What's in a Name?

When my daughter was born, we had already spent two or three months thinking about baby names.  We eliminated many from the baby book and had it narrowed down to a top ten of boy names and girl names.  Can you see Letterman doing a top ten of your baby names?  Trust me after being a teacher for years, there were some names eliminated right away.

I loved names that were from my favorite shows and embodied the unique nature I wanted for my child.  Names like Jade, Rhiannon, or Sydney.  I wanted strong names for my son. Names like Kane, Seth, and Wade.

Coming up with a name for my characters is often just as challenging.  It's imporant to think carefully about the characters when you write the story.  As an author, you decide everything from their hair color to their physical attributes.  Their name has to "fit" the characters as much as their looks.

With my Wilder Sisters stories, I've already thought about the five girls' names.  For me it was important that all the girls have the same beginning letter.  Since Syndie's story was the first story, I realized that all her sisters must begin with the letter "S".  I wrote down a list of names that started with "S" and have begun to write the other stories with those names. Syndie Wilder of Forever Love is the oldest sister.  Stacey from Beach Desires is the fourth sister.  I'm currently working on a third book in the series.  What name would you choose? Stephanie? Shelby? Susan?  Doesn't each one convey a different memory for you? Or a different picture of the charcter?

Syndie had to be unique.  She was a girl who left town right after high school.  She was SYN with a capital S, only in reality she was a 'good girl' who lost her boyfriend for not putting out.  Her sister had to be just as important.  Stacey was a girl who was hiding her true self her entire life.  Stacey fit in and conformed.  She didn't make waves.  That is until she broke the chains of small town life and was free to be honest about her sexuality.

If you would like to read Stacey Wilder's story, check out the fun summer romance of Beach Desires, available now at Amazon, All Romance and Secret Cravings Publishing.  http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-beachdesires-804335-149.html

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