WHAT'S IN A NAME?

In case you didn't know, my name isn't real.  Well, it's sort of real, in that RO is a shortened version of my actual name.  When people greet me for the first time, they want to add more to those two letters, but I just laugh and change the subject in most instances.

As a kid who happened to be a tomboy and a nerd, I hated my name.  It wasn't until I joined the Air Force that I embraced the romance of it with drastic and sometimes funny results.  Eventually, to avoid the total butchering of my name, and to make it easier, I just took the liberty of shortening it.  I think my name suits my personality and my height - short. (lol)

In the book world, we see names all the time.  We see writers who use their real names for some books and pseudonyms for others.  Some writers just use initials, or initials and a last name. As readers we've grown attached to characters with over the top names, scary names, simple names, memorable names or names that may not make much sense until we delve a little deeper into their stories.  No novel comes without someone who doesn't become personal to us or someone we can talk about with others.

Many years ago, I read a book by Jennifer Blake called Southern Rapture, that was published in 1987.  The hero of the story was called Ransom.  Oh my goodness - everything about him oozed sexiness, strength and sensitivity. His name fit him perfectly and totally rocked. He was all I could talk about for months!    I ended up writing a letter raving about that novel, telling Ms. Blake that I wanted my son to have that cool name! (lol)   We weren't sending e-mails back then, so imagine my surprise when she wrote me back 2 weeks later thanking me and sharing cool tidbits about her life.  

http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Rapture-Louisiana-History-Collection-ebook/dp/B0098O4X84/ref=pd_sim_351_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=04CHN0S6T8V63PG7HHXV
Even though he is internationally known, we're used to reading about "E. L." Doctorow, the guy who wrote Billy Bathgate. not Edgar Lawrence. 

When we think about the classic Lady Chatterly's Lover, D.H. Lawrence comes to mind.  Who in the heck is David Herbert Richards Lawrence?

Jessica Rowley Pell Bird is nowhere on our radar when reading all about the Black Dagger Brotherhood.  To us, she's just J.R. Ward.

Romance authors definitely have neat names that suit the nature of their books, and that's really fun.

Something about a person's name is important to me.  Even if it isn't real.  I think it says something about you.

But what about you?  Do you love your name?  Does it reflect who you are as a person?  Do you care about the names of your characters in a novel?  Does it matter that your favorite author may be using a make believe name?

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