Wednesday, September 27, 2017

The Only Character-Naming Guide You'll Ever Need


Did you read about the mom who wanted to give her toddler a new name because the one given at birth just didn’t work very well. Hmm. Seems weird, but it happens to authors all the time.

Naming for me has never been a big issue, but I hear from writing friends that they suffer with the search for the right name for each character. So I know I’m pretty lucky. Of course, I’m also a wimpy Libran. Mostly my characters name themselves and announce that to me as I write. I don’t fight back very often. Mostly the first name out stays in.

But if I did have trouble, what would I do?

Just for you, I did a bit of research on naming characters and found some good stuff out there. Okay, it wasn’t an exhaustive search, but good enough to generate some ideas if you struggle with character naming. When I googled “how to name book characters”, 112,000,000 sites popped up. I only got through the first million. (Only kidding—you can go for it!)

1)   Unsurprisingly, the most common advice given is know your character well and see how the name fits his personality, attitude/outlook on life, background, and foibles. It is so obvious, but Frank may not be the best name for someone who lies for a living. Or maybe you want to play off that bit of incongruity.

2)   Choose a name you can turn into a nickname. Umm. Maybe, but I’m not a nickname person (never had one, never used one with my kids). Some say this personalizes your character, makes her more knowable. Maybe. You are the one who knows your character best. I do have one character with a nickname. She named herself with the nickname. I had to figure out what was on the birth certificate.

3)   Make a list of first names of all friends. Make a second list of your friends’ surnames. Mix and match to find a wide range of usable names.

4)   Make sure the name is era-, ethnicity-, social status-, and age-appropriate. Even with the modern trend to past names, Agatha is not a likely choice for today’s six year old. There are tons of lists of names by decade to help you with this.

5)   Another piece of common advice is to check out name etymologies. You may love Linda for your villainess’ name (I know a Linda who fits the bill), but when you read that the “lind” stem means “weak, soft, gentle, friendly”, you might want to choose Imelda (from “hild” meaning “battle or fight”). For one of my books, I searched etymologies for female Gaelic names so I could imbue my character with those traits.

6)    At Debbie’s blog, “Moon in Gemini”, I found a really useful catalog of options, some of which I hadn’t seen before like a couple of baby naming sites. (It’s been a while for me to need to update that resource.) 

She also listed a site for Deep South names that could work very well for certain genres and eras. Debbie’s post listed nine naming resources: telephone book, movie credits, most-common surnames in 1990 census, two baby name sites, two southern names
sites, fantasy names site, and magickal names book. As I said, a great resource!

7)   It is suggested that you take a few minutes and look around the room. What objects or animals could become names? “Pen” could become “Penn”; “book” into “Booker”, the dog is “Barker”, and so on.

8)   I’ve been told a way one author names his characters is to get out maps for the setting and find town names to put together for first and last names. For example on a map of Louisiana, I found Goldonna Pollock, Clinton Mangham, and Erath Patterson. What fun, too, right?

9)   A great suggestion for naming that appeared a few times, was to choose and name and then say it aloud. Is it harsh sounding? Can you see yourself saying the name easily and often? Hard consonant sounds add strength to characters; soft consonants can sound more pleasing to the ear.

10) Another idea I ran across for naming was to scan books of a similar type to see what names are used. I think this would be especially helpful in science fiction, historical fiction, and fantasy. Those names can be quite unfamiliar to readers. I love how books with aliens use a lot of consonants together to create unique names.

11)   Several sources suggest keeping a master list of names that strike your fancy. When stuck for a name, try your list first since those are ones that resonated at one time.

12)   A unique idea is to randomly choose two words from the dictionary, maybe move some letters around, and voila!

13) I’ve seen people advise you to consider your character’s occupation and choose a name that fits. Not that I named my culinary mystery protagonist “Cook”; I chose “Wesson” as her last name. The cooking oil. Get it? Sometimes I crack myself up!

