From Shakespeare's Romeo
and Juliet, 1600: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
The meaning of this phrase: What matters is what
something is, not what it is called.
There are authors who write a novel and
then choose the names of their characters. There is nothing wrong with this.
However, some of us can’t bring ourselves to do that.
Before I begin to write the first draft
of a new story, I’m compelled to name my characters. It’s not a case of any name will do for now, I’ll change it
later. The name must match the perception of how I envision the essence of my
character. I like strong names and these must suit my hero and heroine.
Early in my writing career I’d flick
through baby names books to look for the right name for my hero and heroine,
especially if I wanted something a little bit different, like my Scottish
heroes, Galen and Regan. These days I am more likely to run a few names through
my mind, then choose the one that I believe best matches my character.
When choosing a surname for the hero,
and a Christian name for the heroine, I make sure that if they are to marry,
her first name goes well with the hero’s surname. Of course, in reality, she
might want to keep her own surname.
In
Sapphire Kisses, I wanted something a
little different for my hero, and chose Kent for his Christian name. But the
name just didn’t fit how I perceived my hero to be. For me, Kent wasn’t strong
enough. He wasn’t the hero I’d envisioned. I changed his name to David, which
fitted so much better…bringing life to my perception of him. Only then could I
move on with his story…a photographer and author, a recluse, struggling with
the reality of losing his sight. I felt it was important for his character to
have a strong name to carry him through his difficult journey to his happily
ever after with the heroine.
Luke,
Jack and Nick are favourites of mine.
Luke
DeMarco – back in Natalie’s life in The
Trouble with Natalie
Jack Shannon –
the talents of Paige Delaney will help save his company in No Boundaries
Nick Sheridan –
the bad boy from Claire’s past in Loving
Nick…Again
And I’ve always liked Liam. That name suited my
up-and-coming executive hero. Not an outdoors man, but responsible for the
well-being of his teenage brother, Daniel, in Desperate and Dateless
In December
Heat Wave, my heroine is Nicolette.
The hero calls her Nic. I remember watching an interview with Tom Cruise when
he was married to Nicole, and when he referred to her as Nic, there was
something intimate about the way he spoke the shortened form of her name that struck
a chord with me.
I also like my heroines
to have strong names, names that will suit from newborn to mature woman.
In my upcoming release, Sweet Temptations, my heroine is called
Elizabeth. She hates being called Lizzie. Only her favourite uncle is allowed
to call her that. I worked with a Liz who hated being referred to as Lizzie.
The hero is Zac. I have always liked that name too.
When choosing a name, the advice is not
to give your characters similar names as it confuses the reader. In my current
work-in-progress I chose Matty and Mardi as names for my twin characters, but
have now changed Matty to Matt, which does make a smoother read.
So,
for me, naming my characters with the right name, makes them who they are.
’Bye
for now
Joanie
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