Rose Anderson's Blog, page 43

Funday Happenings

That’s not a typo.

To have one less mentally busy day and still have a good time on this blog, I’ve decided Sundays will be all about wonder and smiles. In honor of mentally kicking back once in a while, Sundays will be Fun Days! Each Sunday, I’ll post a short, fun, and unusual something here. I’m a nerd with a complex sense of humor and absurd wit. It literally could be anything. lol

I found this clip interesting and I laughed more than a few times. I hope you enjoy.

That blow the shell off trick was nifty. I’ve a desire to go boil an egg just so I can give it a try.  

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I’m all over the web this weekend. If two things are listed for one blog, that’s one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Scroll back to see what you’ve missed.

Seductive Studs & Sirens & Weekend Writing Warriors http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

Sneak Peek Sunday

http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Set the Scene in Six Open author promo Today

Come leave your six in comments!

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

My Sexy Saturday & Sexy Snippets

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 81 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Obrumpent (adjective first appeared 1656)

breaking; bursting

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Today is author Molly Daniels/Kenzie Michaels’ interview.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up today!

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

Today’s guest author: David Russell

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

Book a spot for yourself.

A new place for your old stars to shine

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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Hope is the thing with feathers

I stumbled upon something recently that I’d never heard of before. As I was examining symbols in literature, it seemed fitting to add it to the rest. You can’t leave the topic of allegory without touching upon  the Extended Metaphor.

In Gerard Steen’s Finding Metaphor in Grammar and Usage: A Methodological Analysis of Theory and Research, he describes it thus:

“Allegory is often described as extended metaphor, but the description is only acceptable if ‘extended’ refers to the linguistic expression while ‘metaphor’ refers to the conceptual structure.”

Maybe it’s too early, but  I read that explanation and my mind still goes huh? Then I found another explanation and understood.

A metaphor is a figure of speech that uses two very different concepts, or two concepts that are not connected in any way, to draw a comparison between the two.

This explanation went on to use the moon to illustrate the broader concept of the extended metaphor:

“One can compare one’s temperament to the moon–and then describe certain qualities of the moon such as pale, bright etc to describe their mood. In this case, the moon and one’s temperament are in no way connected, but a connect is made by merging the two completely different concepts.

 Take the same example forward to understand what an extended metaphor is. When the moon and one’s temperament are continued to be compared throughout the work of art, and are not simply limited to a single line, it becomes an example of an extended metaphor. In this example, the different qualities of the moon, like the shape, color or the brightness, and the different qualities of a person’s life are used to draw a parallel–in that way it becomes an extended metaphor.”

Ooh I get it. I’ve seen this symbolic word-dance before in books I’ve read, especially in poetry. It’s a long wandering babble of creative comparison that somehow makes sense in the end. Shakespeare did it all the time. So did Carl Sandburg, Emily Dickinson,  and Robert Frost.



Example:

Fog by Carl Sandburg



The fog comes in on little cat feet.

It sits looking over the harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then, moves on.

Hope by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune–without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

They were all painting with words. How else can you describe it? Alone, words are humble symbols for thought. To be able to string them together to create such vivid images is one thing, but to convey broader or deeper meaning in the reader’s mind with precise metaphor is quite another. It truly is a gift, and something to aspire to!

Tomorrow: Funday!

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I’m all over the web with my satellite blogs this weekend. If two things are listed for one blog, that’s one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Scroll back to see what you’ve missed. 

Seductive Studs& Sirens & Weekend Writing Warriors http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

Sneak Peek Sunday

http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Set the Scene in Six (open author promo – come leave yours!) http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

My Sexy Saturday & Sexy Snippets

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 82 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Tussicate (verb entered language 1598-1890)

to cough

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Today we have guest author Sharon Hamilton.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Today’s Author Interview: Iris Astres

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blogs. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/



Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

Today’s guest author: Karen McCullough

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

A new place for your old stars to shine

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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Zebras are reactionary

I’ve already shared that I really get into the symbols we use to represent things. I guess this is why I love the written word like I do. The other night, we watched a documentary about the missing kingdom in Ancient Egypt. Too long to explain it all today, but the search turned up many unidentifiable clay tablets covered in unknown cuneiform writing. The archeologists were desperate to find one readable text that would act like the Rosetta Stone. They eventually found a tablet written in a common language of the time, and all fell in to place.

