what’s your name?

If you know me, you know I suck at names. Characters, places…it doesn’t matter. I have a default five or six names I use that I then have to go back and change. Usually I just use the placeholders while I’m actively writing because when I do name a person or thing for keeps, I usually end up falling down a rabbit hole of baby name sites and foreign language translators.

See, I like my names to have a meaning that corresponds to the character or place. In the Shades and Shadows series, each of the characters has a name that corresponds with their ethnic background and who they are. Every one of them started off with different names than they ended up with. Well, except Zero and Raven. I knew those names going in.

Cue working on the second Blood Witch. In the first book most of the names/people are of Greek or Irish heritage (sort of…it’s complicated). In this book, the people and places are entirely alien, so I’m stuck with making things up. For one race I am loosely basing their language/names on Germany (very, very loosely), the others though are “make it up as I go” and “keep a list for consistency” type of folks.

I can’t tell you how fast writing can come to a screeching halt when I need to name a person or a place. I freeze up. It’s ridiculous!

But now, it’s time to get working on the day job. Happy Monday, Readers! I hope you have a great week.

Cover Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash