The character's name can't be too confusing either. Your reader might read Amieriel and just settle on Amy, instead, for ease of comprehension. It's a delicate line to balance, especially in the science fiction/ fantasy worlds of Lothlórian and Arrakis and Cthulhu. You desire to use that sweet name you uncovered in the depths of lore you spent hours researching. The one with the Latin root and the Germanic ending, but with the accent of the French. You want to ensure the character's name has meaning and is central to the plot as an Easter egg for your most enthusiastic, devoted fans.
You name her Amy after all. Amieriel gets hard to type after a while. Is it i before e?
You find the name doesn't fit. You try different ones on like clothes, writing long paragraphs to test them out. Something just isn't right. The other characters won't cooperate. The dialogue doesn't flow. They stand around the battleground of your imagination, hands on their hips, saying, "Amy? Really? Is that the best you can do?"
You end up using a simple letter to denominate the character's name so you can keep writing. The most basic thing—a name—can't stop you, the proficient writer that you are. Yet, 2am creeps around, keeping you up pondering the truth behind a name, mulling over the meaning behind what you call someone you created out of thin air. How can these characters be so defiant, so demanding of your poor brain?
You find the most glorious name of all the names. It means "titan of the dawn." There's even lore behind it that ties in with another facet of your tale—hint, it has to do with resurrected split personalities—and then later on down the road when you're mid-way through your 100th novel revision, Canon comes out with a camera sporting the same name.
Stupid cameras. You've come this far. You can't rename your baby, now. Eos stays.
You utilize names that correspond with legends. You delight in the background of the names. You learn that the main characters in your book end in an "-el" which means "of God." You find that the one angel who's been cast from grace, who has become more of an elemental being rather than God's creation of fire, has lost this important, yet small, name ending, You delight in how the names all seem to fit together, how things begin to come together. You uncover an old martyr, somewhat forgotten, and can't stop the smile that spreads across your face when you understand the possibilities of a once-minor character. This prince of the realm has so much potential, now.
You pick up baby name books at the grocery store while you wait in line. Sometimes, those standing in line with you will pat you on the back with smiles and you grin back, never thinking for an instant that they might be congratulating you. You've just uncovered your next character's first name—and it fits like a perfect puzzle piece.
***
About The Falling Dawn: Celestial Scripts Book One
Emerging from the dregs of society to become a celestial warrior, Eos soon becomes immersed in a world of ancient texts and falling angels, tasked to find the sacred Book of Raziel and stop a war in heaven. The secrets of the Book will lead Eos down a path of betrayal, pitting her against those she loves. All the while she must cling to her own crumbling sanity as her psyche is split by the emergence of another entity, heralded by the onset of Eos' new powers. Soon, Eos finds herself in the clutches of the Master of the Oceans, where she must convince him to give her the sacred book. His price? Her soul.The Falling Dawn is available online wherever books are sold! Find your copy here.
About Gwendolyn N. Nix
Raised in the wilds of countless library stacks, Gwendolyn N. Nix has forged her skills in writing and science in the shark-infested waters of Belize, by researching neural proteins, inducing evolutionary pressures in green algae, and through the limitless horizons of her own imagination. A born seeker of adventure, she saw her first beached humpback whale on a windy day in New York, met a ghost angel in a Paris train station, and had Odin answer her prayers on a mountain in Scotland. Her short fiction appears in The Sisterhood of the Blade anthology. The Falling Dawn is her first novel. She lives in Missoula, MT. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and on her author website, www.gwendolynnix.com.