Suzanne Stengl's Blog, page 15

20 things to do instead of writing

Read email
Dust your keyboard
Read that excellent book you downloaded last night
Rearrange your bulletin board
Count the number of pens in your pen holder
Sort them by colour
Play solitaire to realign your Right Brain
Read the Chicago Manual of Style
Cut out pictures for a collage
Organize your bookshelf
Count the number of “How To” books you have
Arrange them by author
Rearrange them by subject
Research on YouTube
Smell different hand lotions
Play mood music
Make tea
Eat chocolate
Eat cake
Make a list of things to do instead of writing

photo from iStockphoto # 000009864226

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A rose by any other name: Naming Characters

I have an author friend who wrote a book, and then discovered that every character’s name started with a “J”. When she told me about that, I came up with a simple grid.

The Name Grid

This is a table with 8 rows and 3 columns. The first cell contains the name of the book. Then there is a cell for each letter of the alphabet up to the letter “W” and then one cell for “XYZ”.
As I come up with a character’s names (first and last) I put them in the appropriate cell. “Toria Whitney” goes in “T” and “Whitney, Toria” goes in “W”.

In this example, I have also colour-coded relationships.  Toria’s family is Pink. Ryder’s family is Blue. I use Orange and Green for some other relationships. It helps me to keep everyone organized. With a quick glance at the Name Grid, I make sure that I am varying names, and I’m not putting Peter, Paul, Patty, Priscilla, Perkins  and Penelope all in the same book.

Consider Endings

Besides starting names with the same letter, be careful of ending them with the same letter.
Suzy, Mandy, Daisy and Kelly will be cumbersome.

Other Names

At the bottom of the Name Grid, you might like to list the names of places or things or minor characters in your story. For example, in ON THE WAY TO A WEDDING I listed the name of my fictional hospital, Nose Hill Hospital.

In Real Life Calgary, there isn’t a Nose Hill Hospital, but there is a Foothills Hospital. And there really is a Nose Hill Park. Because I have trouble remembering if I decided on Nosehills or Nosehill or Nose Hill, I recorded the spelling here.

If I give the coffeemaker a name, like the BrewWell Unit in Catherine’s office, I put it here.

ON THE WAY TO A WEDDING  has several fictional street names so I listed them for quick reference:  Collins Street, Dottridge Ave, Stelmack Boulevard and Wickens Street. By the way, these are the surnames of some of my author friends.

Consistency

This goes without saying. Your character names may have different spellings but naturally you will decide on one. In ON THE WAY TO A WEDDING, several scenes take place at a Real Life coffee shop called Tim Hortons. Occasionally I have seen this written as Tim Horton’s (with an apostrophe). It’s important to pick one spelling and stick with it.

Character Name File

Whenever you happen on a name that might be a good character name, put it in this file. Then when you start a new book you won’t need to spend so long searching for the perfect names.

Names Used File

Keep another file of names you have already used. You don’t want to be always calling your hero, Ryder and your heroine, Toria.

Syllables

A different number of syllables for the first and last names sounds best. You want Chris to pher Green, not Joe Blow. Joseph Blow might work. But then again, Joe Blow might work if you want a drab name for a drab character.

Hero and Heroine

How do their names sound together? Are they lyrical? And if they marry and she changes her name, will it work? This is a romance, after all.

Diminutives

One way to differentiate between characters is to have one character say “Victoria” and another say “Toria” and still another say “Miss Whitney”.

Female/Male Names

Do not make your reader have to think. When he sees Jordan, does he think of a man or a woman? This is not so important if your lead romance characters are Jordan and Mirabelle.  Or if they are Mike and Jordan. But do not make the two lead characters be Taylor and Jordan.

Pronunciation

You may think Wynsleighe is a lovely name, but how do you say it? Is your reader going to trip over the pronunciation every time she sees it?

You want your reader to be in the story and you do not want your reader to pop out even for a second to wonder about gender or pronunciation.

Time period

Ethel can appear in the 1911s but not today, unless she is very old. A quick search of popular names by year will solve that.

Possessives

I have used Mrs. Jones. Fortunately I didn’t need to talk about Mrs. Jones’ purse, or even Mrs. Jones’s purse. But it’s best to avoid the whole problem and have “non-S” endings.

Plurals

Think about your plurals. Think about John Crowfoot and his wife, Jill, and all their little children. What happens when the Crowfoots all come for a visit? Are they Crowfeet now?

As a reader, have you ever come across character names that tossed you out of a story?
As a writer, do you have a system for choosing names?