It got me thinking about the spark, the impetus, that drove the first human to scratch a line and say this represents such-and-such. Looking at cuneiform, it seems all too similar to me…little dashes, little triangular stabs pointing this way and that. I can’t help thinking it must have been difficult to memorize. Rereading that last sentence, I imagine every student in China laughing at it. With an astounding 45,000 different characters, the Chinese writing system isn’t an alphabet as we know alphabets, rather entire words in symbol form. It’s said one only need to memorize about 3000-4000 to be proficient in reading Mandarin. Is that all? I like our 26 letters of the alphabet. I like our R’s and S’s. I’m comfortable with our W’s and Q’s. I admit Russian, and Turkish peak my interest, as do letters in Belarusian and Greek. They all have such fun-looking alphabets.

It’s a symbol thing. 

Just sharing a thought there — a wordy morning ramble launched on a half-cup of coffee.

So anyway…I’m still looking into symbolism in literature. Where better to go next than Allegory? Search for a definition and you get this:

The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form.
A story, picture, or play employing such representation.
A symbolic representation e.g. the blindfolded figure of a woman holding a scale is an allegory of justice.

Etymology: From the Greek, “to speak so as to imply something other.”

Allegory has been used in teaching principles for ages. One truth always stands in this type of storytelling — an allegory is not meant to be taken literally. It’s funny how these stories touch our minds as entertainment yet root as deeper meaning. What child doesn’t know the story of the Tortoise  and the Hare or the Ant and the Grasshopper by Aesop? Conveying that you shouldn’t give up because slow and steady wins the race, and the concept that failure to stock food in the summer might cost you come winter, are classic codes to live by. 

Authors use this device in their writing to convey a personal statement. I certainly do. If I’d put any more statement into Loving Leonardo, no one would be able to lift the book of the table! I find such thoughts enhance the reading experience. As a reader, when I’m able to draw a deeper meaning from a passage I’ve read, it always feels like the author wrote it for me. And I like that.

Authors such as Steinbeck, Melville, C. S. Lewis, Swift, and Milton all dabbled in it. Good luck trying to find a modern author’s work.  Here are a few of the best-known allegorical works out there:

The Divine Comedy, an epic poem by Dante is also an allegory to keep on the straight and narrow lest you end up in hell.
The obvious one The Allegory of the Cave by Ancient Greek philosopher Plato suggests man has a tendency to accept convention without question, even to his detriment.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding. A disturbing abstract on rationality, order, and democracy.
Animal Farm by George Orwell is an equally disturbing abstract on the communist regime of Stalin.

Beyond those books forced upon me in school, I haven’t tackled all of the above and probably never will. Heck, I can’t get half-way through any Steinbeck before it makes me cry. I’m more of an informational reader — give me a set of encyclopedias with an occasional run of historical romance and a dash of Harry Potter, and I’m good.



How many allegorical works have you read?

Tomorrow: a bit more…

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 83 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Molrowing (noun appeared 1860-1896)

caterwauling; cavorting with prostitutes

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Today is author Jean Hart Stewart’s interview day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blogs. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/



Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

Today’s guest author: Linda McLaughlin

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

A new place for your old stars to shine

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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A Deeper Brontë

Years ago I rented a video entitled The Wide Sargasso Sea. Frankly it didn’t make sense, like I’d actually started the movie in the middle rather than the beginning. The story in a nutshell…a man gets tricked into marrying a woman on the edge of madness. The madness came from her mother, and both father and brother were well aware of the signs, yet foisted her off on this poor starry-eyed young man of means. The poor sucker was Edward Rochester and the mad wife was named Bertha. The whole time I’m watching this perplexing movie, an unformed thought is tugging away at my brain. It was one of those  wake-you-in-the-middle-of-the-night thoughts. Some days later, it did just that. The Wide Sargasso Sea was the back-story to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I knew that story well. It was the first romance I’d ever read at at age 13.

