LUCY BURDETTE: First, I will say our hearts go out to every single one of you in the path of Milton. So much destruction and fear...we are with you in spirit.
My Key West #15 mystery is in the repair shop. That means the manuscript I blithely sent off in early September has been returned with my fabulous developmental editor’s suggestions. Actually, I didn’t blithely send it off; I knew perfectly well there were weak spots in the plot and a few character issues too. But I also knew all this could be fixed and that’s what I’m in the middle of. Meanwhile, over those two blessed break weeks, I caught up on lots of things that had been neglected, including reading some of my favorite writing and publishing blogs and newsletters like Jane Friedman’s. In a recent edition, I noticed the name Anne Dubuisson, who had written an article about the benefits of writing a book proposal. (Another project I was tackling!) I recognized her as an editor I’d used before I was published. I named a character after her who became Miss Gloria’s Houseboat Row neighbor and best friend, somewhere along the 14 books in the series. I wrote the real Anne D. a note, thanking her for that long-ago help and telling her about the character, (whose name I had misspelled all these years.) Here’s her reply:
It’s so good to hear from you—thank you for taking note of the blog post. I recall our work well. You were one of my first freelance clients after I made the move from NYC publishing, and when I read your manuscript, I thought, wow, this gig is going to be great, such quality writing! Since then, I’ve been lucky to collaborate with numerous fine writers (and of course, many not as skilled), but your work is still a highlight.
Where might I find my namesake? So honored!
Isn’t that a lovely note? And surely exaggerated:). I wrote her my thanks in return, and sent a snippet about her character namesake in KW #15.
Anyway, here she is in next year's release where Miss Gloria is taking her daughters in law on a small tour of Houseboat Row:
A few minutes later, she led her relatives back onto the finger of the dock. “Next up, Annie Dubisson’s home.”
This time I did troop along behind because it had been a minute since I’d seen the inside of her best friend’s place. Mrs. Dubisson appeared delighted to show us around. We toured the larger boxy living area, with a faded red Tibetan rug, a multitude of plants, and workmanlike kitchen. I knew the ladies liked playing mahjong here because it felt more spacious and lighter than Miss Gloria’s place.
“We love living here on the water,” Mrs. Dubisson told the guests. “That little bit of wave action at night always makes me feel like I’m being rocked to sleep in my mother’s arms.” She paused. “There are surely drawbacks—it’s damp out here and everything tends to rust, and it’s more trouble to schlep back groceries and what not. This life wouldn’t be for everyone. Maybe someday we’ll retire.” She glanced at Miss Gloria—two weathered old women who would be bored silly without something to do—and they howled with laughter.
Now I must return to the repair shop. But meanwhile, how important are characters’ names to you? Do you have an early mentor in whatever path you took that you remember with gratitude?
Thanks for this special peek into your story . . . how lovely that your previous editor is so pleased to have a character in your book named for her [although I suspect anyone would find having a character named after them absolutely delightful] . . . .
ReplyDeleteI chuckled when you said your book was in the repair shop; I'm sure it will come out all fixed and perfect!
thanks Joan, I'm off to find the wrenches and maybe a blow torch today:)
DeleteHow fun to see where a character name came from. I don't think much about character names, but when I can get a back story like that, I really enjoy learning about it.
ReplyDeletethanks Mark!
DeleteLucy: Not to forget Tarot Card reader Ron Augustine and many police officers by name. I really like that you include explanations in your acknowledgements of the local characters who are in your books. It makes it more interesting and stories more believable to know they really exist.
Deletethanks for that. I sometimes wonder if I should have made everyone up, but people seem to like appearing in the books!
Deletethanks for the sneak peek. Names are important, in some way it defines the character. Yes, my mentor was Mr. I. He was the one who told me that I can do anything I want when everyone else around me was telling me to stay in my lane.
ReplyDeleteThat's a wonderful story--what a gift to you Dru Ann!
DeleteRoberta, I too am holding my breath, praying for my friends and family who are in the path of this monster storm. Friends, check in from Florida today if you can.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to know that you named a character after someone who helped you along the way. The real Anne Dubuisson sounds delighted to have a character named for herself. I think it is a great compliment.
Yes please do check in Florida Friends! I was up early to watch videos on FB. It's such a worry, these powerful storms...
DeleteI just read some NPR stories about Milton and the governor said it wasn't as bad as expected. Still bad, but more damage from flooding and loss of power.
DeleteI sure hope that's so...
DeleteCharacters' names are important to me, and I always wonder two things: How did the author come up with the name and why did they choose that name for that character. And I always love knowing the answer to both these questions!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Amanda. In the proposal I'm writing, I was lucky to have my two writing pals remind me that the names I was using did not match the times they were born. I definitely didn't want names to pull people out of the story!
