I'm horrible with names. I love picking first names for my characters, because I always give them a name that means something.
Blanche, for instance, is the descendant of Snow White. Blanche is french for White. Voila. Each of my main characters has a similar story behind their name.
But last names are my downfall. I picked one at random for Ms. Blanche, only to discover that the last name I picked was someone I went to high school with... who was named Blanche. Fail on my part. But rather than sit there and go through dozens of name possibilities, and making sure that the names meant something for the characters, I posted it to my friends. What should I name my characters?
So, I now introduce you to my main character cast:
Blanche Mitchell
Aileen Fisher
Jason Johnson
Rowan Maxwell
Dawn Stern
And my supplemental characters:
Madge Reynard (affectionately known as Nana)
Wilhelm Herrmann
Thomas Fisher (Aileen's brother)
Harold and Eleanor Johnson (Jason's mother and father)
Everyone else, at this time, who has a name does not have a first and last name. For instance, I have Susie, the receptionist at the office Jason works. I have David, a stablehand at the stables that Aileen frequents. They aren't important enough to the story to either get names that matter or get both first and last names. Poor things, I know. Of course, Jason's parents fall into that category, but since they're family, they get a last name too. They just got lucky that way.
In terms of the word count... I'm back to being a day behind, but I've finally gotten a rough layout of how I want the novel to finish up, so maybe I'll be able to get all caught up and finish the thing by Friday. I'm debating whether or not I want to enter the Virtuosos competition. I'd like to think that I wrote a pretty good novel, but I know it needs heavy editing, and I'm not sure I'll have the time to keep up with things come January, when I start Surgery.
Well, I suppose it's a moot point if I don't finish the novel by Friday midnight. So I guess I'll just wait until then to see where I go from there.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Six Sentence Sunday (NaNo Day 25)
So... I got behind again this week. Actually, I never really caught up. So much for thinking my vacation would stimulate me to actually write. Mostly I've just been lazy. Which is perfectly okay, since I haven't had a break in 9 months, but it's hurting the word count a bit. I'm working on it still. I still til the end of the week to finish.
This week's six comes from the rising action as I rapidly approach the yet unknown climax. It is a conversation between Aileen and Rowan that takes place after Dawn is incapacitated and Rowan is frustrated with being unable to help.
He grumbled as he dabbed his jacket with a napkin. “Not that it matters much. She's far too interested in her dress-making than she is in a relationship right now.”
Her response was measured. “Did it ever occur to you that she feels the same way, but doesn't want to lose your friendship? Why on Earth would she go looking for another relationship when the guy she wants to be with is around her. ..."
Enjoy!
For more sixes, visit Six Sentence Sunday. Be aware that many erotica authors participate and there is no restriction on the content, so enter at your own risk.
Follow my NaNo progress:
This week's six comes from the rising action as I rapidly approach the yet unknown climax. It is a conversation between Aileen and Rowan that takes place after Dawn is incapacitated and Rowan is frustrated with being unable to help.
He grumbled as he dabbed his jacket with a napkin. “Not that it matters much. She's far too interested in her dress-making than she is in a relationship right now.”
Her response was measured. “Did it ever occur to you that she feels the same way, but doesn't want to lose your friendship? Why on Earth would she go looking for another relationship when the guy she wants to be with is around her. ..."
Enjoy!
For more sixes, visit Six Sentence Sunday. Be aware that many erotica authors participate and there is no restriction on the content, so enter at your own risk.
Follow my NaNo progress:
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Teaser Tuesday (NaNo Day 20)
Well, ladies and gents, I've almost managed to catch back up from last week's no writing fiasco. I'm up to yesterday's word count goal, which means all I need to do is write about 3000 words tomorrow and I'll be all caught up again.
Shouldn't be too hard, right?
It's a good thing I'm on break all this week. If I try really, really hard, I might even be able to finish completely before going back to school Monday. Stranger things have happened...
Of course, now I've reached the turning point in the novel, and I'm having to go back and explain some things that I've come to realize I need to let the readers in on earlier in the novel.
Which is where today's excerpt comes from. Previously, I have talked about how Aileen is a horse whisperer of sorts. But it seems as if she's having a bit of an off day now. Poor thing. I just keep doing mean things to her. To all my characters, really. But it's okay, they'll bounce back just fine in the end.
When she arrived, she found David calming down her horse. She approached slowly, and the horse neighed loudly, dancing away from her. Frowning, she sat down against the fence and waited until David put the horse back into its stall. He came out and handed her a bottle of water, sitting down beside her.
"I was worried when he showed up without you. What happened?"
She took a generous gulp of water and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Something is up with him today. He was a bit skittish when I was getting him saddled up, but I figured he was just antsy about getting out, since I haven't been by in a few days. But he kept tugging at the reins the whole time I had him canter, so I tried to stop him. He didn't like that very much... he threw me off and ran back here. I managed to jump off so I didn't land on my back, but I twisted my ankle when I landed, so it took me a little while to get moving again."
David shook his head and took a swig from his own bottle. "Wonder what's up. You don't usually have any problems with the horses, and he seemed perfectly content to let me put him back in the stall."
