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Tuesday 18 August 2009

And you are?


Now that I sent off my werewolf book to my editor several days ago, I’ve been thinking about the next book. I knocked a lot of the dialogue up for it at work. I just couldn’t think up a character name for the hero. I started with…let’s say John – he’s not called John…no, there’s no reason a hero can’t be called John but in this book I want a particular vibe and John doesn’t fit it…anyway so I had my generic ‘John’ and I just needed a surname.

On my way to the gym this morning I drove along mumbling names to myself. If you see a person mumbling in the street, 4 to 1 odds they’re a writer or a lunatic…same difference some times. I tend to mumble a lot as I work through dialogue in my head. I also have a habit of staring into space visualizing the practicalities of what a character is doing. People who know me say “Uh-oh, she’s gone again.”

Anyway, as I drove I was looking at signs. The gym is near my work which is in an industrial zone. Signs like pallet and truck and bobcat abound. John Truck, John Hydraulic, John Steelmesh, John Safety-glass. At the gym I came up with John Stairmaster, John Rower, John Treadmill, John Kickbag. They just don’t fly do they?

As I drove home all hot and sweaty, I looked at street names. Drott? Um no. Campbell? Nope, not if your affiliated with the McDonald Clan. John Jeenly. Weird. John Coolabah. Nah, too Aussie. And then I saw the name. I screeched the car to a halt and grabbed a pen and notebook from the passenger seat and scribbled the name down. Perfect name for my smart arse hero. What will the book be about? It’s based on my time working in the manufacturing side of the music industry. Lots of interesting stuff happens there. Work 29 jobs and you’ll always have the basis of a story.

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3 comments:

Anny Cook said...

Ah.... It's John Letsdrivethereaderscrazy!

Sandra Cox said...

I kinda like John Rower

Unknown said...

Some of my stories are based on my past jobs - ijn particular the Air Force but not only.

I get a lot of names from our data base at work - not together but mix and match. I also like to check out genealogy sites. They have a lot of different ones.