Author Jean Rhys wrote that prequel-style novel The Wide Sargasso Sea in 1966. (The book was much better than the movie). I remember reading a quote by the author saying something about the mad Bertha Rochester being Charlotte Brontë’s symbolic reference for the hidden rage of women. No kidding. The second-class citizen world of Charlotte Brontë was little better for women than Jane Austen’s world twenty-five years before. Very few rights. It would have enraged me too, though being a redhead I might have been more vocal rather than simply tucking it inside an allegory. My husband would tell you that’s a true statement. I plead the fifth. 

For the next several days, I’ll look into symbolism in literature. Tomorrow, I’ll start with allegory, or the representation of abstract ideas or principles where characters and events  symbolize the deeper moral or spiritual meanings of human life. Good stuff!

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 84 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Amarulence (noun that appeared 1731-1755)

bitterness; spite

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Today is guest author Adele Downs

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Today on The Genesis of a Book: Kate Deveaux is sharing the spark behind Sail Away with Me.

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blogs. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/



Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

Today’s guest author: Paloma Beck

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

A new place for your old stars to shine

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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Not an empty breath

I’ve discussed names for the symbols they are. Today I’ll wrap-up thoughts on character names before delving further into symbols.   If you’re here for the first time, scroll down for some interesting bits.

A morning news show a while back talked about popular names and names associated with pop culture. Names like Lemongello and Orangello are real. So are ESPN, Cheese, and Leviathan. Poor kids. Visit to check out the downside of wild names in urban legend claims.

Celebrities sometimes pick out stunners too: Moonblood, Camera, Audio Science, Pilot Inspektor, Moon Unit, and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. I suppose the parents who thought up all these unusual names were making a statement of some sort. So, how about names as statements? I found this quote recently that adds a little thought on the topic.

“One thing is certain. I have no real feeling about my first name. I can only guess why this is. It seems to me that it may be because my parents gave it to me without any particular feeling simply because they liked it…It is as though my parents had seen it in a window of a shop, walked inside and bought it. It has nothing traditional about it, no memory, no history, not even an anecdote…it was simply a passing fancy. A family name, a saint’s name, a hero’s name, a poetic name, a symbolic name – all these are good: they have grown naturally and not been bought ready-made. One should be named after somebody or something. Or else a name is really only empty breath.”

~Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929)

“One should be named after somebody or something. Or else a name is really only empty breath.” Interesting. That thought fits literary names too, especially if the meaning conveys a secret. Secret? Say I’ve created a character named Kenneth Ignis — I’ve made him a fireman in New Jersey. Looks simple enough at first glance, doesn’t it? Breaking it down, his first name is an Anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic name Cináed which means “born of fire.” The last name Ignis just happens to be Latin for Fire. That’s a great way for an author to make an occupational name an indirect or secret message to the reader rather than the obvious Baker or Smith. But what if Ken is a renown muralist, or an architect working on a tower the likes no landscape has ever boasted? In this case the fire is the drive — a burning desire. It becomes a nod to the character’s personality. 

Latin roots offer lots of potential for names. Or try other language roots: Norse and Greek, or go for Old French, Germanic, or Old English. You really can have fun with this. For more food for thought, I’m sharing my name links. Some were stumbled across ten or more years ago and have served me well. Sadly, I’ve lost a few old links to time. Fortunately, many are still viable. Enjoy!

The best of because there are many cultural options

Useful

http://www.languageisavirus.com/

You won’t believe how useful this site is

Fun

Useful

Fantastic

Useful

Interesting

http://www.latin-dictionary.org/

Great resource for making up names

http://www.greek-dictionary.org/

Ditto

And here’s an oldie I’ve recently discovered. As a writer and info hound, I see amazing potential here. I love that title too.  http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/index.html

I hope you’ve enjoyed my venture into Onomastics.

Tomorrow: my favorite take on symbols.

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It’s Wednesday and time for Hump Day happenings around the web.

