Instead, I am going to explain some of my characters names.
Daniel Adams and Varina Webb are my main characters from my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel You Don't Find Them, They Find You which is a spy novel, of sorts. Both Daniel and Varina are spies... Though the novel is more of a race.
A little bit of history on the name "Daniel" in correlation to me.
When I was little, my friend and I would play house with our Bitty Babies. We were the moms, our husbands were invisible, our children were our dolls. For awhile, my friend and I had Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby as husbands.... Then we branched out and used other names. I always had James, until my friend and I started to fight over that name. Then I changed mine to Daniel and she changed hers to Dwight. From then on, our "husbands" were always Daniel and Dwight.
So, when I came up with the idea for They Find You there was really no other name for the main male character.
Daniel's last name, Adams, has always been with him too.
Which presented a problem....
In our games of house, my name was always "Arica Adams."
Now, for my female main character, I natually named her Arica because that's a name I'm very familiar with. But I couldn't name her Arica "Adams" because she and Daniel couldn't have the same last name.
Trouble trouble trouble... At first I wanted to change Daniel's last name because I wasn't sure if "Adams" was a British last name. Then I decided to change Arica's last name... I didn't know what to change it TO, though.
Then one day I was lying on the couch watching this GREAT old cop show called Adam-12 and the name hit me.
The guy on the right is called Jim Reed in the show. I got to thinking... Arica Reed? Then the name "Webb" flashed across the screen (he's one of the producers or something). That was it! WEBB! Arica Webb!
Then we departed on our long journey to the East Coast.
We saw many many things. One of those things was the home of President Jefferson Davis (he was president of the Confederacy during the Civil War).
Before we got the tour, however, the guide told us a bit about Jefferson Davis and his family. They mentioned his wife... Varina Davis.
My heart leaped a bit. Varina was the absolute perfect name.
I was so excited that I pulled out a scrap of paper and wrote it down. It says, "Instead of Arica Webb... Varina Webb?"
Thus was born Varina Webb.
She even looks a bit like Varina Davis - the same dark, silky hair and round face.
I think that Varina is one of the prettiest names in the whole wide world. And Webb is one cool last name.
How do you name your characters?
Live long and prosper!
My mum LOVES Adam-12. She got me watching it and I rather enjoy it now myself. I like the characters, they are fun.
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing how you named your characters, it is such fun to get to hear things like that! (I stole most of the names for mine. A bit shamelessly too...)
I like Daniel's name a lot. I've always liked that name, and it seems to fit him well.
Leviathan is a fun book. I love the third in the series, I think it is my favourite with Leviathan a close second. (I'm never as fond of middle books for some reason.)
Howl's Moving Castle is a wonderful book!! I love that one.
I saw the E-Lock with the spies, is that the newest one? I might be behind again. (Also, I'm mad at Joan.)
Stories behind character names are always fun to hear! Typically I find a random name generator and keep hitting 'generate' until I find a name I like xD Or there will be a name that follows me around and haunts me (Like 'Liza', which I used in Kat and Kadet) and so I write a story for it.
ReplyDeleteI just have one comment: Did you know some parents, when naming their new baby, have some association with who has that name...Tv actors, Bible characters, etc. Anyway, ask your mom and dad how they picked the name Abbey? (I was named after a Grama). So it goes. Grama
ReplyDeleteJohn says hi back!
ReplyDeleteThat is what I fear. Having seen Fili and Kili on the mountain and their expressions when they got separated, I am now convinced one dies while the other isn't able to reach him. Then the other will do something reckless because he is so sad and get himself killed.
I wasn't a movie crier either. 2013 is determined to change it. It started with Les Miserables, and is likely to end somewhere with Merlin or The Hobbit.
Behemoth is really fun, I especially like the ending. I shan't say why till you get there, but it has a fun ending.
In Leviathan I loved the part where Alec gets that old sword and jumps out to hack the flair off the Walker. I was rather sad when the Walker finally died.
That is fun, getting to meet that lady who likes reading! (And who knows of the books you are reading.) I agree, she woudl have to be either a teacher or a big reader to know of Larklight and Howl's Moving Castle - rather of the author. Everyone seems to know about Howl's book, few of the author's other books.
Oh! I shall have to watch the next E-Lock very soon if it has M in it!! I've been waiting for him!
I know how you feel. I've a long list of books to read, but I have to finish the ones I'm on first.
ReplyDeleteThe Ranger's Apprentice is a good series. Not if you want a deep, well written story. They are more like fun stories, and they are really just worth reading for the characters. The plots are okay, especially the first ones. But the characters are a ton of fun.
I think the Broken Blade series might be a year or two from publication. I have a lot of plot problems to figure out, once the first drafts are done.
I want to come play in your snow...is it sticky? Mine isn't.
ReplyDeleteI got to see The Hobbit two times too! Did you like the hedgehog?