She put the food on the table. “I’d be happy to share, once we’ve patched you up.” Pause. “I know you’re here. I can hear you breathing.”

Nothing.

“I can smell you,” Rose said, her voice rising, tendrils of allure escaping. You and your blood. “I’m here to help, you fool!”

Still nothing. Or maybe…a faint shimmer, like heat rising in summer air, over on the luggage cart, right by the Elizabethan gown. Damn it, thought Rose. If he stains that costume… Anger coupled with the aroma of blood overwhelmed her senses, and her fangs slotted down. Purposely this time, she directed her allure toward the luggage cart. Another shimmer, instantly controlled, and then absolute stillness.

No more pussyfooting around. She smiled and sent a wave of allure crashing across the room. Random Man resolved into view, gold and tan and brown blending with the dress, then gradually reacquiring his own muted shape and colors, blue denims and Saints jacket, nondescript but definitely all there.

“God help me,” Random Man said. “Not another vamp.”

Back to names: What sort of names do you like? Popular? Old-fashioned? Invented? Foreign? Do you find unusual names distracting? Should names have meanings that suit the characters, or that have some symbolic meaning?

One lucky commenter will win a copy of Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil.

Thanks for being here today, Barb.

If you'd like to learn more about Barbara's Bayou series, please visit: http://barbaramonajem.com/ And be sure to leave a comment or question for her for your chance to win Sunrise in a Garden of Good and Evil.

Friday Catch-up!

Today is my catch-up day--a day to gather up loose ends and clear the decks. Ever have one of those?

Let's start with announcing the winners from last week's little online Mini-Romance Conference:

Monday with Barbara Monajem--Gillian Layne! Contact Barbara at bmonajem@yahoo.com with your snail mail address so she can ship your prize.

Tuesday with Connie Mason--Linda Henderson! Contact me through www.emilybryan.com with your mailing info and I'll send you LORD OF DEVIL ISLE. (A nice long excerpt of my STROKE OF GENIUS is in the back of this book!)

Wednesday with ME!--Magdalen! Contact me through www.emilybryan.com with your mailing info and I'll send you STROKE OF GENIUS as soon as my author copies arrive.

Oh! I published the next chapter in my free online novella A DUKE FOR ALL SEASONS this week. If you haven't tried it, I invite you to pop over to www.emilybryan.com. There are 5 chapters up, so it's enough to get a sense of the characters. You can also vote for how you'd like to see the story continue and be entered in my monthly contest at the same time!

Several people have asked how I intend to keep blogging with the writing schedule I've just agreed to. Six novels and a novella in 15 months is a bit daunting. The answer is I'll blog as often as I can and I intend to maintain my 5 posts a week pace.

You see, in the time I've been blogging, I've discovered it's not just about me entertaining and informing you (though I always hope to do that!). Along the way, I feel we've developed a community here and I enjoy hearing from my cyber-friends.

So next week, look for MY HUSBAND MARRIED A HOOKER, Part 2 on Wednesday, along with a regular Red Pencil Thursday. I'll make the rest up as I go along. That is what I do for a living, after all.

Today, I've also got a new post up at www.miamarlowe.blogspot.com about my reception as a new Brava author at RT. And I'm up on The Chatelaines too. Hope you'll click over and join me.

This weekend, I'm dragging the DH out for some shopping for our upcoming cruise. The boy seriously needs some new shorts. I know this must come as a surprise to those of you who know me as The Anti-Shopper. The truth is, I'm only averse to shopping when I'm buying for myself.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Endings with Barbara Monajem

I'm out of pocket this week because I'm in Ohio at the Romantic Times Convention. But I didn't want to leave you dangling, so I've arranged for a whole week of great guests and features here on my blog. Today my guest is Barbara Monajem, whose debut title SUNRISE IN THE GARDEN OF LOVE AND EVIL is making quite a splash!

Take it away, Barbara!
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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about endings—not that I particularly wanted to, but I’ve been writing and rewriting the ending of my September release, Tastes of Love & Evil, and it’s been a real struggle. My editor and I have been lobbing the last few scenes back and forth like unwieldy ping-pong balls. It has to be done, though. I think the ending of a story is as important as the beginning. You want to leave readers with a sense of satisfaction and completion (and of course you want them to come back for more of the same). I’m talking romance, mostly—the kind of story that has to end in a happily ever after.