Hump Day Hook

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Horny Hump Day

http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

First Kiss Wednesday

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 85 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Phlyarologist (noun 1867)

one who talks nonsense

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Today is author Fran Lee’s interview.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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It’s First Kiss Wednesday! Come share your best 300 word kiss.

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blogs. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/



Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

Today’s guest author: Guy Ogan

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

A new place for your old stars to shine

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤

Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Dickensian

Carrying over the topic from last week, I’ll be discussing names for the symbols they are in a few more posts in the days ahead. I started the week off with unique monikers. If you’re here for the first time, scroll down for some interesting tidbits on the meanings behind well-known character names from the imaginations of J.K.Rowling and William Shakespeare. Then keep scrolling for more!

Today I’m discussing the interesting names and naming style of Charles Dickens. From 1836 to 1870, Dickens completed 14 novels, several novellas and assorted published pieces. He was in the middle of another novel before he died.  Dickens had quite a knack for describing imbalances in society, due in part to his going to work at age twelve while the rest of his family was locked away in debtor’s prison.  Some of these tales, such as A Christmas Carol  and Oliver Twist, so defined their society of their day, we get to use the word Dickensian with which to describe scenes reminiscent of his jovial Christmas or squalid poverty. 

Just like we see in J.K. Rowling and Shakespeare’s cast of characters, so many of Dickens’ characters possess distinct personalities and more often than not, their names hint at their traits. Dickens also had a keen knack for satire. It was said of his work that “even the most cartoonish of his characters glow with a certain kind of truth.” Fun for us, the satire often shows itself in the names he chose. How could Mr. M’Choakumchild not be a schoolteacher?  Or Captain Cuttle not have a hook instead of a hand?  lol Even Miss Rosa Bud’s name suggests she’s delicate and lovely. And Uriah Heep sure draws an image in my mind!

At some point in his life, Dickens lived or worked near someone considered by many to be a miser. This man had two lodgers, tradesmen by the names Goodge and Marney. Given his habit of appropriating real people and their names for his fiction, it’s not much of a stretch to see how that miser became a character in a book. Did the real Goodge and Marney lend their names to become Scrooge and and his partner Marley? Dickens scholars believe so. When we hear the name Ebenezer Scrooge, our mind makes an instant association with a wealthy miser. And so it is for his other characters. 

Dickens often borrowed character traits from friends and relatives, or from people of his acquaintance who possessed something he wanted to see in his characters, some trait or attribute. On occasion someone would take exception to their obvious presence in his story. But that didn’t stop him. He became less overt by making slight alterations. Example: Turning Smith into Billsmethie.  The name Nickleby is said to have come from his own name. The alteration was so slight that Dickens’ own mother missed the fact the loquacious Mrs. Nickleby was based upon her talkative self.

I like how he played with words to help paint pictures in the minds of his readers. If you look closely, you can see a lot of the following: The overly thin servant in Domby and Son is named Withers. The gnarly and twisted old bottle shop owner in Bleak House is named Mr. Krook. The wiry detective is named Sergeant Straw. Mat Jowl the gambler from The Old Curiosity Shop has “broad cheeks, a coarse wide mouth, and bull neck”. And Mr. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol is a jovial man wearing a powdered wig forever askew.

His names are memorable, I think, more for the appearance, quality, and personality of the character they belong to than the actual name itself. They’ve become synonymous.  According to the Dictionary of British Literary Characters, Dickens created 989 named characters during his career as a writer. Wiki has a long list, but not that long. How many suggest habits, appearance, or occupation to you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dickensian_characters

I found this clip very interesting.

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 86 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Stiricide (noun 1656)

falling of icicles from a house

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Today is author Marianne Stephens’ interview.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blogs. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/



Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

Today’s guest author: Kris Bock

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

A new place for your old stars to shine

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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What’s in a name? More than we realize

Carrying over the topic from last week, I’ll be discussing names for the symbols they are for a few more posts in the days ahead. Last week I mentioned names with staying power like Darcy and Heathcliff. Today I’m focusing on unique monikers.

