Ben Smith
Back in 2005, I was on a big anagram kick. I loved putting people’s names into the anagram server at wordsmith.org and seeing what combinations their computers spit out. Type in Benjamin Smith; get out Banishment Jim. Type in Kanye West; get out Sweaty Ken. Type in Mother Teresa; get out Heart Meteors. Instant alter ego or new band name.
It was not a particularly welcoming activity on the first day of school, but I used to place students’ anagram names on their assigned seats and ask them to find their seat. Some names were more fruitful than others. Dylan Geringer’s name spawned so many wonderful combinations, among them the eventual title of the book. I also loved the rearrangement of letters my colleague Trevor Drake’s name conjured: Dr. Overtaker. I loved those two alternative names so much that, one night lying in bed, ten years later, I opened up my phone’s Notes app and wrote the first paragraph of Darling Energy.
It was not a particularly welcoming activity on the first day of school, but I used to place students’ anagram names on their assigned seats and ask them to find their seat. Some names were more fruitful than others. Dylan Geringer’s name spawned so many wonderful combinations, among them the eventual title of the book. I also loved the rearrangement of letters my colleague Trevor Drake’s name conjured: Dr. Overtaker. I loved those two alternative names so much that, one night lying in bed, ten years later, I opened up my phone’s Notes app and wrote the first paragraph of Darling Energy.
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