A Question of Names

Well, I've got my book back from my reader (thanks, Mom!) She's a trooper; she's not into fantasy, but she reads my stuff regardless of the genre. So, now I have a cover, a corrected manuscript, and a problem.

See, apparently one of the character names didn't work for her, or for my uncle (who is also reading the book). They said the rest of the book is great; a page-turner, great action, strong characterization... it's just that one character name. So, I've been thinking it over for most of the day, trying to think of something different that would fit. I even went to some online name generators looking for something that would feel right for the character.

And I got nothing. I looked at names for various fairy creatures throughout folklore and literature, all kinds of different critters that come close to what this creature is. Basically, he's something like a brownie or a fairy creature like Oberon from Shakespeare, who can turn invisible by twisting out of our reality into another dimension (more or less, but that works for a quick description).

I don't remember where the name I gave him came from; I think it was just something random out of my head. That's how it works sometimes; the name just fits the character. And sometimes I just go to a random name generator and see what comes up. That can be helpful as well; the names that come up sometimes get mixed and matched, or inspire something completely different.

But in this case, I can't picture the character with a different name. It just...feels right to me. I don't know why; maybe it's because the name helped me get the character's personality figured out as I wrote him. I'm going to give it another day or so, and look for some other ideas. Hopefully, something will come up that feels just as good as the current name. If not, I'll be sticking with it. In the end, it's a minor character with a weird name.

In the meantime, this newest book is the direct sequel to my previous one, Crimson Moon. Check it out, so you'll be up to speed for the new one, Crystal Lilac.