My daughter and I share a love of Harry Potter and the wizarding world J.K.Rowling dreamed into being.  The first two books in the series have a younger feel, but that soon changes and you discover they’re not for children alone. It’s the classic hero’s quest done in brilliant storytelling. We’ve read the books to the point where the paperbacks have loose pages. My husband swears we do a Harry Potter movie marathon if we’re having a bad day.  Yeah, we do. It’s either Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, or Pride and Prejudice. Poor man. lol

I mention J.K.Rowling’s creation because she had some pretty interesting names for her characters and they weren’t just plucked from a hat. Mention a name and potterphiles draw a ready image of a character via the books and companion movies. People who know and understand words and have a moderate knowledge of historical facts and mythology will find it easy to recognize the mechanics behind the names and things that make up that fantasy world.

For example: There’s a school custodian in the story who is always watching the students in anticipation of being the one who’ll catch them in the act of doing something they shouldn’t be doing, something like stealing. His name is Argus Filch. Filch is slang for stealing. Argus, servant to the goddess Hera, was the giant in Greek mythology whose body was covered in watchful eyes. (side note: After Hermes did away with him, Hera put his eyes into the tail of a peacock.) So there you have the watchful Argus Filch, his character built upon a metaphor for watchful and a slang word for stealing. His name hints at his personality and occupation.

A good many of her character names hint at occupations but also personalities. Another character is named Albus Dumbledoor, the headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Rowling once said in an interview that she pictured him always humming to himself. It just so happens that the Old English name for bumble bee is dumbledoor. Cute metaphor, huh?



This long-established fan site has a list of all the names.

J.K.Rowling wasn’t the only author to make up character names with hidden meanings. William Shakespeare intentionally chose names for his characters based upon their purpose in the story. They seem rather subtle now, but steeped in their old language and reference of their day, I’ll bet his name play was the inside joke.

For example: In the play As You Like It, the character Rosalind wears a disguise as Ganymede to trick Orlando into falling in love with her. The name Ganymede is in reference to Ganymede the cup bearer of Zeus who was said to be a beautiful effeminate boy. Of course Rosalind is effeminate for a reason — she’s female. In Romeo and Juliet, the Romeo’s friend and cousin Benvolio is as full of good will as his name implies. Conversely, friend Mercutio is very temperamental, as his name implies. (He’s the one who cursed the houses of Capulet and Montague and set in motion a tragic outcome for the young lovers.). Many of Shakespeare’s plays are laced with double-meanings and hidden references of this sort.

I do this sort of thing all the time in my stories. I find double-meanings and hidden references fun.

Ok, what about those wild character names in literature?

I’ll save that for tomorrow.

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Any writer will tell you dreaming up names for characters doesn’t always come easy. Even a phone book will fall flat on occasion. If you just need a name without hidden meaning, random name generators can help.

Here are three to try:

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 87 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Ingordigious (adjective 1637-1734)

greedy; avaricious

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Today is author Cindy Spencer Pape’s interview.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blogs. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/



Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

Today’s guest author: Marianne Stephens

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

A new place for your old stars to shine

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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Funday happenings

That’s not a typo. 

I’m a mentally busy person. Whether it’s maintaining a relevant presence on the web through this main blog, promoting myself and other authors here or on my satellite blogs, or weaving plot lines and characters into stories, I put a lot of thought into the things I do. In everything I do, but especially into things I create along this author’s career of mine. So…To have one less mentally busy day and still have a good time on this blog, I’ve decided Sundays will be all about wonder and smiles.  In honor of mentally kicking back once in a while, from here on out in 2014 — Sundays will be Fun Days! Each Sunday, I’ll post a short, fun and unusual, something here. I’m a nerd with a complex sense of humor and absurd wit. It literally could be anything. lol

I’ve mentioned how cold it’s been and how I enjoy winter.  I’ve also mentioned that I love to drum. Check this out — a perfect marriage!

As you might imagine, yes, I do see myself tapping away there.

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I’m all over the web this weekend. If two things are listed for one blog, that’s one on Saturday and one on Sunday(*). Scroll back to see what you’ve missed.

