From: Mekerr13 at aol.com <Mekerr13>
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 18:00:07 EDT

Yes, a minute ago I talked a bit about names and hope that was forwarded ok. I can't begin a book until I've named my characters and felt the name was a fit. Sometimes I've changed the name of one as I wrote because it no longer seemed to suit the person I'd created. I am name crazy. I collect old yearbooks I find at yard sales and in them often find what I'm looking for. The character Keats in my Fell series came from a yearbook. I saw that the girl's last name was Keating, and the nickname was Keats. I was looking (same Fell book) for the name of a sort of tricky girl, beautiful and mysterious and someone with the last name Tremble worked for my mother. She wasn't the most reliable helper but had all the sly bad fun of my character, so I knew Tremble was perfect and Delia just happened into my mind for a first name. I look at obituaries and death notices and wedding announcements - everywhere. I'm not always sure how the name comes to me, but I know when it's right. Maybe having the horrible name Marijane, followed by the middle name Agnes made me hunger for a better name and then became an obsession. One thing helped me think about names and that was when I was a child my dad read Dickens aloud, and often acted out the characters ways...and Dickens was the grand namer, wasn't he? mek
Received on Fri 21 Jun 2002 05:00:07 PM CDT