Some caveats:
a)    Keep an alphabetical list of your character names. Don’t use “C” for twelve people even if the sound varies! (I’ve done it.)

b)   Don’t get names from the newspaper to avoid lawsuits. Okay, so maybe I’m paranoid, but why risk it?

c)    If you’re writing historical fiction, make sure you know if last names were in use. Generally speaking, 12th century and earlier didn’t have surnames. When they did come into use, they were often reflective of birth place (“Cliffford”), occupational (“Carpenter”) or demonstrating relationships (“John’s Son” became “Johnson”).

d)   Do a search to make sure no one famous already has that name. Avoid the hassle by choosing another name. There are a million options. You’ll find another.

e)    To save yourself a hassle with possessives and plurals don’t use names that end in “s”.

f)      Don’t wear out your readers by using too many odd names. Odd names can interrupt the reading of the story. Use with caution.

Sorry the post got wonky today. I fought and fought with the formatting. This is my best shot! If you enjoyed it anyway, please share this post with others. Thank you!

Facebook: Writers, do you have trouble naming characters? This list of more than a dozen ideas is just what you may need. Check out Angelica French’s suggestions. http://bit.ly/2eLjnuo

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Wednesday, September 20, 2017

My Head Explodes with Story Ideas


I will not live long enough to write all the story ideas I have. And it’s not like this is a fixed set. Every day I get at least one more new idea. Remember the expression “ripped from today’s headlines”? I often think of that expression when people who don’t write fiction ask me where I get my ideas for stories.

Where don’t I get ideas? They beat me about the head until I capture the idea in a computer file for later examination. I have hundreds of tickler files!

On the other hand, this frequently asked question pushed me to consider explicitly where my story ideas originate. Of course, I quickly realized the sources are as many and varied as the stories I write.

The stories push themselves into my consciousness as I notice a mom and recalcitrant toddler at the grocery store, when I see the woman facing away from the man in the car at the traffic light beside me, when I read a “Dear Abby” column. I am unable to escape the stories. I often respond to those who ask about story ideas that I feel as if I am downloading life into my computer and won’t come close to living long enough to complete the task.

To those who don’t write fiction professionally, it must seem like magic of some sort that we see stories all around us. That the hard part of writing is not the story idea, but in bringing life to the idea with characters will readers care about.

But, for those who might be reading this who are not bombarded with stories, let me share some other things I do on a regular basis to keep the story well filled with water. My sons would say that saving this stuff is just further evidence of my OCD problem, but, in the interest of art, I’ll put up with their abuse.

Decades ago I began collecting Chinese fortune cookies slips. Sometimes these are fortunes, sometimes they are aphorisms, but either way, they are story topics. I have hundreds of these, and have even strung some of them together in a story outline about my best friend, Pat, in which we meet together every year for Chinese food and then the intervening chapters tell how our cookie fortunes played out between our yearly dinners. 

Another source is the newspaper/online articles. I have stacks of news and feature articles (typically feel-good stories about locals who overcome obstacles) and piles of advice columns. These provide a structure for your story way beyond the kernel of cookie fortunes. I have a whole folder on articles and story plotting about the mummified babies found in a storage room in California. I create a now-what story for the girl who beat cancer. Who hasn’t imagined what the letter writer did after getting the professional’s advice to dump the chump she wrote in about? 

I practice describing settings and characters while traveling. It’s something to do to while away the time. The airport and plane are filled with opportunities to bring what you see to life. Sometimes you need a background character for a scene and having a set of character or setting sketches handy can help. Even if you don’t ever use them, just paying attention and describing is a good writing exercise.

I collect overheard conversation bits as I am walking down the street, in a meeting, or buying pickles. People talk on their phones as if they are in the phone booths of long ago. Hello! We all can hear that conversation! Another great source of conversation bits is restaurants. Again, people carry on the most intimate of conversations in the most crowded locations! Always keep a notebook (file cards, fast food receipt) at the ready.