Seductive Studs & Sirens & Weekend Writing Warriors* http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

Sneak Peek Sunday*

http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Set the Scene in Six* Open author promo – come leave your six in comments! http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

My Sexy Saturday & Sexy Snippets*

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 88 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Scaevity (noun 1623 -1658)

unluckiness; left-handedness

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Today is author Gemma Juliana’s interview.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up today!

Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

Today’s guest author: Juli D. Revezzo

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

Book a spot for yourself.

A new place for your old stars to shine

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Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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Ha ha, Boreas. Joke’s on us.

I’m putting the topic of Name Meanings on hold for the weekend, but there’s still a lot going on. Over on my satellite blogs, I’m taking part in the mini weekend tag-along hops featuring snippets from my novels. Come see! If you have yet to read my unusual romances, you’ll find my trailers under the My Novels tab above. And there’s a link at the end of this blog that will take you to a download of first chapter samplings.

In the meantime…what about that weather? By me, a polar vortex early in the week and weather in the mid-30′s and rain all this weekend. It started last night and the ground is frozen. There’s nothing for that water to do but flood. I haven’t been following weather world-wide, but here in the states, the weather has been particularly insane. The other night, wind-chilled temperatures in my area dropped to -48°. That’s 48 degrees below zero. I think that equates to -40 Celsius. Crazy stuff, that. It’s far from over too.

When will the polar vortex return?

Anyway…My house may have only one north facing window for heat efficiency, but it’s still a drafty old barn. That doesn’t bother me, though. I like cold. I could sleep naked on an ice floe and be just fine. Before I met my husband I slept with the window wide open all winter long. Back then, my bedroom was cold enough to have frost on the doorknob come morning.  I roast, he needs warmth. I married a lizard.

A few nights ago, I was at the kitchen sink thinking. In all the years we’ve lived here, I’ve never been physically uncomfortable washing dishing on a cold night. There I was, standing in front of this northern window, rushing through the task at hand because that cold, hard, north -48° wind was hammering the north side of my house and seriously making me painfully cold. I’m never cold! But I was that night. In fact, I would have been warmer standing inside my 0° freezer! Boreas, the cold north wind, isn’t called the Devouring One for nothing.

I have two dogs. The old chocolate lab does ok in the cold with her thick black coat (She’s actually a black lab. Chocolate is her vice) The little dog wears a hoodie. Yes, a hoodie. It makes her look like the tough, mouse-chomping, squirrel chasing, FedEx hater she is. So, the dogs were wanting to go outside and I had no choice but to let them. I dried my hands and touched the doorknob. My damp skin stuck to the doorknob on the inside of the house! I was surprised and stayed stuck until the overall warmth of my hand set me free a second later.  Now that’s cold — the coldest weather ever experienced in the half-plus century of my life. Were I not the armchair activist I am, I might be wondering why.

A friend sent me this explanation for the crazy weather. Something is definitely wrong, and we need to get in line and take the facts seriously or we’re going to be up that creek without a paddle. Or worse, the creek will either be dried up or permanently frozen over. This weather explanation is a very good alternative to a punch in the nose for the next person who tells you “global warming isn’t real because it’s cold outside”. Not as satisfying, but more polite.

Thanks Mike. 

Solar physicists say the Sun appears to be headed into a lengthy spell of low activity. Translated for the layman, this could mean that the Earth is headed for a mini Ice Age. It’s happened before, and not all that long ago.

Read about the Frost Fairs during the last Mini Ice Age.

http://www.webhistoryofengland.com/?p=613

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I’m all over the web this weekend. If two things are listed for one blog, that’s one on Saturday and one on Sunday(*). Scroll back to see what you’ve missed. 

Seductive Studs& Sirens & Weekend Writing Warriors* http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

Sneak Peek Sunday*

http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Set the Scene in Six* (open author promo – come leave yours!) http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

My Sexy Saturday & Sexy Snippets*

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 89 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Affictitious (adjective from 1656)

feigned, counterfeit

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Today we host author Adrienne deWolfe.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

The doors are open! Author Michele Drier is there today. Come see her favorite reviews.