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Hiking food – Chewy Granola Bars

Cream together:

1 ¼ cup butter
1 cup honey

Add:

2 eggs
1 ¼ tsp grated orange rind
1 tsp vanilla

 

Then add:

1 ¾ cup flour
½ cup skim milk powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup wheat germ
1 ½ cups granola
¾ cup coconut
½ cup chopped almonds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¾ cup chocolate chips

Spread in 9 x 13 x 2 inch greased pan
Bake 30 min @ 350 degrees
Will be soft but firm
Cut into squares

Bon appétit!

honey from istockphoto.com #000014443603

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Corner Gas

Rolf completed his bicycle trip. On May 9, he flew to New Orleans, then bicycled up the Mississippi River Trail. On July 1, he reached the headwaters of the Mississippi at Lake Itasca in Minnesota. From there he continued west across North Dakota. On July 9, he crossed the border into Saskatchewan.

The next day, he made it to the little town of Midale, 80 km from the border.

Saskatchewan is prairie. And while those vast yellow fields of canola are beautiful, the head winds are challenging. Rolf decided to finish in Midale. The next morning, Friday, a local gave him a ride to Moose Jaw. On Saturday, I drove from Calgary to Moose Jaw and met him there and then we toured “Dog River”, half an hour south of Moose Jaw.

Corner Gas is set in the fictional town of Dog River, which is really the little town of Rouleau, Saskatchewan. This is Corner Gas.

The award-winning Canadian sitcom ran for 6 seasons from 2004 to 2009. Last month production started for Corner Gas: The Movie. It will be filmed at the original location in Rouleau with the original cast. Here is a summary of The Movie from the Corner Gas website:

It’s been five years, and there’s still not a lot going on 40 kilometers from nowhere. But that’s all about to change as the fine folks of Dog River, Saskatchewan face their biggest crisis ever. Brent and the gang discover that the town’s been badly mismanaged, leaving residents with little choice but to pack up and leave. As residents make one last rally to save Dog River as they know it, they discover a devious plan by a corporate giant that would change life for Dog Riverites forever.

Rolf and I had a perfectly sunny day to visit Corner Gas and Dog River. Here I am at the Police Station where Davis and Karen hang out.

And this is the newspaper: the Dog River Howler

Let’s not forget the grocery store.

Back at Corner Gas, Rolf and I are sitting outside Lacy’s coffee shop, The Ruby. (She inherited it from her Aunt Ruby.)

Behind the set, you can see the movie trailers.

Rolf is posing in front of the gas pumps. The place looks so real that people sometimes stop while looking for gas.

And across the road from Corner Gas, the Dog River grain elevators.

Have you seen Corner Gas? Are you waiting for the movie? Who is your favourite character?

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I’ve redecorated!

It’s been a great week. Since May, my hubby Rolf has been on a self-supported bicycle trip along the Mississippi River Trail from New Orleans to the headwaters of the Mississippi in Lake Itasca, Minnesota. On July 1st, after 7 weeks and 2 days, he touched the waters of the lake. Read about it here.

The Calgary Stampede has started. Everyone’s decked out in their cowboy duds. Though we’ve had a lot of June rain, the city didn’t flood this year. Not like last year.

I’m learning Yoga. I signed up at the Yoga Studio for the Summer Sizzler special – a really good price for 11 weeks of drop-in Yoga. In the first 3 weeks, I’ve attended 11 classes and I’m loving it. Now my DIL Liz is coming too.

My WIP (work in progress) is progressing. It’s the story of a psychic who does not want to be a psychic. It’s part romance, part family drama, part quirky small town.

And . . . I’ve redecorated this website.

My first website looked like this:

Next, I progressed to this:

And now I have this new one. Kyle says this is over-the-top romantic pink and suitable for a sweet romance author.

What do you think? Do you like pink? How’s your summer progressing?

pink paint from thinkstockphotos #57300645

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Happy Canada Day!

image from thinkstockphotos.ca #178594130

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Johnston Canyon

Last Friday, my friend Wafaa and I hiked the Johnston Canyon trail to the Ink Pots.

Johnston Canyon is located 25 minutes west of the Banff townsite, and the trip along the winding Highway 1A, known as the Bow Valley Parkway, is picturesque all by itself.

We park on the east side of Johnston Creek. From here, a little trail leads across a foot bridge and we arrive at the Johnston Canyon Lodge and the trailhead. Although Johnston Canyon is a major tourist attraction, with tour buses downloading oodles of visitors, the locals still love this place. I’ve been coming here forever.

This is probably one of the most accessible trails in the Rockies. Much of it involves catwalks built into the limestone cliffs, complete with handrails—but hold on to your children. The view of the cascading waters below always impresses me no matter how many times I come here.

It’s only a 1.1 km walk to the Lower Falls. Here, a little bridge crosses the creek. The bridge itself is an excellent viewpoint, but it’s even more fun to cross over and enter the short tunnel on the other side which opens to an up close and dramatic view of the waterfall. Pause before you enter the tunnel and let a few tourists come out before you try to crowd in there. And don’t use your camera unless it’s waterproof.