DeleteI always check this, too, Lucy. If characters are given out-of-period names, family names, for instance, or just quirky ones, I try to reference that somewhere. But it can be hard to keep up! I know little girls named Clementine, Winifred, and Eleanor, all names we would have thought terribly old-fashioned that are now trendy, apparently!
DeleteDebs, I have Clementine and Winifred in my family tree, so have always been fond of those!
DeleteThat's lovely, Roberta! Yesterday I walked down to our local hardware store to ask its owner what name he wanted me to use - he was the high bidder for naming rights I donated ton our local historical museum live auction a couple of weeks ago. He was delighted to have his own name in the next Cece Barton mystery . "Wine?" he asked. "That's me." We sat there and chatted about California for a while, so you can expect to see Greg Jardis in my third Cece mystery!
ReplyDeleteMy early mentors? That would include you, Hallie, and Hank!
Good story Edith! I bet he was very pleased to talk with you and will treasure this book.
DeleteROBERTA: Thanks for sharing the origins of Annie D. I am glad you kept in
ReplyDeletetouch and that she was delighted to be a character in your new KW book.
One mentor was Linda M. She was one of 2 physical scientists in a division of 35 staff at Environment Canada's Toronto office. She hired me as a research assistant for two coop work terms to work on several climate change
projects. Linda had graduated from the same University of Waterloo environmental studies program 11 years before me. And I ended up working at Environment Canada as a climate change researcher for another 27 years.
How fortunate she was to have hired you Grace! and you to have her blazing the path.
DeleteInteresting question about characters' names. I am so bad at remembering characters' names. However, if the book is part of a series, then there is a better chance of recalling their names. Thank you for sharing the origins of Annie D. Hope you and your neighbors in Key West are safe from the hurricanes. Praying for everyone in the path.
ReplyDeleteCharacters' names are important to me. Sometimes the character's name stands out, especially when I am surprised that name would exist in that place and time. Sometimes the names are memorable like the characters whose parents decided to name their children after flowers or spices.
Someone else asked the same question that I wondered about. How do authors come up with names of characters? And I had another thought. Are there any names that authors REFUSE to give their characters because they do not like the name for whatever reason?
Funny story. Ellen Byron, who wrote the Vintage Cookbook series, wrote a book in the series and she told me that there is a character with my name Diana before publication. I told her that I am chuffed / honoured that she named a character after me.
I got a good chuckle out of the idea that parents name their kids after spices:). Turmeric? Paprika? I could go on and on...
DeleteLucy I like that you also include a lot of locals (by their real name) in your Key West books.
ReplyDeletethank you!
DeleteLucy. I loved that picture and always like hearing about life on a houseboat. I would really like to try that someday.
ReplyDeleteYes, character names can be very important. It becomes confusing when there are characters with similar names, but maybe that's just me. How wonderful that you wrote to the woman whose name you borrowed and that she replied so warmly.
Back in the days before I went to grad school I did some substitute teaching. The principal knew she could always count on me, but she rewarded me by saving me in case she had a last minute need. I definitely did not appreciate that. At the time I was working on a book and decided I would dedicate it to her, since she is the one who allowed me the time to do it. Sadly. none of that went anywhere since I was soon in grad school and too busy to do much of anything.
Such an interesting twist in your life Judi!
DeleteHoping all are safe in Florida as well. Lucy, the photo of houseboats could entice me to try a stay in one--especially with your snippet of story--that gentle rocking motion would be welcome. I've been fortunate enough to have many mentors during my lifetime--haven't used any as character names yet. Flora
ReplyDeleteI also named a cat after my favorite mentor in college, Gabriel.
DeleteAll is well where I am in Ocala, Florida. We have had 5” of rain in the past 24 hours and our highest winds were 58mph. We never lost power or internet although there I saw 40,000 reported out county-wide. I lived through much more frightening storms in Minnesota. My heart does go out to everyone in areas what were much harder hit.
ReplyDeleteOn to today’s topic. I realized I don’t particularly think about the character names in books and where they came from, but suppose I will now. Series characters do become like friends to me. If there is a character name I can’t pronounce I just make up my own.
Love your approach Brenda!
DeleteI was busy trying to make the real-life inspirations unrecognizable, so I didn't get around to naming anyone as an honorific. I even created a fictional town and county.
ReplyDeleteI just didn't want to be confronted with, "Rhonda--everybody in town knows that So&So is my no account brother." Now that my book is out, though, I'd secretly be tickled that everyone in town would've heard of my book. LOL
I hope they all do one day Rhonda!
DeleteLike so many of you, I'm also following the Milton story with horror and hoping for the best. Roberta, that is such a wonderful note from Anne Dubuisson; it would make me feel great.
