Sweet Holiday Romances from Books We Love's Multi-Talented Authors

Heartwarming holiday tales for the season!  Click the links to purchase from Amazon A Longview Christmas by Nancy M. Bell Cupid's Arrows (A Holiday Trilogy Book 3) by Geeta Kakade Cupid's Kiss (A Holiday Trilogy) by Geeta Kakade Cupid Special Edition: Three novels in one ... by Geeta Kakade Cupid vs. O'Keefe (A Holiday Trilogy Book 1) by Geeta Kakade Heartwarming holiday tales for the season!
If Wishes Were Magic by Barbara Baldwin	Twelve Dates of Christmas by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey	To Kiss an Angel by Jane Beckenham
Gracie's Holiday Magic by Betty Jo Schuler	Merriest Christmas Ever by Betty Jo Schuler	Desperately Seeking Santa by Jane Beckenham
Merry Christmas, Marcie by Sydell Voeller	Always Believe by Barbara Baldwin	A Christmas Gift

NAME THAT TUNE er—CHARACTER by Karla Stover

Have you ever been introduced to someone whose name doesn’t seem to work? When something about the combination of first and last names doesn’t sound good together? I have and it’s jarring. I went to school with a John John and in yesterday's obituaries here were a Thomas Thompson and a Bob Olive. All I can say is, “Why?” For writers, characters’ names should be as important as they are to prospective parents. A good name gives a character hint. Due diligence is required.

I rooted through Google and came up with some interesting articles. For example: according to the website Livescience.com, the most hated boy’s names in America are Jayden, Brayden, Hayden, Aiden, Kayden, Madison and Addison, and Nevaeh is the name most “likely to put people’s teeth on edge.” Nevaeh is what is known as a trope—that is, “a concept audiences will recognize and understand instantly.” A trope can be a plot trick, a setup, a narrative or linguistics structure or, in this case, a character type because Nevaeth is heaven spelled backwards. The name was non-existent in the 1990s but came into popularity in 2003.

The most disliked girl’s names are Mackenzie, McKenna and Makayla. Makayla sounds made up--as though the bearer came from a low-income family or one of low socioeconomic status. It’s a good trope for a writer but might well handicap the possessor’s future.

People also don’t like names which imply virtue, such as Destiny and Hope or those that hint at violence, such as Hunter. Michael is considered boring and Bentley smacks of being a brand name.

Mystery writer, Elizabeth Sims, has seven rules for chose characters’ names:

1.      Check the root meanings. For example, Theodore means “gift of God.” Book buyers are smart.

2.      Get your era right. The TV show, Dynasty may have given us the name Crystal (Krystle) but it wasn’t common before then.

3.      Say them out loud or use a test-to-speech software service such as Readplease to hear how a name sounds. Readplease has a free version.

4.      Manage your cast by using names of varying syllables and which start with different letters.

5.      Alliteration can be useful but should be used sparingly; consider Severus Snape.

6.      Be sure foreign names and a character’s nationality match.

Other tips: avoid names that are awkward in the possessive form, such as Ross, or have a spelling that will trick Word’s spellcheck; names can tell the reader something about the character; be consistent, i.e. use the name or the nickname but don’t jump back and forth;  avoid middle names. There might be many Karla Stover(s) but one person with the name, Karla Ann Stover could sue.

The website, Be-a-better-writer.com suggests using a name generator, which I did.  For men, I got Victor Cancel, Connor Lilly, and Alfred Charm. Suggested names for women included, Harper Rekdal, Lolita Adams, and Kennedy Avignone. Yikes! Those are just wrong.

                 

And Then He Was Gone, Joan Hall Hovey's latest suspense

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Where is Adam?

Julie Raynes' husband has been missing for six months. Devastated and confused, she refuses to believe that he would leave her voluntarily, though her best friend thinks differently. However, her Aunt Alice, a psychic, tells her Adam has been murdered, and when she reveals how she knows this, any hope that Adam is still alive, dissipates.

The police are also beginning to believe that Adam Raynes was murdered. And Julie is their prime suspect. Her life in ruins, Julie vows to hunt down whoever is responsible for Adam's murder and make them pay for their crime.

In the meantime, David Gray, a young man who was pulled from a lake by a fisherman when he was 9 years old, wakens from a coma after nearly two decades. Unknown to Julie, Adam and David share a dark connection, a darkness that threatens to devour both of them, in a terrifying race with death.

 Reviews for Joan Hall Hovey's Suspense novels

The Deepest Dark~

"...Joan Hall Hovey knows suspense. She keeps it simmering in every scene she writes and knows just the right moments to turn up the heat and bring it all to a boil. ......" James Hankins, author of BROTHERS AND BONES and SHADY CROSS

 

Night Corridor

"...The mystery and suspense in this novel is outstanding, truly top notch, in the vein of Mary Higgins Clark, but—dare I say—even better? - In the Library

 

Chill Waters

"…a chilling hold-your-breath-as you-turn-the-pages novel of such depth and credibility, it's hard to remember that it's fiction and won't be headlined in the daily news…" —Evelyn Gale, All About Murder Reviews.

Nowhere to Hide

"…another winner. I highly recommend it to any lover of suspense, mystery, romance, or thriller. You'll not only race through this book, but clamor for more works by this talented and polished author. Aaron Paul Lazar, author of Healey's Cave -Midwest Book Reviews 

Check out all of Joan's Books on her Books We Love author page.

http://bookswelove.net/authors/hovey-joan-hall/