Here is Wafaa at the Lower Falls. You can see the cave in the background.

This is Wafaa taking photos from the catwalk.

Now we continue up the trail another 1.6 km to the Upper Falls, which drop 30 metres (90 feet) into the canyon. At this point we have climbed 135 metres from the trailhead.

You can take pictures of the Upper Falls from the main trail’s viewing platform which juts out over the waterfall. Note the ice.

Or you can follow the trail to the catwalk which looks up at the falls. Again, it’s wet, so if you don’t want water all over your camera lens, don’t photograph from here.

Most tourists only go this far.

Now the trail becomes more like a trail, narrow and less developed, as it moves into the trees.

It’s another 3.1 km from the Upper Falls to the meadow at the top and the Ink Pots. And it’s another 80 metres of climbing. The total elevation gain is 215 metres (700 feet) from the trailhead to the Ink Pots. After the crowds below, we experience a quiet meander up the trail.

Apparently Johnston Canyon got its name from the prospector who discovered the creek in the 1880s. The Johnston Creek source is north of Castle Mountain. From there, the creek flows between Helena Ridge and the Sawback Range, across the meadow and down the gorge, the Johnston Canyon. Finally it meets the Bow River between Banff and Lake Louise.

And now we reach the top, and the seven pools known as the Ink Pots.

Fed by underground springs, the Ink Pots remain at 4 degrees Celsius throughout the year. If you see them while cross country skiing in the winter, the blue green water looks like a giant’s ink pots sitting in the snow. Notice the patterns created by the underground springs.

Here we sit and have our lunch.

The day is mixed sun and cloud. There is a light rain shower at the top and we put on our rain gear jackets. But we only need them for about 15 minutes and the sun comes out again.

My walking sticks are necessary for the down trip. I can hike up just fine, but on the return trip, my knees don’t like going down. So I’m glad they invented walking sticks and  I use mine.

What’s your favourite hiking menu? Are your knees happy with steep downhill hikes? Do you find it annoying when waterfalls splash your camera lens?

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Lilacs

My backyard in the spring is beautiful. I wish the lilacs were in bloom for longer. It seems we have them for only a few short weeks.

Sometimes when I am writing and need inspiration, I go in the backyard and smell these flowers. There is nothing quite like the scent of rain-washed lilacs.

Did you know?

The lilac is a large deciduous shrub or small tree and it can grow to over 20 feet in height.
Many lilacs “sucker”, that is, they make shoots and spread and can even form a thicket—a good privacy barrier.
Some lilacs have been bred to not spread, but they lose their scent. Let them sucker! Enjoy the smell!
The lilac is in the olive family and is native to the Balkan Peninsula.
Now lilacs thrive in other parts of Europe as well as North America.
Lilacs were introduced to America in the eighteenth century.
A special Canadian variety was created that blooms later, thereby protecting the buds from possible late frosts in spring.
The scientific name for the common lilac is syringa vulgaris.
The first recorded use of lilac as an English color name was in 1775.

Are there lilacs in your backyard? Do you love the scent of lilacs in the rain?

 

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Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable that grows in temperate climates. It is probably the first food harvested in the spring. I have a small patch growing in our alley, on the south side of our retaining wall. Rhubarb loves full sun.

We eat the stalks, but not the leaves. The leaves are poisonous. Stalks are ready when they are between 12 to 18 inches. To pick rhubarb, grab hold of the stalk near the base and gently tug it away from the plant.
Trim off the leaves right away.
Wash it well and chop it up.
As summer ends, and the early frosts come, don’t use the stalks if they have been frost bitten.

To make Rhubarb stew, you need:

6 cups of chopped rhubarb
1 cup of white sugar
an ounce of water

Cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Then simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes until the rhubarb is slightly thickened.
Eat it hot or cold.
It’s also good over ice cream or with whipped cream.

Note: rhubarb has laxative properties, so be careful of eating too much!

What other ways do you eat rhubarb? Do you have a rhubarb patch in your alley?

Rhubarb from thinkstockphotos.com # 177896389

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Ghostly Treasure: What’s in a name?

Available on Amazon

By now many of you have noticed that I changed the title of THE GHOST AND CHRISTIE MCFEE to GHOSTLY TREASURE.

I decided the story was more a “sweet romantic mystery” than a “sweet romance” and I wanted the cover to show that it was about diving. So the name of the book is different, but the story is the same.

Have you ever wondered how an author goes about naming characters?

In GHOSTLY TREASURE, the hero and heroine were not always Gaven St. Michel and Christie McFee.

