What’s in a Name?

I love creating names! It’s one of my favorite aspects of world-building. Names are the first things that come to me when I’m toying with a new character or story idea. Finding the right name makes a city, nation or character leap off the page and suddenly you feel like you’ve known them your entire life.

There are many fabulous resources about how to choose names that match a specific culture or linguistic background. Baby name sites are wonderful sources of inspiration and several actually have specific advice pages for authors.

In the end, though, I believe the power of a name comes down to instinct and a gut reaction. If it rings true, you’ll just feel it, just know. In some cultures, knowing a thing’s name gives you the power to know its entire being. We’ve all marveled at certain names that fit so perfectly, we can almost imagine what they entail without actually reading more than their name.

Here are a few of the names that really sing for me! What about you?


Places
Manetheren (Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time)
Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)
Elantris (Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris)
Avalon
Pretty much anything from LOTR


Characters
Temeraire (Naomi Novik’s Her Majesty’s Dragon)
Indevan Algara-vayir *Inda (Sherwood Smith’s Inda)
Jericho Barrons (Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series)
Killashandra (Anne McCaffrey’s Killeshandra)
Ashton Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn *Ash (M.M. Kaye’s The Far Pavillions)
Aeryn Sun (Farscape)
Sanglant (Kate Elliot's Crown of Stars series)
Pretty much anything from LOTR (Are you seeing a pattern?!)


Objects, phrases, misc.
Shei’tan/Shei’tani *beloved/husband/wife (C.L. Wilson’s Tairen Soul series)
Klah (Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern)
Faradhi *Sunrunner (Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince)
Frell (Farscape)
Almost any spell from Harry Potter

It's Official - I'm a Campaigner!

I’m very excited to be taking part in Rachel Harrie’s Platform-Building Campaign. In case you haven’t heard about it yet, the Campaign seeks to connect blogging authors who share genre or reader/audience interests (fantasy for me, of course!) and who truly want to support and network with other aspiring writers.

Watch for fun new posts later this week, but for now, I thought I’d dig into the blog history and suggest some “Campaign Stops” for those who might be new to the blog as part of the campaign.

Enjoy!

Harnessing the Muse You Need NOW
Calling All Non-Magical Beings
Why We Love Spec-Fic
Freedom Fighters
Not Quite as Easy as 1, 2, 3
Play Ball…or Quidditch
The UN-fairytale Ending

En Fuego!

The Aspiring Sub-creator herself, Sarah McCabe, gave me a “Blog on Fire” award, which means I get to answer a wonderfully strange list of questions (and you get to read my wonderfully strange answers).

To share the wealth, I’m nominating Angeline Trevena for the award, too. Check out her corner of the blogosphere!

Thanks, Sarah!

Onto the fun, random questions:

1) Are you a rutabaga?
Not the last time I checked.

2) Who is your current crush?
Well, my current author crush is John Stephens. Just read his Emerald Atlas and loved it! Otherwise, I have a lifelong crush on one Jon Bon Jovi.

3) Upload a heartwarming picture that makes you smile.
How about a video? This one always makes me grin. Dog + Deer = Best Friends!

4) When was the last time you ate a vine-ripened tomato?
Um, the container garden had technical difficulties this year…several difficulties. Therefore, no tomatoes were harmed in the posting of this blog entry.

5) Name one habit that causes other people to plot your demise?
I read Smithsonian Magazine at the beach. Apparently this is very embarrassing for my friends. They have threatened to a) leave me b) pretend they don’t know me and c) toss my magazine in the ocean. So far, none have deterred me!

6) What is the weirdest, most-disgusting job you've ever had to do?
I cleaned the tiger and polar bear exhibits at our local zoo once as an aide for the “Junior Zookeeper” class. But that was pretty awesome, as well as disgusting!

7) Where da muffin top at?
I may or may not have eaten it. And that is all I will say on the matter. :)

8) What author introduced you to your genre?
Anne McCaffrey…she made me believe in dragons.

9) Describe yourself using obscure Latin words
Fidelis. Ad majorem dei gloriam.

Let the Sparks Fly

Christine over at The Writer Coaster is hosting the Sparkfest blogfest this week and challenged us to share the book(s) that ignited our writerly imaginations and doomed us to be writers.

Well, technically, the first thing I remember writing on my own was a spin-off of the Three Little Pigs when I was about five. I even bound it in “hardcover” with scraps of black cardboard.