She shrugged and tugged off her boot. "Maybe it's me, then. I must be having an off day." She pulled off her sock and winced at the black and blue splotches covering her ankle.
He whistled. "Looks like it hurts. You sure you don't need me to bring you anywhere? I mean, I know you're superwoman and managed to walk back up the trail by yourself, but it's only going to get worse now that your boot is off."
She squeezed her ankle slowly, her breath catching every so often from the pain. "I'll be okay, I think. Just need to get home and get some ice on it." She made to stand and quickly lost her balance.
"Oh, no you don't," David said, catching her arms. "We'll get you set up in the office until the swelling goes down. Then we'll wrap you up. You're not going to be able to make it from the car to your place with how it is now."
Thanks for reading!
Follow my NaNo progress:
Shouldn't be too hard, right?
It's a good thing I'm on break all this week. If I try really, really hard, I might even be able to finish completely before going back to school Monday. Stranger things have happened...
Of course, now I've reached the turning point in the novel, and I'm having to go back and explain some things that I've come to realize I need to let the readers in on earlier in the novel.
Which is where today's excerpt comes from. Previously, I have talked about how Aileen is a horse whisperer of sorts. But it seems as if she's having a bit of an off day now. Poor thing. I just keep doing mean things to her. To all my characters, really. But it's okay, they'll bounce back just fine in the end.
When she arrived, she found David calming down her horse. She approached slowly, and the horse neighed loudly, dancing away from her. Frowning, she sat down against the fence and waited until David put the horse back into its stall. He came out and handed her a bottle of water, sitting down beside her.
"I was worried when he showed up without you. What happened?"
She took a generous gulp of water and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Something is up with him today. He was a bit skittish when I was getting him saddled up, but I figured he was just antsy about getting out, since I haven't been by in a few days. But he kept tugging at the reins the whole time I had him canter, so I tried to stop him. He didn't like that very much... he threw me off and ran back here. I managed to jump off so I didn't land on my back, but I twisted my ankle when I landed, so it took me a little while to get moving again."
David shook his head and took a swig from his own bottle. "Wonder what's up. You don't usually have any problems with the horses, and he seemed perfectly content to let me put him back in the stall."
She shrugged and tugged off her boot. "Maybe it's me, then. I must be having an off day." She pulled off her sock and winced at the black and blue splotches covering her ankle.
He whistled. "Looks like it hurts. You sure you don't need me to bring you anywhere? I mean, I know you're superwoman and managed to walk back up the trail by yourself, but it's only going to get worse now that your boot is off."
She squeezed her ankle slowly, her breath catching every so often from the pain. "I'll be okay, I think. Just need to get home and get some ice on it." She made to stand and quickly lost her balance.
"Oh, no you don't," David said, catching her arms. "We'll get you set up in the office until the swelling goes down. Then we'll wrap you up. You're not going to be able to make it from the car to your place with how it is now."
Thanks for reading!
Follow my NaNo progress:
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Six Sentence Sunday (NaNo Day 18)
Yeah, I've been really bad at writing this past week. As in, I managed to get all caught up with everything on Monday, and then didn't write on Tuesday-Friday. And yesterday, the writing went very slowly. I have several thousand words to catch up on (still have roughly 7000 at the time of writing this). Good thing I have no responsibilities for the next week, huh?
This week's six is hot off the press, so to speak, seeing as how I just wrote it last night. So many things have developed in the past week, and our character's lives are intersecting in some interesting ways.
The scene takes place at Stitch in Time (the dress shop Dawn and her grandmother own), after Dawn is found unconscious by Aileen. She has been brought to the back room, where a bed has been set up for her. Rowan has arrived and is none too happy about the situation.
Rowan paced the room anxiously, constantly looking at the bed. “We should bring her to the hospital,” he argued.
“I told you before, Rowan. It will do her no good to go to a hospital. They cannot help her,” Nana said calmly, carefully examining her granddaughter's hands.
“What are we supposed to do then?” he snapped, then ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
Nana can certainly handle her own, can't she?
For more, visit Six Sentence Sunday. Be aware that authors from across the genre and audience spectrum participate, so several entries are rated M (Mature). Read at your own risk.
This week's six is hot off the press, so to speak, seeing as how I just wrote it last night. So many things have developed in the past week, and our character's lives are intersecting in some interesting ways.
The scene takes place at Stitch in Time (the dress shop Dawn and her grandmother own), after Dawn is found unconscious by Aileen. She has been brought to the back room, where a bed has been set up for her. Rowan has arrived and is none too happy about the situation.
Rowan paced the room anxiously, constantly looking at the bed. “We should bring her to the hospital,” he argued.
“I told you before, Rowan. It will do her no good to go to a hospital. They cannot help her,” Nana said calmly, carefully examining her granddaughter's hands.
“What are we supposed to do then?” he snapped, then ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
Nana can certainly handle her own, can't she?
For more, visit Six Sentence Sunday. Be aware that authors from across the genre and audience spectrum participate, so several entries are rated M (Mature). Read at your own risk.
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