When Names Slip Away

One thing they never tell you about child raising is that for the rest of your life, at the drop of a hat, you are expected to know your child’s name and how old he or she is ~Erma Bombeck

While that is surely true for mothers, it’s also very true for writers. In the past when I give a book talk, somebody will ask something about one of the characters in this or that book. They will have forgotten the name, but they expect me to remember. That’s understandable. They may have read the character’s story, but they didn’t invent them and live with them for a year or more while sharing their stories. No, I was the one who did that. But those names can slide down into the murky depths of past books. I nearly always know my main characters. Nearly always. But sometimes the names slip away, especially if it wasn’t a major character in the story.

Sometimes I’m the one trying to tell about this or that character in my stories and I have to ask those listening a character’s name was. As if I wasn’t the one who named him or her. Usually, somebody in the group will take pity on me and tell me the name. You’d think I’d do some last minute name cramming so that wouldn’t happen. The truth is I’ve named a lot of men, women, children, dogs, cats, and various other animals throughout my writing years.

I do remember the name of my main female character in my first published novel way back in 1978. Sarah. And that was before I had a granddaughter named Sarah. In that book I had a little brother named Johnny, a wrong love interest named Cave and a right man named Matthew – I think. I could be wrong on that Matthew name. I have no idea what my main characters were named in my second published novel 44 years ago.  I’ll have to hunt up that old book and check.

Meanwhile closer to now, I do remember the names in my Heart of Hollyhill books. At least all the important characters. Probably. But then I did write three books about them, Scent of Lilacs, Orchard of Hope, Summer of Joy, and I did not so long ago do the narration for those audio books. Reading the stories aloud has a way of planting the words/names in my head. I also don’t havew problems remembering the characters in my recent release, The Song of Sourwood Mountain. Well, most of them anyway.

I certainly remember Ada June since seeing her name on my church’s prayer list was the inspiration for her character. Not sure why, but that name spoke to me. However, I might have to peek back into the pages to bring up all the mountain characters. There was Nicey Jane. And Ada June’s dog, Bo. But there were so many more making appearances on those pages.  Also, I’ve already moved past that story to name and write about all the characters in my next spring’s story, The Pursuit of Elena Bradford. And now I’m in the process of naming a whole new cast of characters for my work in progress.

A lot of people must be named in a novel. Of course I start out with the main characters, my hero and heroine. Then I give them family members and friends and sometimes enemies. We are surrounded by people who have names. So are characters.

Those names circle us like a swarm of bees. Sometimes the names stick and rise up to our lips when we need to speak the name. Sometimes the name is firmly entrenched in our brain, but it refuses to come out where we can say it. At least, not when we want to remember the name. It might show up hours later while we’re thinking about something totally different. The name can pop into our head out of the blue and sometimes we’ll say we knew it started with a “J” or whatever letter.

For certain, I will remember Ada June’s, Mira’s, Gordon’s names for a while. Oh, and Bo, Ada June’s dog. Some of the other names may slide a little away and already have to be dredged back up. At the book event yesterday, I met three ladies I have talked to many times at book events in that area. I couldn’t come up with their names although I remembered them but… I had to ask their names. One was Kayla, and I really enjoy talking with her. I intend to remember her name in case we meet again, but will I? Maybe. I hope so. Then there were two sisters, Selinda and Yvonne. When Selinda told me her name, I told her I thought I had used that name in The Song of Sourwood Mountain. The baby, but then I wasn’t sure. I just looked it up to be sure, and I was right.  Maybe she will get a kick out of seeing her name in the book she bought.

I hate it when I can’t remember the name of someone or when a person comes up to me and talks as though we’ve been fast friends for years but I have no idea what their name might be. I need to keep notes, but that could be a lot of notes. I give myself an excuse. All those names of people I actually know get stirred into the mix of hundreds of names I’ve come up with to name characters in the 40 plus books I’ve written. It’s a wonder I remember my own name. I’m pretty sure it’s Ann. Without an e. 🙂

Two questions for you now.

First, do you have trouble remembering names?

Second, I’m wobbling on my new main character’s name. I’ve already completely changed it once. Now I have a name in mind but I can go two ways with it. My character is a mountain girl. I’m going to name her Callie. I’m pretty sure I am. So here’s your question.

Which do you like better Callie Mae or Callie Sue?