Help me Name a New Hero!

Ok, I admit it. The hero for my Mia Marlowe WIP looks remarkably like Gerard Butler.

But I haven't settled on a name yet. Please click over to Mia Marlowe's Blog to learn more and weigh in with your suggestion! Hope to see you there.

For those of you might have missed this, I'm now writing as Mia Marlowe! I hope you'll make room on your shelves for my new books from Kensington too.

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.

And We Have a Winner . . .

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who offered an opinion or suggestion for my hero's name for my IMPROPER GENTLEMEN novella. I really appreciate your time and thoughts. They all gave me something to think about.

I was leaning toward Aidan going into the weekend, but not sure about it. Then JennJ gave me the history of the saint of that name. And four of you indicated Aidan was your pick. When Alfke suggested the surname Danaher, it seemed to fit for me. A couple of you liked Patrick as well.

So, my hero's name will be Aidan Patrick Stonemere Danaher (Stonemere is his English mother's maiden name and the title he'll inherit from her!)

If I didn't choose your name, I hope you won't be disappointed. I'm a bit of a name collector, so the name you suggested may turn up in a later story or as one of the secondary characters for this one. Each name set my mind churning in fresh directions and helped me flesh out some of the plot points for the story as well. So thank you, thank you, thank you one and all! I appreciate you very much.

I have some other exciting news. Jennifer Ashley, USA Today Bestselling author of Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage, has given me a dynamite cover quote for my debut Mia Marlowe title TOUCH OF A THIEF:

"Mia Marlowe proves she has the “touch” for strong heroines, wickedly sexy heroes, and love scenes so hot they singe the pages. Throw in a magical diamond and nail-biting suspense, and readers score a winner with Touch of a Thief!"

~Jennifer Ashley, USA Today Bestselling author of Lady Isabella’s Scandalous Marriage

Jennifer Ashley is a romance powerhouse. She's hit the USA Today Bestsellers list for her historical titles. Her paranormal Pride Mates made the New York Times list. She won a Rita for her straight historical title. Jennifer writes mysteries as Ashley Gardner and erotica as Allyson James. She does it all with style and grace and a writing schedule that makes my 6 books and a novella in a year look like slacking.

Be sure to check out her latest release Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage. It's a keeper!

I'm thrilled that Jennifer carved some time from her busy schedule to read Touch of a Thief and even more excited to have such a wonderful cover quote from her. The best way for me to thank her is to urge you all to make her books an auto-buy like I do.

Enjoy!

Help Me Name this Hero

I know it's happened to you. It's 4:45pm on Friday and your boss drops by your office and tells you she needs an extensive report by Monday afternoon.

That's sort of what happened to me yesterday. Alicia Condon, my editor at Kensington, dropped me an email asking if I'd submitted a synopsis for the novella I'm doing for the IMPROPER GENTLEMEN anthology (July 2011). This will be the third Mia Marlowe release scheduled for next summer.

Well, no, I hadn't. I'd run a quick idea for a setting by her, but that was it. I fired back the story ideas that had been percolating on the back burner of my brain while I near the end of my current WIP. (I'm not scheduled to start on the novella till the second week in August--yeah, I'm that anal. My writing is planned out week by week till next summer.)

Fortunately, Alicia shot back an email saying she loved my ideas and it was exactly the direction I needed to go for this novella. (Did I mention I love my editor?) All she needs now for the cover blurb meeting on Monday is my hero's name.

Which I don't know.

I know he's Irish. The year is 1827. When the story opens, he's a convict on Bermuda, part of the pressed labor gang building the massive Commissioner's House compound on the southwest point of the island. He's no innocent, but he's not guilty of the particular thing he was convicted for. He's whip-smart, a wicked scrapper with fisticuffs, and sexy as the devil. He looks very like Matt Bomer, the actor from White Collar.

But I need a name for him.

I did a search and came up with the 10 most popular male Irish names in the 19th century:

Top ten Irish first names for boys in 1864

1. John
2. Patrick/Pat
3. James
4. Thomas
5. Michael
6. William
7. Martin
8. Peter
9. Timothy
10. Denis/Dennis

Also like Aidan, Brendan, and Ryan.

I have to come up with a surname, but that'll be easier once I know the first part.

So, what do you think? Which name do you prefer? Do you have another suggestion? If I end up using a totally new full name suggested here, I'll definitely give the person responsible credit on the acknowledgements page. So please put on your thinking caps, but time is of the essence. I need to send it to my editor first thing Monday.

Thanks so much!

Oh, say! Did you notice the cool little gizmo at the end of the post? It allows you to share this post with your friends via email, facebook, blogger, a whole slew of social media outlets. Please take a minute and point someone else this way too. Thanks! I need all the help I can get!

What's In A Name?

I'm giving an online workshop on characterization through Charter Oak RWA for the next few weeks and coincidentally starting a new story myself. The class started just today, so there's still time to sign up if you're an aspiring writer. I assigned my students the task of naming their h/h and explaining why they chose those names. After sharing several pages of notes and suggestions for how to breathe life into their h/h, here is the example I gave them using my new cast of characters (and your chance to see how I go about planning out a new book!).

In my new WIP, STROKE OF GENIUS, my heroine’s name is Grace Makepeace. She’s a Bostonian heiress and her Puritan roots are showing. But the name Grace is a bit of a misnomer because Grace is anything but graceful. Tall and gawky, she’s awkward and uncomfortable with most social situations. But because she’s called Grace, there is an implied character growth arc in the name, which gives me some ideas for plot as well.

Grace means “unmerited favor” and carries the connotation of redemption, which also gives me the idea that she’s going to be redeeming someone—most likely my badboy hero. See how the very names of characters suggest plot points?

Grace Makepeace is made up mostly of soft sounds, except for the GR at the beginning, which to me suggests that she has strength of which she’s not yet aware.

I’ll make certain not to have any other characters starting with G in my story and I’m still trying to decide if her name will change. Grace can’t be shortened into a nickname, but she could be given a new name by another character.

Which brings us to my hero, Crispin Hawke.

Crispin is an artistic genius (hence the title of the story!) who’s been engaged to scuplt Grace’s hands in marble. His surname Hawke hints at his keen observation skills and he’s been using them on the ton of London while he practices his art. Cynical, but brilliant, he’s just the man to help Grace beat the ton at their own games.

Crispin means “curly haired,” so looks like my hero is going to have some natural curls. In the time of Byron, this was a good thing for a man. Crispin was also a 3rd century saint, so I can play up my Crispin’s non-saintly attributes.

Crispin Hawke is a strong name, bookended with the hard “K” sound. But the soft ‘h’ in the middle suggests a softer side hidden beneath his carefully placed armor.

Grace will call him ‘Cris’ almost immediately and it will irritate the fool out of him. I have no idea why, but I'm sure I'll find out.

So that's a peek at how choosing the right name can help an author delineate character.

The sketch at the top of this post is actually by Sandro Botticelli, but for "imagineering" purposes, I'm pretending it's a sketch done by Crispin . . . before he meets Grace . . . which bears an uncanny resemblance to her.

Do you have any favorite literary heroes or heroines who have unique names?