But the real credit for sucking me in as a true-to-the-bone, no-turning-back, writing-is-like-breathing author goes to Anne McCaffrey. I loved her Dragonflight so much in grade school that I refused to return it to my school’s library at the end of the year (they let me keep it!). Since then, I’ve devoured a number of her other Pern novels, but Dragonflight holds a special place in my heart.

It was the book that first made me dream of other worlds, whose characters I wanted to be, in a way that made me want to craft my own. I wrote my first piece of fan-fic based on it — a cringingly naïve and lovable tome that shall not see the light of day — and there was no turning back.

Soon after, I had the opening chapters of my very first original WIP. A story I still hope to get back to someday, though I’ve already pulled bits and pieces into my other work over the years.

Robert Jordan and M.M. Kaye also had a major impact on my writing. M.M. Kaye, in particular, taught me about the art of subtlety, stakes and far-reaching scope. Her style is completely different than my own, but I adore her use of language. And, yes, yes, I know there are two opposing camps on Robert Jordan. Just count me on the “love” side and be done with it. :)

Together, these three authors showed me how truly powerful stories can be. To this day, I still look to them for inspiration. So, wherever you are, guys…thanks…more than you can know!

Play Ball…or Quidditch

This week I went to two baseball games in a span of three days, and my team’s on a roll (Go Brew Crew)! It got me thinking about the influence of sports in novels, particularly as a world-building element in fantasy.

I admit it, I’m a sucker for sports. I tear up during those sappy inspirational Olympics commercials. There’s something about sports that pulls us together, ignites our passion and makes us believe in the “Cinderella” story. So, how do we use that in our writing?

Bring us into your world
The coolest thing about JK Rowling’s Quidditch is that it feels so real the readers get caught up in it. We have our favorite teams, even our favorite players in the books.

In just about any series, writers use sports as a way to paint the canvas of their worlds. It’s something we connect with on an emotional level, so it feels familiar, yet new. A simple detail that makes a big difference.

Every culture has its own collection of sports. With such a broad variety, it’s fun to mix & match, or come up with something completely new that best fits your world. It can be anything from contact sports to board games or mind challenges. In my WIP, my seafaring nation has an onboard dueling circuit and an annual fishing contest.

Reveal character depth
The way your characters interact with sports can tell us a lot about them. Do they love sports? Avoid them at all costs. If gambling is your world’s sport-of-choice, is your character a high-roller or the sucker at the table? Maybe he or she raises were-rabbits for racing.

Ooh, look, a tournament
Sport also serve as a great plot distraction! Want to throw in an unexpected twist? Focus your readers’ attention on an intense sports match, and we’ll be so worried about the outcome of the game, we’ll never see that zombie invasion or dragon attack coming.

Victory means everything
We all love rooting for teams! Some authors feed that love by giving us stories centered almost entirely around sports events or competitions—like The Hunger Games or Tron.

What are some of your favorite examples of sports in books? How have you used sports in your own work?

Don’t Stop Writing: A Reader’s Plea

All you fellow writers out there, please: Don’t stop writing. Because, as a reader, I need you. When I drag my butt home from a long day of work, cranky, brain-fried and world-weary, I NEED to curl up with a good book.

I need escape.

I need to believe in wonder and in heroes.

I need to laugh and cry along with my favorite characters.

I need magical distraction.

I need brilliant, flowing, witty language that makes me forget the day’s mind-numbing conference call that made even my eyeballs hurt.

I need to feel the heated rush of romance, the heart-pounding intensity of fast-paced action and the true loyalty of friends.

So, please, don’t give up. Because the reader in all of us needs the writer in us to persevere! (And because I'm always looking for new books for my shelves!)


What do you need from a book at day’s end?

The UN-Fairy Tale Ending

Let’s face it—not everyone can get their happy ending. And we wouldn’t want them to. For authors, unhappy endings actually can be a powerful tool in moving the story forward. I’m not talking about torturing characters along the way, but true irreversible endings where things just don’t work out for our pals on the page.

The Secondary Couple
My favorite example of this comes from Last of the Mohicans (the movie, not the book). The two sets of siblings pair up—Hawkeye and Cora, and Uncas and Alice. Since Hawkeye and Cora are the main couple, we’re pretty positive no lasting harm will befall them, despite all the dangers thrown their way. However, we’re much less sure about Uncas and Alice.

At the end, they both die rather dramatically, but this unhappy ending serves multiple purposes. One, it allows us to see more of Hawkeye’s and Cora’s character in their reactions to their siblings’ deaths. Two, Uncas’ death completes the entire theme of the book and movie…leaving Chingachgook as the last of his people.