I sit on a swing and notice the plane overhead, and a novel of the passengers and crew who face an emergency landing in a remote location pops into my head. The odd-shaped passageway into a tree’s core calls forth the little people who live under it and their struggles with another race. The unexpected chill on my neck brings forth the tale of an unhappy spirit seeking peace and release.

I seem to have the knack to convert a kernel into a creamed corn casserole. It takes but a spark to get me doing my “what ifs” to unravel a tale. Isn’t it great to be paid to lie? That no one will chastise you ever again for a runaway imagination? That in fact your ability to expand and develop characters and situations is admired by many?

The world is stories. Keep an eye and ear out for all those you happen upon every hour of every day. And please share your sources below in the comments so we all learn more.

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Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Romancing the Genre


I, Angelica French, write romances of varying degrees of heat. Unapologetically. Other nom de plumes accompany other genres I write. Why have alter egos? Why don’t I write all my books under a single name?

Well, I think it could be awkward for someone who enjoys my culinary mysteries to pick up Streetwalker and go hunting for non-existent recipes but while hunting find explicit sex scenes that simply never occur in a cozy mystery. Sharon Arthur Moore, Angelica French, Caroline Adams, and River Glynn can have their own audiences.

Angelica enjoys romance of various types depending upon her mood. Romances are quite as variable as my panoply of pen names. Do you read romances? Do you wonder why people read romances if you do not?

When discussing the romance genre, several questions arise:
1) What are the various romance genre? Why so many?
2) Who reads romance?
3) Why do they read romance?
4) What makes a romance “good”?

1) What are the various romance genre? Why so many?

Romance genres heat levels range from sweet to erotica. By the way, pornography is not a romance, since romance requires more than sexual acrobatics. By definition a romance has to have, well, romance.

“Sweet” romances depict love with yearnings not backed up by action (certainly not outside of marriage), whereas, some accuse “erotica” of not having any subtlety at all--it’s all about “the act.” Erotic romance, on the other hand, does keep a relationship as a central component.

There are multiple levels of heat along this continuum and when authors submit to a publisher, they must identify the heat level according to each publisher’s guidelines. Even the erotica publishers have their limits, however. No pedophilia, bestiality, and other acts generally deemed offensive or illegal.

Within the heat levels, there are categories of romance genres. These include historical, contemporary, inspirational, paranormal, suspense, mystery, and so on, as in general fiction categories. And, as with general fiction categories, historical romances might be the Old West, Regency, Civil War, Pre-World War I, Post World War II, and so on.

It’s pretty obvious why there are so many categories and heat levels. If there weren’t readers, there wouldn’t be books produced. That simple. Lots of folks like romances, men and women.

2) Who reads romance?

There’s been a good bit of research to identify the demographic for romance readers. In a study by Romance Writers of America (RWA) a few years ago, 42% of romance readers had at least a bachelor’s degree, and 15% earned or were working on post-graduate degrees. While still mostly women, nearly one-quarter of romance readers are male.

In the RWA study, half of romance readers were married, four percent were divorced, thirty-seen percent were single, one percent were separated, and eight percent were widowed.

Most romance novels readers in the study were ages 35-44. The next largest group was 25-34. The third highest age group of romance readers were ages 45-54. Only seven percent were 17 or younger.

After I (Angelica) finish the trilogy for my “Sex Sells” series, I am going after crone lit. There are LOTS of older women looking for romance and titillation in their reading. Old folks can have and enjoy romance and sex, too!

3) Why do they read romance?

People read romances, I think, for the same reasons they read anything. A peek into how and where others live. An escape from their own reality. An examination of how others solve a problem they have. A chance to live in another world for a while. Maybe a bit of titillation and fantasizing.

4) What makes a romance “good”?

A good romance shares the same things that make any fiction book good--interesting characters you care about (Gone Girl is a notable exception), unpredictable twists and turns that still make sense, authenticity of setting/characters/events, or learning about another place/time/event.

