Naming the 4 legged characters in my books

Hi, Winnie Griggs here.

Most of my books include an animal of some sort, usually a cat or a dog, a pet of one of the main characters.   And I always spend every bit as long finding just the right name for the animals as I do for any of my two-legged cast members.   I usually come up with an discard any number of names until I find one that just ‘feels’ right.

As a result, some of the names I have come up with have been rather mundane, some on the unique side.  Along the way I've had dogs named Kip, Jasper, Buck, Cookie, Poppy and Skipper.  Horses have carried names like Cinnamon, Homer, Cocoa, Licorice, Monarch and Scout.  I even had a pet bird in one of my stories named Sweetie Pie.  I got really creative with the cats, and they ended up with names such as Mustard, Daffy, Tully, Patience and even Othello.

In my latest book, my heroine has a dog that I had to try out about a dozen names for before I finally settled on one I was happy with.  The name I came up with was Rufus and as soon as I found his name he came to life for me.  Ivy also has a mule, the first one I’ve featured in a book, and unlike with Rufus, his name came to me immediately.  As soon as he popped on the page I knew his name was Jubal.  I even tried out a few others to see if something else would work better, but no, it had to be Jubal.

So what about you?  Do the names of the animals in the books you read play at all into how you picture them?  And if you have a pet of your own, how did you go about selecting the name for him/her?

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And to celebrate the release of Lone Star Heiress this month, I’ll give a copy away to one person who leaves a comment here.

LONE STAR HEIRESS
Book 4 of The Texas Grooms series

Rescuer Turned Husband? 

Plucky Ivy Feagan is headed to Turnabout, Texas, to claim an inheritance, not a widower's heart. That all changes when strapping schoolteacher Mitch Parker rescues her in the wilderness. Straightlaced Mitch has never met a woman like Ivy—beautiful, adventurous and good-hearted—but he already lost love once and doesn't dare try again.

When Turnabout's gossips target Mitch and Ivy's friendship, he proposes to save her reputation. But Ivy doesn't want to marry for honor, and she doesn't need to marry for money. Ivy will only agree to a proposal made for love's sake—but will Mitch make his heart part of the marriage offer? 

Texas Grooms: In search of their brides… 

Naming the Hero in The Christmas Child

Linda Goodnight here. Most of my characters come to me with a name, but when I began writing THE CHRISTMAS CHILD, the reticent hero wouldn’t tell me a thing! So, knowing I have brilliant readers, I hopped onto Facebook and ask for help. The hero was a seasoned undercover agent with a wounded spirit, cynical and aloof, but a good man at the core. That’s all the info I knew and all my helpers needed to come with some terrific ideas. Over the period of several days and lots of cool names that I kept for future reference, a consensus formed around the name Kade McKendrick. Perfect, I thought, for this particular hero.


So, a year later, THE CHRISTMAS CHILD, book four in the Redemption River series, is finally on the shelves. If you helped with Kade’s name, thank you! If you weren’t in on the name game, I hope you’ll check him out just the same and let me know what you think.

Thanks, friends!

Read an excerpt

One quick question: Does it bother you to see Christmas books and items this early? Or are you one of those who can’t wait to get started?

Finding Inspiration for Characters by Merrillee Whren

What can serve as inspiration for a character or a set of characters? I don't know about other writers, but my characters come to me in a variety of ways. One of my early attempts at writing a novel came as the result of my mother's sudden death. I wrote a story about a heroine who was coming back home to her mother's funeral. Writing that story helped me cope. The book went through numerous versions before it finally sold many years later. I was thrilled when that story was published because it is dear to my heart. Here is that book.



The hero and heroine in the story that became my first Love Inspired book formed in my mind because of a song by Dwight Yoakam called "Ain't That Lonely Yet." The song tells that story of a guy who got dumped by his girl, and now she's back and trying to patch things up. He doesn't want anything to do with it. The characters in my book, THE HEART'S HOMECOMING, were born as a result of that song.



Secondary characters often become the heroes or heroines in subsequent books. The heroine of LOVE WALKED IN, Beth Carlson, didn't even have a name in THE HEART'S HOMECOMING. She was only referred to as Max's mom. Max was a fourteen-year-old boy in the story. We see Max again as a troubled teen in LOVE WALKED IN. Ever since I wrote about Max, I've wanted to give him his own love story. But before I could do that, I had to tell Brittany Gorman's story. She and Max eventually become high school sweethearts, but if you read my upcoming January 2012 book, MONTANA MATCH, you will see that their relationship doesn't last.



I could go on and on about what makes characters spring to life in my mind, but I want to know what kind of characters grab your attention? Do you like to read about people who are larger than life or a character who is more like you? What kind of characters stay with you long after you have read a book?