Author Journey: September 30, 2022 - What's in a Name? Everything

 Yep. Today snuck up on me, kinda like this whole week. I made it back to write a post, though. Maybe it'll be on time, but Spartacus and Dusk have a vet appointment this morning. We'll see. I'm just glad I have a topic and a few things to share with you. 

Author Journey: Writing Update

Last week we stayed busy with Spartacus' recovery (neutered), my asthma started kicking up pretty bad, and school still needing to be done. Not much writing got done except for a class I'll be teaching at church next month. I started early on that because the topic is prayer and it's important. I also want it to be comprehensive, so I need to be thorough and succinct. So it's doubly important that I get to work on that lesson so I can edit it and make sure it is what it should be.

I haven't been sleeping too well because of the allergies kicking up. It's harvest season in our area and rice and soybean dust are everywhere we go. Anyone who fights nasal or breathing allergies down here will tell you, that's a nightmare. It's also not so helpful for my imagination, even though the weather has been cool and breezy. Watch Louisiana do the autumn! 

What's in a Name?

Everything. Yep. Names are important. Even the Bible says so. "A good name is more desirable than great riches..." (Proverbs 22:1)

I take great care in crafting names for my characters. I look up meanings and/or definitions. When crafting names out of mixed up syllables from different languages, I'm careful to watch for meaning of the item I type into the box for translation. 

Of course, once I mess with the syllables, it no longer has the same meaning in any of the languages I used to craft it, but it hopefully has no equivalent in any other language, either.  I do double-check, but I'm human and fallible. I may miss something from time to time.

I was careful with the names we gave our children, too. 'Noah' means 'rest.' Shiloh means 'peace.' And we used to joke that we got no rest and no peace with them, so we went totally different with our third child, naming her Rowan. The rowan tree is said to have protective properties in pagan cultures, but that's not why I suggested it to my husband. 

One of my favorite books growing up was about a girl who was an orphan and a misfit. People didn't know exactly how to handle her or train her in her telepathic/telekenetic abilities. They didn't know her name and she couldn't tell them when she was found. So they dubbed her The Rowan and the book was titled the same. It might be interesting to note that she was key to protecting her world from a huge threat, so her character was well-named indeed. 

Also interesting to note, we may not have gotten much rest or peace with our kids growing up in the home. However, they've grown into their names, and did so fairly quickly. Noah has always been a good helper and eases many burdens for those who struggle to get things done. He's giving rest to many. Shiloh is a peacemaker among her friends and family, though she is quite aggressive in her methods. 😂 And Rowan seeks to nurture and protect others, even at great cost to herself. We're working on helping her balance that out. 

Isn't it interesting, though, how a name can be so important? How it can convey a lot about a character? The names of every character in Ripples tell the reader a little about the character, though for some, the character doesn't show up often enough for the reader to see how. 

One example of the latter is Bay'rach, Yetsye's dad. His name is a variation on the Hebrew name Barak which means 'blessing, spark.' I was looking for a name which had something to do with storms because the character is loosely based on my husband who loves photographing lightning and has a curious mind. 

Ya'el comes from the Hebrew Yael (or in the King James Version of the Bible, Jael) and means 'mountain goat' or 'doe.' I chose it for Yetsye's sister because Jael is my absolute favorite woman of the Bible. If you'd like to read what she did, you can find her story in the book of Judges. In her case, I just chose the name because I liked it. However, her character is sort of like a goat. She's curious and clever and when she's mad, get out of her way. 

So, yes, names are really important and I take them seriously. Most of the time. 

In my current short story, I totally grabbed these names out of the air. I've tossed the name Merry Lee around in my head for a long while. It was a pleasure to be able to alter it a tad and use it for this story. And to me, it means exactly what it sounds like in the English language - merrily! 

Eerk (pronouned Airk) is a favorite name from the movie and book 'Willow.' I loved that character because he was noble, even until he died. So I chose that name because a different character with the same name showed a noble character. 

I've expounded long enough. Let me share another chapter with you. 