Uncas and Alice exchange only a handful of lines in the movie, but we feel their love through their looks and their actions. Regardless of their sad end, they’re an essential part of the story’s tapestry.

The Partial ‘Dream Come True’
Here’s another book/movie example for you. In Lord of the Rings, Eowyn has two great loves—her infatuation with Aragorn and her undying devotion to her uncle and her land. While she doesn’t get her wish regarding Aragorn, she does emerge as a heroine for her people.

The first ending is “unhappy,” but it allows her to demonstrate incredible character growth regarding her commitment to Rohan. She’s able to defend her uncle in his dying moments and reconcile with him. That’s where her true “happy ending” lies.

In Linnea Sinclair’s Shades of Dark, the romantic interests end up together, but Sully sacrifices his eyesight and power along the way.

The ‘Let’s Increase the Stakes’ Approach
Sometimes authors are evil. *laughs gleefully* We need to highlight the stakes, increase the tension…basically, we need to kill someone off. And 99% of the time, it can’t be our MC (unless we plan to bring them back or narrate as a ghost!).

That means we need “throwaway” characters. Except, I really don’t like that term, because the best “throwaway” characters are anything but throwaways. They’re secondary characters we know and love, and that our characters know and love. Yet, we know deep in our hearts, even as we’re first creating them, there’s no way they’ll get a happy ending.

In Harry Potter, Sirius and Cedric are perfect examples. We know they’re gone and they’re not coming back, but they’re never forgotten because the other characters continue to be affected by their absence.

The Sucker Punch
Every once in a while, we need to throw readers for a twist. Something huge, dramatic and irreversible that makes them sit up, move their face closer to the page and shout, “Holy shit, no way!”

Enter the unexpected unhappy ending.

These hurt. Really badly. For both readers and writers. Yet, they make a story so much more powerful.

One of my very favorite books is M.M. Kaye’s The Far Pavilions, and in the final pages, she kills two characters in a battle you don’t really see coming and, boy, do you feel it!

Another example that still gets me is when Prim is killed in Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay. Collins does a wonderful job of making unhappy endings work for her. Her treatment of Peeta’s hijacking is yet another good use of a relatively unhappy ending (Though I have other issues with this).

The ‘Strength of Friendship’ Test
This is when one character’s death, wounding or sudden disability shines the light on your MC’s true colors. How far are they willing to go for love or friendship?

Gotta love the poignant example of Lonesome Dove, where gruff, no-nonsense Captain Call conquers hell and high-water to escort the body of his friend Gus home to Texas.

For me, Dragonheart manages to be the happiest sad ending ever! We all know what’s coming by the time Bowen swings his ax, but it’s still heartbreaking to know the situation he faces—forced to kill his friend in order to stop the evil. Yet, it captivates us because there’s nobility and honor in Draco’s sacrifice.

Death as Release
In some cases, unhappy endings are the best a character can hope for quite simply because they’re an END. Russell Crowe’s character in Gladiator is basically fighting so he can die. He yearns to be with his family again.

For characters like this, life is already one never-ending stream of unhappiness. Death must seem a welcome relief, and as readers, a small part of us cheers when we see a character released from such pain.

The GRRM Approach
No one gets a happy ending. *grin* I couldn’t resist!

Pay special attention to which of your characters wind up with UNhappy endings and why.

Coloring the Page: Red

When I came home today, the sky had turned that eerie surreal tone of a sunset seen through storm clouds. It got me thinking about colors and how we use them in our novels, which if you’re like me, is often. I have a fabulous resource I found several years ago – it’s a description of each major color, as dictated by a gentleman who is blind but had his sight until he was 11.*

It’s such a unique perspective and does the best job I’ve seen of distinguishing between subtly different tones. Ever wondered whether cerulean or azure better describes a tranquil ocean bay? Or which greens to use to describe a new spring forest? Stuck trying to find yet another way to say orange? This will give you a variety of options. (I also usually do a quick image search to double check whether an exact tone matches the color I’m envisioning.)

This color guide is one of my favorite writing references—sort of like a color thesaurus. It always stays on the top of my “writing tools” pile, so I thought I’d share it with you. I’m planning to work my way through all the colors whenever there’s a bit of break in other blogging topics. Today, we’ll start with RED.