Romance, more than most genres, has been criticized for being clichéd and formulaic. I admit to boredom with those overtly predictable stories as well. The best romances, as in any genre, provide surprises that weren’t foreseen but were still logical in the story. I also am weary of the women who must have a man in their lives to define them and solve their problems. Give me a romance with a woman who takes charge of her own life, and then, oh, by the way, falls in love with a fellow (or gal).

Chick Lit, one of the categories in romance, is characterized by the growth of the woman (apart from a partner) who with humor and good will stumbles around in life and relationships before finally getting it all together.

The Romance Writers Report, journal of the Romance Writers of America, published an article about the canon of romance books. The author took on a critic of romance genres who was critical that there was no set of generally agreed upon representative books.  

According to the author, a canon is not necessarily those books that are the best in the genre so much as game-changers, books that initiated a change of direction in format or content. It was a pretty compelling article. “Is There a Romance Canon?” By Wendy Crutcher, June 2014, 34 (6), Romance Writers Report.

It’s interesting to me how romance genres are more likely than any other genre I know to be denigrated. And, on the other side, hotly defended. Do you read romances? Are they one of your guilty little secrets? Or do you disdain romance readers as unsophisticated and naïve?

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Book Review: Somewhere in Time



Richard Matheson wrote one of the most appealing stories I’ve ever read/seen. It’s a story that floats into my mind over the years. For me, the endurance of the tale is tied to several things other than the romance it describes. But that’s very well done as well.

Somewhere in Time (1975; original book title is Bid Time Return) is the story of a dying man who falls in love with a woman he has never met, in fact cannot meet, since she is a portrait of a famous actress from the previous century. He is drawn again and again to her picture. He seeks additional information and pictures of her. An obsession takes hold. The movie omits the brain tumor.

The biggest hook, for me, is time travel. What does one do if one falls in love with a woman long dead? If you’re an accomplished modern fantasy writer, you figure out a credible strategy for bridging the decades, and let your hero make the trip. I’m not giving anything away here, because surely from the early pages it’s pretty obvious Richard has to meet Elise.

The setting for most of the book is the very real, luxurious, and classic hotel, the Hotel del Coronado, in San Diego, a place I have spent many days. It is elegance personified, even in the modernization the Del has had. The setting for the movie is the fictional The Grand Hotel in Illinois? Michigan? Wisconsin?

The book was made into a 1979 movie starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve. I was surprised to learn that the movie I saw IRT (in real time) is now considered a cult classic. Feeling your age, anyone? Apparently, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, fans gather yearly to honor the wonderful movie they love.

The differences between the book and the movie (I stopped counting after a dozen) ranged from small (room number, lake vs ocean, added Arthur character) to huge (no brain tumor, Elise giving young Richard a watch, timeline forwarded 16 years). Whereas I preferred the book to the movie (as I typically do), the movie has its own charm and niche. And Elise’s dresses are worth watching, if nothing else!

Elise is an acclaimed actress who is performing at the Del in 1896. Richard plots out how he can arrive on time to see her performance and to declare his love. Of course, there are a few impediments, his brain tumor, for one, that make the planning and execution difficult. His time travel method almost makes you think you could do that-almost. Also, what does one say to a woman who doesn’t know you exist and wonders why you are being so forward in contradiction of 19th century etiquette? Will he remain in her time or will he bring her back to his? Did he even cross the timeline or is it a delusion from his sick brain.

This love story across the decades resonates with us because we all want to believe in eternal love, right? That there is one person we’ll love above all others. That one would do anything for someone heesh loves. That nothing can keep true love from consummation.

How does it end? Does their love endure across the decades? Can this star-crossed couple achieve happiness? I’m not telling. Read Somewhere in Time and see the movie. They are both well worth your time. (Okay, the movie is a little sappy. DH left off watching.)

Caution: There is another book with the same title, also a time travel romance, but I haven’t read it. Look for the Matheson title and let me know what you thought of it. Does it haunt you, too?

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