Name That - - - by Karla Stover

AUTHOR OF: Wynters Way (gothic)
                        Murder: When One Isn't Enough (murder on Hood Canal)
                        Murder on the Line (murder in Tacoma, Washington)

and odds and ends on kindle for 99 cts.



Ever since Ricardo Maltalban touted Corinthian Leather in the 1975 Cordoba ad, I have been fascinated by words used to create an emotion. As I result, I've been looking at cars. My husband drives a Toyota Tacoma. I'm not sure what being a Tacoma as opposed to being a Portland or a Boise is supposed to imply but some company man thought it had connotations. And my Honda is an Accord. Is that even a word?

I get what the Subaru Outback, GMC's Denali, and even the Volkswagen Beetle imply, but the Senna? Senna is an herbal laxative. An advertisement for the Senna shows it going really fast, which tickles my off-beat sense of humor. But an herbal laxative seems a really odd name for a car even if  "driving,ca/auto-news calls" it one of the best car names of all times.  

Spitfire works, so do Thunderbird and Mustang, but Mulsanne? Mulsanne is a specific corner on the Le Mans racing circuit. Does everyone but me know that?

Most sports teams have good names--names that hint at where their home is--think Houston Astros reference its NASA Space Center, the Milwaukee Brewers, a nod to the city's brewing history, and the Indiana Pacers which honors the city's harness racing past. Seattle has a new semi-pro football team but they're the Dragons. I don't know of any dragons in Seattle and there are so many cool things that could have been acknowledged--the Cohos (a salmon) the Roosevelts (an elk) or the Fishers, an extremely feisty mammal often found in Mt. Rainier. Now the city is getting a hockey franchise and is thinking about calling it (them?) the Crackens. Not even Google seems to knows what a Cracken is.

Authors have to be careful to chose names that tell us about the character even before we begin reading. Jay Gatsby, Dorian Gray, Holly Golightly all work. Freesia Summers is just awful. I wonder if the author chose it because freesias are hard to grow. 

The website, "name-generator.org.uk" will come up with names based on parameters the user puts in, i.e. sex, character type, nationality, birth year. Peyton, Emery, and Riley are considered weak male names. I don't know any weak female names, and would I say if I did--especially during Women's History Month?

So go ahead Jane, be meek. And be strong Virginia or Grace or Diana. According to your name, you have to bre and we who write will recognize that.

P.S. When Montalbán was asked by David Letterman on Late Night with David Letterman what Corinthian Leather was, "the actor cheerfully admitted that the term meant nothing."

Soap Bubble Rhetoric

Find my book here

While going through some old writing files, I came across this meandering essay and thought I’d share.

Soap Bubble Rhetoric

Reading my latest copy of a writer’s magazine reminds me I haven’t written anything for quite a while. Anything does not include bill paying, completing rebate forms and make grocery lists.

            Oh, I have lots of ideas. That’s why I’m writing on top of the washer instead of folding clothes. Regardless of the fact I punched the hot button for a load of bright colors, when an idea bubbles forth, I grab a pen.

            As an educator, I have developed numerous ideas and activities that mu students love, so I have been sending queries to educational publishing companies and periodicals. But alas, I can decorate the laundry room with rejections slips. The most ingenious states, “due to a paper shortage, we must return your manuscript.”

            Why is there never a laundry shortage?

            While I may run out of stain remover, I always have another publishing company on my list. So I begin again. Some of my articles have been accepted, but I haven’t gotten paid in the traditional cash method. Many educational journals are forums for professional advancement and writers contribute articles in return for a byline and a few contributors’ copies. While that is fine up to a point, I’ve found it difficult, if not embarrassing, to pay my grocery bill with a copy of my latest published article:

            “Oh, you got published (finally). That will be $41.50 please.”

            Now I shouldn’t be wishy-washy. In addition to contributor’s copies, some educational publications do pay contributors in merchandise. But have you ever tried to use an apron that says, “Teachers are neat” to barter for bleach?

            I pour fabric softener in for the next load and a fantastic idea materializes. I realize I’m writing for the wrong market. Instead of submitting to educational publications, perhaps I can interest soap manufacturers in putting little activities on the sides of their soapboxes to keep kids busy at the Laundromat. Little Bobby can help mom pour soap into the washer and get fun games like “How many words can you make out of Proctor & Gamble?” or a word search for items of clothing washed only in cold water.

            I could create entertaining stories as inserts for detergent boxes with titles like “Soap Bubbles Whisk Grass Stains in Water Polo Finals,” or “Detergent Detectives Collar the Dirt Ring.”

            My hands negligently fold socks as I mentally assemble my next dirt fighting, biodegradable creative effort. The washer gyrates in the background, unaware of my neglect as my mind floats away on a soap bubble.

Barbara Baldwin

http://www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin

http://www.bookswelove.com/romance-authors/baldwin-barbara/

Don’t forget to visit the Books We Love website at http://www.bookswelove.com/ for their March contest. Find 4 leprechauns on the authors’ pages, submit their names and win some great prizes! Contest is open until March 17.

Catching and holding attention by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo's BWL Books

Last weekend, I visited the Police Museum in Calgary. There was an helicopter hanging from the ceiling, a motorcycle, a police cruiser, a jail cell, uniforms, weapons, forensic evidence, the canine unit, and so much more for FREE (https://youthlinkcalgary.com/)

I was chasing a five-year-old who enjoyed locking her uncle, auntie, and grandma in the  jail cell and the police cruiser, so I didn't get to read about the exhibits, programs, and history as much I would have liked, but it was fun. I will go back.

Let me tell you about the bench in the jail cell. It wasn't kind to my bottom. No cushion at all! Sitting in the back of the police cruiser was a big more comfy, but not roomy. There was no legroom, and I'm not a tall woman. It struck me as funny what the police in movies say when they push a beefy 300lbs suspect into the back seat. First, I can't imagine a man that size fitting on the back seat, and second, they should warn him to watch his knees and legs, not his head LOL  They were bars in the windows and the doors didn't open from the inside, so we were at the mercy of a very mischievous little girl.

Before we left, I bought earrings from the museum.  They have a gun attached to a pair of handcuffs. The perfect earrings for a writer who can't help but kill at least one person per book. In all honesty, I'm not sure I will wear them on a daily basis, but I will wear them at my next book signing later in March.


Book signings are interesting events. I get to meet people, but after the initial greeting, something aside from books needs to hold their attention to move the conversation along. At my first book signing, the manager of the book store suggested I mingled with the customers. I thought great idea so I got sticky nametags.

Well, lots of people talked to me...to ask where they could find a certain book. Needless to say, the "nametag" idea didn't work as planned. Most people saw me as another employee.

At the following book signing, I stayed closer to my book display, I still wore a nametag, but I also colored my hair purple and blue. My hair was a great ice breaker, so I've kept coloring it ever since. Now I'm eager to see if these earrings will catch anyone's eyes.

Happy reading...and don't get arrested reading and driving!
JS

 

J. S. Marlo's Website