As a reader, I’m usually happiest with endings that are short, even to the point of abruptness. The hero and heroine are committed to one another, the danger is past, and the future beckons. That’s it. I don’t need long-drawn out explanations and conclusions.

Even less necessary to me are epilogues, except now and then when they serve as a means of giving bad guys their comeuppance without clogging up the last few scenes. Generally, I don’t want to know what takes place after the story ends. I don’t want to be told then and there how many kids the hero and heroine have or what happens ten years later. I far prefer bits and snatches of the hero and heroine’s lives when they show up as secondary characters in other novels, because these are delightful and timely peeks into a familiar and sometimes beloved story world. As a writer, one reason I don’t want to write epilogues is because I’d be stuck with that future if I wanted to write more about those characters, and I can pretty much guarantee I’ll think up something better down the road. :)

Also (again as a reader), I don’t care particularly for anything too sweet or sentimental. I tend to feel that the sentimental stuff is so obviously implied in a love relationship that it shouldn’t have to be mentioned. The relationship’s success can be shown through other kinds of emotion and interaction—wit, mutual respect and trust, and so on. My preference for minimal sentiment doesn’t stop me from writing somewhat sappy endings, though (or so they seem to me).

Anyway, to get to the ending of this blog: What do you like to find when you reach the end of a book? Short wrap-up or epilogue? Do you want the mood to be sweet, sentimental, humorous, or sharp and tangy? Do you want to use your imagination, or do you like the author to tell you what comes next? How about the bad guys? Is defeating them enough, or do they have to be punished as well? (If they’re not already dead, that is. Killing the bad guys works well for me. Dust off hands, move on with life.)

A signed copy of Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil will go to a more or less random commenter.

Emily here again! Thanks for guest hosting today. I wanted to share Barbara's upcoming title as well. Aren't these beautiful covers? When you leave a comment or question, you might want to leave your email as well so Barb can contact you if you're her winner. Hope you're all having a great day! I'll be sharing my RT experience when I'm home next week!

Don't miss tomorrow's post. Romance legend Connie Mason will be with us, talking about her new LORD OF DEVIL ISLE!

Barbara Monajem's Notorious Eliza

I love it when an author researches not only how people lived, but how they thought in the past. Barbara Monajem, my guest today, did just that when she put together the bones for her new Harlequin Undone ebook, NOTORIOUS ELIZA.

Take it away, Barbara!

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Patrick needs a respectable new wife to be a mother for his daughter.
Notorious Eliza paints nudes to support her young son.
They should resist the attraction. (They don’t.)
They dare not fall in love. (They do.)
They must not marry… for one day Eliza’s most scandalous secret will surface and destroy them all.


What makes a perfect wife? What makes a good heroine? And how has the concept of a perfect wife—or romantic heroine—changed in… oh, the last four hundred years? A while ago, I came across this quote from a book written by Gervase Markham in 1615.

“Your English housewife must be of chaste thought, stout courage, patient, untired, watchful, diligent, witty, pleasant, constant in friendship, full of good neighbourhood, wise in discourse, but not frequent therein, sharp and quick of speech, but not bitter or talkative, secret in her affairs, comfortable in her counsels, and generally skillful in all the worthy knowledges which do belong to her vocation.”

I started thinking about the heroine of my Undone, Notorious Eliza, who lived two hundred years later, in 1800, and how she measured up to this ideal… and how a modern heroine fares. Let’s look at all the characteristics mentioned by Markham. Admittedly, he’s probably a bit of a chauvinist—this was four hundred years ago, pretty much contemporary with The Taming of the Shrew. Women’s lib was far in the future, and the romantic heroine of today is generally a woman’s ideal, not a man’s. So we have what seems like two diametrically opposed points of view… And yet, when one looks closely (and takes Markham’s statement in the most positive light), the characteristics he describes are in many ways still valued today.

Courageous, patient, tireless, watchful, diligent: All positive qualities, then as now.