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

A new place for your old stars to shine

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤

Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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Most fair

For the better part of a week, I’ve been discussing names for the symbols they are. I touched upon the geographical aspect of place names, but I didn’t go deeply into the dwelling end of things. There are just so many. Too many to mention them all because being someone from somewhere was a very common way to get a name for yourself.  Names like London, Winchester, and Stirling are obviously place names taken right from the city or town. Names such as Sexton, Abbey, and Bristol are proximity place names too. They have to do with living near the graveyard, church, or  bridge. Sometimes, if you know the names of things, it’s easy to figure out where the names you’re reading originated. At least in English. In my opinion Italian is easiest. Lots of place name surnames in Italy. Greco for example, is a name for an Italian who either looked Greek or came from Greece. Calabrese came from Calabria. Lombardi came from Lombardy. Add a vowel to the end of the Italian place name and you’re good!

I’ve also touched upon occupational names this week, and again, there are thousands found around the world. What’s left? Unbelievably, a lot.  More than enough for a few name posts next week! Today it’s all about descriptive names.

Descriptive names

We don’t have to go far to understand how Fairchild, Young, Black or Armstrong might have been chosen or given. They speak for themselves. Others like Lovejoy, Wise, Moody, and  Merry are obvious too, though rather subjective. Sullivan, Franklin, and Wynn take a little more thought. (“One-Eye”, free man, and friend)  Here are a few more descriptive names:

Campbell = crooked mouth

Drew = skillful

Tate = cheerful

Todd = fox

Truman = true man

Wendell = Wend (twisted)

Wynne = friend

Blake = pale or dark

Brady = broad eyes

Cade = round

Chance = lucky

Dunn = brown

Crispin = hairy/curly

Cole = dark

Doyle = dark

Curtis = courteous

Russo and Rossi = redheaded

Boyd = blond

Brown = brown skin or hair

Cameron = crooked nose

Ricci and Rizzo = curly

Cody = helpful

Darcy = dark one

Vaughan = little

Grady = noble

Kelley or Kelly = slender

Kennedy = ugly head

See what I’m getting at? When authors pick character names for our stories, we already have a personality image in mind for that person. Why not have fun with it? It doesn’t have to be obvious like Mr. Moody has a mercurial disposition or Mrs. Lovejoy is always laughing. It could be Mr. Grady is a principled man or Ms. Kelley teaches ballet. Many years ago I chose the name Doyle for the main villain in my magnum opus (referenced in previous posts) because the name has dark associations. I enjoyed that innuendo so much, this sort of thing is a habit of mine now. You’d be amazed at just what’s hidden in plain sight in my storytelling. I’ve already pegged a few of the above names for future novels. 

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The doors are open!  Author Beth Barany is there today. Come see her favorite reviews.

http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

A place for your old stars to shine

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Another 100 Things Blogging Challenge! For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Words on the Verge of Extinction. There are 90 entries to come.

Here’s one for today:

Ingeniculation (noun from 1623-1658)

bending of the knee

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Today we have author R. Ann Siracusa’s interview.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

All through January the RB4U authors are doing interviews. The thoughtful questions are a great way to get to know us. Commenting that day gives you a chance to win a collectable t-shirt. Come see!

Right now the COLD SNOW, HOT ROMANCE CONTEST is on! Three winners will each receive a $25 gift card for Amazon/Barnes & Noble, and split the other prizes randomly picked from prize list. Be sure to check all our pages for news about authors and their books, publishers and their books, and industry representatives. http://www.romancebooks4us.com/

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Several promotional opportunities for romance authors can be found on my Exquisite Quills group blog. Meet the founding authors and our guests.

http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group

First Kiss Wednesday ~ share your best 300 word kiss.

Set the Scene in Six ~ share your backdrop or lead-up on Sundays.

The Genesis of a Book ~ share the spark that ignited your novel

Author Interviews ~ We’re booking late spring now.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Love Waits in Unexpected Places - Scorching Samplings of Unusual Love Stories

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

Sample my love stories for free!

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