"The Good Fight" Release Week - Post Four
RELEASE WEEK POST FOUR
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
My grandfather’s name was Oscar, so when I chose this name for a minor character in “Time Served,” it was meant to be a private nod in his memory. Using the name of someone I know for a small part in a story is one thing, but using that name for a major character—the POV character—is a much bigger deal. I mean, it’s kind of weird. And my grandfather isn’t here anymore so he’s not going to read the book and think, WTF? but I really didn’t want to write *this* type of book with that in the back of my mind. Plus…Oscar’s not exactly the name of a romance hero, is it? Hence the hero’s nickname, Oz.
Susan is in the middle of a divorce. She goes by her married name, Dr. Susan Jones, but she’s in the process of becoming (or re-becoming) Dr. Susan Dufresne. (I also never intended to give Susan a book, so her name was really just a throwaway when I first introduced her in Caitlin’s story.) Susan’s changing names represent very different points in her life. They symbolize her reclaiming the parts of her past that she wants to keep in the present, and shaping the present pieces so she can become her full self.
I wasn’t planning to have Susan insist on calling Oz by his proper name throughout the story, but that’s what she did, so I went with it. As the story progressed, I realized that the names here were more than just names—they were indications of the characters’ growth and development. Oz spent ten years working on Wall Street before returning to Camden, and now he can’t figure out if he’s Oscar, the thug that grew up here, Oz, the suit-wearing guy he became when he moved away, or someone in between.
I never intended to incorporate any sort of name game when I started writing, it just sort of occurred to me that if the pieces were already there, it was up to me to do the best I could with them. Sometimes those pieces don’t end up making the final edit, but these ones did. So if you’ve been wondering why, in a time when characters have names like Kinsley and Sage and Grayson and Zane, these two are named plain old Oscar and Susan, now you know. It was an accident.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
My grandfather’s name was Oscar, so when I chose this name for a minor character in “Time Served,” it was meant to be a private nod in his memory. Using the name of someone I know for a small part in a story is one thing, but using that name for a major character—the POV character—is a much bigger deal. I mean, it’s kind of weird. And my grandfather isn’t here anymore so he’s not going to read the book and think, WTF? but I really didn’t want to write *this* type of book with that in the back of my mind. Plus…Oscar’s not exactly the name of a romance hero, is it? Hence the hero’s nickname, Oz.
Susan is in the middle of a divorce. She goes by her married name, Dr. Susan Jones, but she’s in the process of becoming (or re-becoming) Dr. Susan Dufresne. (I also never intended to give Susan a book, so her name was really just a throwaway when I first introduced her in Caitlin’s story.) Susan’s changing names represent very different points in her life. They symbolize her reclaiming the parts of her past that she wants to keep in the present, and shaping the present pieces so she can become her full self.
I wasn’t planning to have Susan insist on calling Oz by his proper name throughout the story, but that’s what she did, so I went with it. As the story progressed, I realized that the names here were more than just names—they were indications of the characters’ growth and development. Oz spent ten years working on Wall Street before returning to Camden, and now he can’t figure out if he’s Oscar, the thug that grew up here, Oz, the suit-wearing guy he became when he moved away, or someone in between.
I never intended to incorporate any sort of name game when I started writing, it just sort of occurred to me that if the pieces were already there, it was up to me to do the best I could with them. Sometimes those pieces don’t end up making the final edit, but these ones did. So if you’ve been wondering why, in a time when characters have names like Kinsley and Sage and Grayson and Zane, these two are named plain old Oscar and Susan, now you know. It was an accident.
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Kim
(new)
Jul 28, 2016 11:17AM
I haven't read "The Good Fight" yet, but I'm more than happy to see "plain" names used for characters because normal people can be heroes and heroines. I don't need or want them all to have "special flower" names to indicate they're "special flower" people. It's bad enough they're all "hot". So "hot" that every person who lays eyes on them wants them. I *love* romance books, but it's so hard not to roll my eyes sometimes - like regular people can't have a love story. :)
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Kim wrote: "I haven't read "The Good Fight" yet, but I'm more than happy to see "plain" names used for characters because normal people can be heroes and heroines. I don't need or want them all to have "specia..."I think I like "plain" names because I grew up with them, so they feel normal and less distracting to me than the more "interesting" names that abound today. But I agree with you that I want to see "regular" people fall in love. I like the special flower stories once in a while, but the more realistic stories are the ones that really suck me in. :)
I find trendy names annoying - the plain names probably make your story more timeless! It's like the first Shrek movie - funny when it came out, but now it seems so dated because of its very specific pop culture references.
I think I liked trendy names more when I was younger (I desperately wanted to be called Ariel when "The Little Mermaid" came out, but had to settle for giving that name to the dog), but they feel distracting to me now. If it's one character in a story, I can deal with it, but if everyone has an unusual/trendy name, I can't stop thinking about it and it pulls me out of the story.