GHOSTLY TREASURE is part of the Bandit Creek collective. Now it’s part of the smaller collection of BANDIT CREEK SWEET found here.

Way back when this book was still mostly an idea, I needed to fill out the publication slot with a title. “The Ghost and Sarah McFeigh” popped into my head. Then I didn’t like Sarah, and Sarah became the nasty aunt. I landed on Kristy for my heroine, at least for a time.

For the hero, I pictured someone of French Canadian origin.

I liked “Remy” right away. Then for a last name . . .

Remy Edison
Remy Emerson
Remy O’Connor
Remy Delainy
Remy Michel
Remy St. Michel

Ahhh, Michael. The archangel, first seen as a healing angel, and then as a protector. I liked the Protector angle. But then, after I started writing, Remy didn’t work. I had too many E endings: Remy, Kristy, Ripley, Charlie.

I thought about using Gabriel, but that wouldn’t work because I had a Gabriel showing up in my next novella. At the time, I had just finished reading a story where the hero was called GAVIN. I chose a variation, GAVEN. It worked with St. Michel so my hero was named.

Now back to the heroine’s name.

At this point, she was Kristy McFeigh. The Feigh could be pronounced two ways, so I shortened it to Fey. (A hard “A”.) Then I remembered there was another character in the Bandit Creek series with a similar name. I wondered if Kristy McFey was different enough. It was time to consult with some other writers: Roxy Boroughs, Amy Jo Fleming and Brenda M Collins.

Me: Does anybody see a problem with my heroine’s name as Kristy McFey?

Amy Jo: I love Kristy. Could not find a listing for McFey but McFey would be the son of Fey. Fey is not a common name, only found it once in a Scottish census in the 1800s.

Roxy: Why do you ask?

Me: I just wanted to see if it twigged. If there was an echo from an existing character in the series. Does it remind you of anyone?

Roxy: Not really. Sounds like she’d be cute. Fey makes me think fairy or effeminate. McFey vaguely reminds me of McVey (as in Timothy). Boom!

Me: Yeah . . . I didn’t like that McVey association either. And he was McVeigh. I had thought of calling the heroine McFeigh, but that would be worse.

Amy Jo: I think that McFey would be a cool name if the character has some kind of psychic ability or is unconventional in some way. Then you could play with the name a bit. The idea that it means “doomed” might be good if the heroine was to die or had to be saved from something deathly. She could always be struggling against her fate and there could be many losses in her family making her somewhat tragic. All in all, I think it could provide an interesting scope for the character.

Me: I don’t want her to die! And she has no magical powers. I think I will have to save “Fey” for another character in another book.

Brenda: In Irish/Newfie culture ‘fey’ means a fairy or soothsayer so McFey would mean Son of a fairy or soothsayer. I’m surprised it doesn’t show up as Fairy in a search. I’m sure I’ve seen it in my research on witches. I agree you might want to save it for someone with a magical power.

Me: There’s another problem. Tawny’s character is Kirsten Morgan. Are Kirsten Morgan and Kristy McFey too much alike?

Roxy: Well, ya know, I didn’t make the Kirsten Morgan connection . . . and I even mentioned her in MY book. But, yeah, you could certainly start it with a C.

Me: Which? Kristy McFey, Christy McFey, Kristy McFeege, Christy McFeege?

Roxy: Christy McFeege.

Me: Thanks. I think I will christen her today. You can be her godmother.

Roxy: Can I be a fairy, too? I’d like to have a wand.

Me: Fairies will have to be for another story. This one is about ghosts.

Amy Jo: You want Christy McFeege?

Me: Yes, I googled Christy McFeege and no one has it. I suppose her birthday is today, Dec 18. Now I will find a picture of her, and then I expect to be writing this on Dec 26. Thanks for the feedback. It’s like naming a child.

Brenda: Hey, I’ve been trying to rename myself for years now and I still haven’t settled on anything.

Me: Wait a minute. I just figured out that with an “e” ending, McFeege has a “j” sound and I want a “g” sound so there is the alliteration with “ghost” in the title. The Ghost and Christy McFeege.

Amy Jo: Leave off the E, then it’s a “g” sound.

Brenda: But you trip over the “g” sound at the end. Go to McFee.

Me: But someone in the world actually has the name Christy McFee.

Roxy: Someone other than you has the name Suzanne Stengl.

Amy Jo: That’s what the copyright disclaimer is for. This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Me: Okay. She is Christy McFee.

At least she was for a while. Then Rolf did a mock up for the cover artist and he inadvertently misspelled the name as

Christie McPhee

So I kept the original McFee but went with the Christie instead of Christy. And the main characters became:

Do you like Christie McFee for a name? Would you have chosen one of the other variations? Can you hardly wait until I write a story with Remy as the hero?

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