Constant in friendship, full of good neighborhood: A heroine is loyal to her friends. She’s a good, caring, helpful neighbor.

Witty, pleasant, wise in discourse, but not frequent therein. Sure; a heroine should be intelligent, pleasant, and wise (or develop those qualities), but who likes a woman (or man) who can’t shut up about her own opinions, regardless of how right she is?

Sharp and quick of speech, but not bitter or talkative: Hmm. Methinks he’s asking the impossible—a smart, witty woman who holds her tongue. Nowadays, we don’t expect women to keep their thoughts to themselves any more or less than men, but to some extent, Markham is spot on. Bitterness is a drag, and malicious gossip is unworthy of any heroine (or hero).

Secret in her affairs, comfortable in her counsels: Well, generally it’s a good idea to keep one’s private business just that… private. On the other hand, no modern day heroine would submit to abuse or fail to speak up against injustice. I’m not sure what “comfortable in her counsels” means. That she gives comforting advice? That she is confident in her beliefs? What do you think?

Generally skillful, etc.: Whether she’s a housewife or a rocket scientist, a heroine must be knowledgeable and competent.

Now, back to the beginning: Chaste thought.

I think this is where we diverge most from the values of the past… or do we? What got me thinking about this was that my heroine, Eliza, doesn’t measure up at first glance.

It’s well nigh impossible to think chastely when you support yourself and your young son by painting nude courtesans. Two hundred years ago, her occupation was considered shocking; now, not really. Some people might disapprove, but she wouldn’t be shunned by society as a whole.

Why is “of chaste thought” the first item on Markham’s list? I think it’s because it was believed that unchaste thought would lead to unchaste action. It certainly did with men… so Markham, and countless other men, felt the only safe woman was one who didn’t think about sex. It seems naïve, but that attitude still exists to some extent today. Romance novels are doing a lot to educate women that thinking about sex is just fine, but many women are uncomfortable about reading them or at least very reluctant to admit that they do—and that they enjoy them, too.

As for Eliza, despite her profession, she is chaste in action. She was faithful to her husband while he was alive. She waits five years before deciding to take a lover, and then she marries him. Sure, she’s a passionate woman who enjoys sex, and she makes that entirely clear. But between husband and wife, there’s nothing unchaste about enjoying making love, and there isn’t the slightest doubt in my mind that she will be faithful to her new husband.

So… I think Eliza does measure up. So do most of the romantic heroines I read about nowadays. In four hundred years, the ideal of a woman has changed in some ways, mostly for the better… but in other ways, it’s much the same.

What do you think?

Emily popping in here: I think NOTORIOUS ELIZA sounds like a great read! If you'd like to learn more about all of Barbara's work--and find some buy links!--please visit www.barbaramonajem.com

A New Dorchester Author

10/20/09 update!Here is Barbara Monajem's gorgeous cover. She sent me one I was able to upload while retaining its striking color theme. Quite an improvement over the one you'll see later in this post. Covers really do matter, don't they?

When my first novel, Maidensong (written as Diana Groe) came out, I didn't know much about the beast of publishing. My learning curve was steep, but not nearly steep enough. Now I know how important it is to get the word out about a new release and it's almost impossible to start too soon.

That's why I'm glad to introduce Barbara Monajem, a new author, to you. Her debut title SUNRISE IN A GARDEN OF LOVE AND EVIL won't be out till next April, but I wanted you to get to know her ahead of time. So I invited her here to share a bit with you today. I had a bit of trouble with the jpg of her cover. It's really a striking black/white and red design, but the colors came out strangely. Sorry.

Barbara Monajem wrote her first story in third grade about apple tree gnomes. After dabbling in neighborhood musicals and teen melodrama, she published a middle-grade fantasy when her children were young. Now her kids are adults, and she writes paranormal and historical romance for grownups. She lives in Georgia with an ever-shifting population of relatives, friends, and mostly feline strays.

And now my blog is now yours, Barb. Take it away!

I love writing about heroines whose talents I can’t aspire to. This is vicarious competence, I suppose. My heroines have plenty of emotional issues (which I don’t envy), but they’re always good at what they do, which is anything from painting to embroidery to costume design, from baking to pottery to gardening. Ah, gardening! I would love to have a green thumb, but when faced with heat, mosquitoes, and voracious weeds… I wilt.