• Apple Red: Dark red to pale red
• Bay: Reddish brown
• Beet Red: Dark red
• Burnt: Reddish brown or dark reddish orange (also Sienna)
• Burnt Rose: A dark brownish red
• Cardinal: A bright red
• Cherry Red: Bright to moderate red
• Copper Red: Very dark red, but more brown than red
• Coral: A deep or strong pink to moderate red or reddish orange
• Crimson: A dark purplish red
• Fiery Red: Reddish yellow, but red is predominate
• Hot Pink: Bright strong pink
• Mahogany: Moderate reddish brown but often more brown than red
• Maroon: A dark reddish brown to dark purplish red
• Neon Pink: Glowing, illuminating pink
• Pink: Very light red, close to white
• Puce: A deep red to dark grayish purple (Oh, this one has such FUN possibilities! I’m picturing Delores Umbridge.)
• Raspberry Red: A deep purplish red
• Rose: Light red to dark red
• Ruby: A dark or deep red to deep purplish translucent red
• Ruddy: Reddish in color
• Rusty: Reddish brown
• Scarlet: A strong to vivid red or reddish orange
• Strawberry: Reddish; light red to dark pink
• Sunburst Red: Bright illuminated red
• Tomato Red: Strong red
• Vermilion: Bright red
• Ginger: A natural red, as in a hair color

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I've found it helps to have the names and ideas handy as you're writing. You never know what other color inspirations they'll spark! The Bookshelf Muse also has great real-world color examples.


*I originally found this guide years ago at http://www.redwhiteandblue.org/. When I checked again, I couldn’t find it posted any longer, but they deserve all the credit!

On-Page or On-Screen

Thought we’d have some fun today! Madeleine over at Scribble and Edit is hosting a Novel Films blogfest. The idea is to list all works of fiction for which you’ve seen the movies AND read the books.

My list is below, and I’ve ranked whether I liked the book or the movie better. Hope you enjoy it – and share some of your own favorite book/movie combinations.

 

• Harry Potter (Both – although the 3rd book is far better than the 3rd movie!)
• Narnia (Movie)
• Eragon (Book…oh good grief, NOT the movie)
• LOTR (Movie)
• Jumper (Book)
• Bridge to Terabithia (Book, though the movie was great too)
• City of Ember (Movie)
• Percy Jackson (Book)
• Twilight (Book)
• Sahara (Both)
• The Far Pavilions (Book. This was a TV Miniseries, but PLEASE someone make this into a movie. It would be amazingly epic!)
• Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (Book)
• Stardust (Movie)
• Romeo and Juliet (Book)
• Much Ado About Nothing (Both)
• Emma (Book)
• Pride & Prejudice (Movie)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Book)
• Where the Red Fern Grows (Book)
• War of the Worlds (Book)
• Wicked (Musical)
• Disney movies (I think I've read all the books that accompany the classics, but generally I like the movies better!)

I’m sure there are more, but I can’t remember them at the moment...

Lessons from My Day Job: “Go Big or Go Home”

Go BIG!

My boss loves this phrase. We first heard it from a very wise client who was trying to implement improvement efforts in his business (Though it's been quoted long before that!). He started with small initiatives in each department, which worked well…at the department level. Unfortunately, that approach didn’t really build momentum at an organization-wide level and the company was stuck churning its wheels without much sustainable progress. That’s when our client instituted the idea of “Go Big or Go Home”—it’s an attitude of “You’re either in or you’re out,” and “Come Hell or high-water, we’re going to create change.”

And it worked!

Sure, it was hard and nerve-wracking and frustrating.  Some people complained—or left—but the end results were dramatic. They created passionate employees, stronger teams and sky-rocketed our client ahead of competitors.

So, what does this have to do with writing? Well, friends, there comes a time when we all face the decision to Go Big or Go Home. Whether you’re struggling to crank out a first draft, swearing at your umpteenth edit or having a nervous breakdown during the query process, at some point, you’re going to want to quit.

It’s tempting to walk away and say “I was busy today, I don’t have time to write,” or “I’ve already edited it once, surely it must be ready for submission,” or “I know I should find a critique group, but I’m afraid to share my work.” Yet each of those decisions is like my client’s initial department-by-department approach.

They won’t make you a better writer in the end.

If you’re serious about being a writer, you have to be willing to take some risks, jump in over your head, put yourself in uncomfortable and unknown situations with no guarantee of success, and buckle down with the dedication to really and truly see this through to the end. Some people won’t be able to do that, and that’s okay. But, make no mistake, that level of commitment is what it takes to be a writer.

Take a few moments to really examine what you’re willing to put into this, what you’re willing to sacrifice, and perhaps more importantly, what you’re NOT willing to sacrifice.

What’s it going to be for you? Go big? Or go home?