ReplyDeleteI think my most important mentor was a British graduate student at university who made it his project to teach me how to write a good essay for the political history class I was taking as a freshman. I had to write six 10-12 page essays for this huge two-semester lecture class, and he was the TA whose job it was to grade my papers. When I wrote my first paper for the class, the kind of paper that would have gotten me a good grade in high school, he gave it a "C." I went to his office hours to ask him why I'd gotten a "C," and he said, "Well, you were just summarizing the reading. You hadn't come up with an interesting research question that you were using the reading and lectures to answer. Your paper had no thesis." Then he spent about an hour explaining what he meant, which was all new to me. I've never forgotten what he taught me about how to make writing interesting, and even though I now write fiction, what he said all those years ago still applies. I'm very grateful to him.
What a wonderful story, Kim!
Deletewow, I love that Kim! I remember a teacher in high school writing on one of my papers "not very insightful". I had no idea what she meant and someone explaining it as your grad student did would have been so helpful!
DeleteSeveral years ago, back in the infancy of the Internet, you and I discovered that we had attended the same high school in NJ, recognized by its all-girl bagpipe band. Although I think I was a few years ahead of you. So I have to ask, which teacher was this?
DeleteIt’s disturbing to me when an adult character has a name that was not popular when they were born. I always wonder how much research the author did into names.
ReplyDeleteA long time ago I read a murder mystery in which a teenaged girl was murdered. An investigator interviewed her best friend — who had the same first and last name as one of my nieces. And the character was the same age as my niece. The entire time that I read the book I hoped that the character would not also get murdered, or that she wouldn’t turn out to be the killer! (She didn’t and she wasn’t!)
DebRo
that's a distressing coincidence Deb!
DeleteSending you lots of wrenches and virtual Cuban coffee, Lucy, to get you through your edits!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely response from your former editor--we are glad she recognized your talent.
My mentor would have been Warren Norwood (Gigi's late husband) who was my writing teacher and encouraged me to finish and submit my first novel. Although I dedicated a book to Warren, I've never named a character after him. Hmmm...
I forgot to say how much I loved the houseboat photo, although I never think of Hayley's or Miss Gloria's as having two stories.
DeleteI enjoy learning about the people who have inspired the characters' names. It feels like I've actually been to the Keys when I know the "real" people behind the characters.
ReplyDeleteSomething that really drives me crazy is when a book contains characters all beginning with the same first or first two letters, i.e. Kathy, Kayla and Karin. Trying to unravel which character is speaking can be draining and draw away from the actual plot. Times like that I wonder what motives someone to populate a work with so many names that are similar and central to the plot or a subplot. Couldn't they pick any other letter of the alphabet to use for a name?? Truly, I want to know if it is deliberate or it just doesn't matter to editors, first readers, etc. Maybe I'm just a whining reader?? - - Victoria
I sometimes dream of writing a historical novel based in my city, and I think about how awful it would be if I named a character who was a horrid person after someone's family member, accidentally!
ReplyDeleteRoberta, I've had this chat open since mid-morning, but every time I come back to comment, it triggers me to check the live updates from the Washington Post. Adult ADD! Maybe it's time to listen to my kids and talk to my doctor about Ritalin.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, I love adding names as little nods to friends and family. In my novels, I have characters named after my mother, my sister, her husband, my brother and his dog (I haven't used my sister-in-law because her name is Julia and I don't want anyone to think I'm self inserting!)
In my novel that's currently in the repair shop (LOVE that analogy!) there's a single sentence where I use my son's name (again, hard to do since it's part of my last name) and a real-life event that happened in my church. So readers, keep an eye out for a very naughty King's page at the St. Alban's Christmas pageant.
I don't think much about character names, but when it is someone's real name, I always like to hear the story - friend, contest winner, charity event bid, etc.
ReplyDeleteI just got a manuscript back from the repair shop and finished it. I'm about to send it back and hoping I didn't break it more. :)
How wonderful, Lucy! A nice nod to someone impactful in your life. I don't use a lot of real people, but I did murder in the Hub's boss in my first mystery. Stuffed him in a drunk and drowned him. Very cathartic and involved no jail time :)
ReplyDeleteI think it must be hard to name characters. Last night at bookclub, several people were reviewing a recent fantasy book with two young characters names Lucy and Linus. I kept expecting Charlie and Schroeder to pop up too. If I ever read that book I will be looking for resonances in the text to Schultz. Also, I am put off when names make up some deep mythological framework in the story. Honestly, I'm happy to not remember the names of most characters (ADHD brain: here now, now gone.).
ReplyDeleteMy mentor was my high school politics teacher. He taught us how the US was made, shaped and worked and it created a life long interest for me.