When working on a new story, I have to come up with some new names for all those characters sticking their noses into the plot. When I read, I always cringe when I come across characters names that are really odd or unpronounceable. It won't make me put a book down, but it does make it more difficult to remember the character's names should I want to tell someone about the book. I tend to go with simple names though not necessarily common.
As a teacher, I encounter a lot of names and many strange spellings of said name. Or course, I don't want any of my students to think they're appearing in my books but how can I resist names like Vannie, Primo and Austyn?
On the other hand, my siblings may have noticed their names appearing in some of my books. They're always the good guys. I'm not crazy enough to make four sisters and two brothers angry at me.
A brief shout out to my friend, Misty Simon, who has received a contract for another novel with TWRP. Her last novel, What's Life Without Sprinkles?, is now available and a really fun read.
So have you been using the names of friends or family in your novel? Anybody name a character after you? Would you be insulted if they did?