Not so the heroine in SUNRISE IN A GARDEN OF LOVE & EVIL, which will go on sale March 30th. Ophelia Beliveau is a landscaper in a small town near New Orleans. She’s not much for housework, but in the garden, Ophelia rocks! Not only does she design and plant exquisite gardens, but the demon wisteria that strangles my pine trees, pries the siding off the house, and sneaks in the windows wouldn’t daunt her one bit.

She’s also a vampire.

Impossible? Well, Ophelia’s not your standard vampire. I’ve never been too keen on the undead aspects of vampires. (Wouldn’t they have bad breath? And I’m a day person. I don’t want to write about someone who’s only awake at night.) On the other hand, I love the sexy characteristics! So Ophelia has fangs and is irresistible, and has a few enhanced senses, as well as saliva that heals wounds.

But as Ophelia learns at puberty, being irresistible sucks. When her friends grow breasts, she sprouts fangs as well. As she matures, so does her craving for sex and blood. The problem is, guys get possessive or obsessive, or even downright violent. In desperation, she decides to give up on men, and sticks to it for two whole years.
But when a vandal destroys her garden, her self-imposed exile comes to an end. A web of blackmail and murder is being woven across town, with Ophelia at its heart. Into her life comes Gideon O’Toole, a sexy, persistent detective determined to uncover far more secrets than Ophelia can afford to bare.

Here’s an excerpt:

Gideon left the headlights on and the engine running, got out, and held the door open for his dog. “Put the gun away, Ophelia.” He walked calmly toward her. “It’s only me.”

“I know who it is.” Ophelia’s voice broke, and a tear spilled treacherously down her cheek. “Go away!”

“Sweetheart—”

“Don’t call me that! I am not sweet.”

She watched Gideon control himself and start again. “I brought Gretchen to stay with you. She’ll warn you if there’s any danger.”

How had he come up with such a blessed idea? “I don’t need her. Take your dog and go home.” Ophelia bit down hard, piercing her lip, ignoring the blood, fighting tears, wanting the dog like crazy. She felt so alone.

Anguish in his voice, Gideon said, “Ophelia, don’t cry. Honey, you can’t think I’d harass you after what you’ve been through tonight.”

“You are harassing me,” she choked out. “I am not honey. I am poison. Get the hell away.” Gretchen trotted up and stuck a cool nose under her hand. Ophelia’s fingers moved by instinct toward the dog’s curls, but she yanked her hand away, clenching and unclenching her fist, needing and wanting the animal so much it hurt. “Gretchen doesn’t want to stay with me. She’s yours. Take her and go away.”

“I discussed it with her on the ride over, and she agreed to stay with you.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” Ophelia cocked the shotgun. “Get off my property and don’t come back.”

Gideon swore under his breath. “Stupid or not, Gretchen is staying with you.” As if on cue, the dog planted her butt on the drive.

“Damn it, Gideon!” Ophelia let out a scream of rage and fired, kicking up gravel far too close to Gideon’s feet. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t move a goddamn hair. “Don’t you get it?” she yelled? “I’m trying to protect you from yourself. I am not safe!”

“‘That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life,’” Gideon echoed in bitter mockery. “You could at least come up with an intelligent lie.”

Ophelia opened her mouth and shut it again. Pissing him off was what she wanted. Still, the disgust in his voice tore into her.

“I’m out of here,” he said. “I won’t come back unless you need me.” He turned to the dog. “Stay, Gretchen. Stay with Ophelia.” He got in his car and backed into the turnaround, flinging his last words through the window. “What makes you think I give a damn about being safe?”

My question for you: What talents do you aspire to? What would you have your heroine do, that you know you can’t (or won’t) do yourself?

Thanks for being here today, Barb!

If you want to know more please visit Barb's website: www.barbaramonajem.com

PS. If you haven't entered my Merry CHRISTMAS BALL CONTEST, please do it today! The prize is a $100 B&N gift card and the drawing will be held Dec. 1st.