Just Keep Writing: Knock, Breathe, Shine

Chapter 6 - Shining Fury

A sharp clatter shook Eerk out of his restless slumber. As if from far away, he could hear crashing and a person’s raised voice in a different room. What was Merili up to?

The clatter came again. This time, he heard her clearly. “You’ll not be destroying my work for the Guardian, Mar’l Beghinz. I’ve been working on this for the last two minsikin and I’d still be working through the dusking if you hadn’t interrupted me with your noisy clamor.”

If the situation wasn’t so serious, he would’ve loosed the chuckle that pushed against his throat. He could picture her, hands on hips, dark eyebrows angled down in a fierce scowl, and those blue eyes flashing in fury. Why she remained fixed in his mind more than even his own madri wasn’t so great a mystery. He just didn’t know what to do with the knowledge. He wasn’t exactly in a position to offer a stable life for a mate. So once again, he placed the matter safely in the hands of his Creator and calmed his mind. 

“Get out of my home, Mar’l! You’ve no right to come barging in, breaking my things. This is for our own Guardian!” The distress in her voice stirred a burning in his core. This was all his fault. 

The humorless laugh and the threat which followed settled the matter for Eerk. “We know he’s here, Merili. Your fire and beauty are no match for the three of us, especially when we’re following the orders of the council of Senya.”

“Great Giver of Life, All-Powerful Kai’yanga,” he murmured softly, “give me strength to defend those weaker than I, the outnumbered, those who fight for your cause and are your true Children. Lend me your strength that I may fight with honor and dignity for your glory alone.” 

His prayer finished, Eerk struggled out of the soft bed. Scanning her room, he found several things which would make adequate weapons. Drawing on dormant memories and habits, he moved silently collecting the items and stowing them on his person. When he needed them, they’d be easy to grasp and use.  A metal rod with a wooden handle slipped securely onto a belt at his waist. A sort of chisel unlike any they had in D’Koruyi fit into one pocket of his blood-smeared tunic. A handful of large, glashiin baubles weighed down the pocket of his breeches. Last of all, he spied a small, sharp blade sitting atop a small table. It wasn’t much, but these would do. 

Merili’s home wasn’t large enough for the brawl he was certain would ensue once he showed himself. If only he had his jabit’ta, a brawl wouldn’t be necessary. The small throwing blades were his specialty, but they'd have given him away had he carried them with him to Shinnoah.

Merili was going to be right in the thick of it, too, just as she had tried to come to his rescue that first dawning when he’d seen her. He wanted more than anything to keep her safe, especially since she proved him right. A scuffle drew his gaze. Two shadows had joined and the resultant picture set fire roaring through his soul. He crept as carefully as a tam’na through the prairie grasses, making his way to the doorway, and peeked around the frame. 

Friday Fascicles: Three-Word Prompt

If this is your first time participating in such a writing exercise, you're in for a treat.

Rules:

1. You can use any/all of the words and/or the photo in the prompt below to create a unique written work. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, even lyrics are acceptable.  
2. Please keep the material you write clean (ie. nothing R-rated or worse) if you wish to share the link to your work here, as well as if you link back to my site. I strive to keep my site free of such things. My readers know and expect this. I respect your right to write whatever you feel you need to write. And you're free to use my prompts. But if your material is graphic, I'd rather not view it, and most of my readers will not wish to. 
3. Have fun! This type of exercise is perfect for growing in the writing craft, or for helping through a rough patch in your current WIP. If you're looking to push your author limits and you normally write in nonfiction prose, try a whimsical collection of lyrics. If you normally write poems about real life events, try your hand at a fanfic. Give yourself some room to explore.

Don't forget to leave a link to your creation (unless you're writing graphic material) so my readers and I can check out your work. I'd appreciate a link back to this post to help me reach more readers, but it's not required. 

Today's photo is courtesy of Olya Kobruseva. You can check out this photographer's awesome gallery at Pexels.com. 

Thank y'all so much for reading! Come back next Friday for another chapter of my short story. I hope I'll be able to get back to writing more of the story soon. If not, I may have to just work on it during Nanowrimo next month...but then it won't be much of a short story. Well, my plan isn't solidified as of yet, so...

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