What’s In A Name?

Personally, I think a lot. Which is why I have such a hard time picking character names. Certain names, normally X-boyfriends, leave a foul taste in my mouth so those are the bad guys. Some just don’t strike me as sexy, leading men type of names. No, don’t even ask me to list any, I’d so end up offending someone and I’m not falling into that trap.

In the beginning, when I was a new bright eyed author I never wanted to use any of the names that I’d seen in other books. Right… that lasted about a month until I realized that ALL the names had been claimed by someone at some point in time. Granted, I try not to use the ones my friends just used if I’m paying attention but there’s just going to be some overlap and I refuse to lose sleep over it.

Now, 52 books later, I have trouble not using names I’ve already used. I know I have a Gabriel, a Gabe… actually, I might have two Gabe’s. Yeah, that’s exactly my point, it’s hard to keep up with it all. Half my books are ménages, that’s three guys, the rest are two guys, some have more, times 52 books (I’m working on number 53), and my head spins when I try to come up with character names.

And there’s also the pitfall of using too weird of names that no one can pronounce and then I get dozens of emails asking me how to say it. Or people who email saying that’s not a real name, or they didn’t like the name, or… yeah, so I try to avoid that as well.

So when I first came up with the idea of the elves I was thinking about the world I would build and plotting… I do so love plotting. But I was talking to my good friend, Gabrielle Evans and she was apologizing because she used some first name for her character that I already had and I started laughing. We’ve all done that because there are only so many names to use.

But then I thought… what if the elves named themselves? I liked the idea and turned to my yahoo group asking them for the craziest names they could possibly come up with. I didn’t tell them the whole idea, simply that I was creating a world where at five years old, the guys named themselves. I smiled as I saw the ideas, names, and reasons behind the names rolling in. They were so unique that I’d fall over in shock if someone said they read the same name in another book. I mean seriously…

Horse. Cave. Idiot. Surprise. Why. Flower. Chiquita. Box. Champ. Button. Maze. Shadow. Not nicknames… but actual, those are their names.

I laughed so hard, I mean, yeah, I named my leading man Idiot. I used the puns, and goofed around with their names, letting the fun flow. I gave them human names, all with the generic last name of Smith because there are so many of those that it would be what elves would think Joe Human would be called.

So that’s how the elves got their crazy ass, weirdest names ever. But they are unique!

Today’s Contest Question: What is Horse’s mate’s name? (The answer can be found in the blurbs of Siren’s website or on mine)

Read these directions because only the people who do it right get entered!

If you’d like to enter please email Andi, my intern at joyee_intern@yahoo.com. Put the title of the blog in the subject line so she can keep them all straight. In the email, put your answer, full name and address.

The prize for this contest is a signed Covers Calendar for 2012! *Contest ends Dec 13^th at noon MST.

Good luck and tomorrow Screw Santa comes out! The wait is almost over.

-Joyee