Character Naming Secrets
A reader recently asked if I have any character naming secrets, and where I came up with the name of Mairwen Morganthur, the heroine of Overload Flux. I'll tell you the same thing I told him, but first I must dispel the notion that there any secrets to naming characters.
Just as there are as many spaghetti-sauce recipes as there are cooks, authors have invented countless methods for naming characters. Therefore, what works for me would drive other authors mad, and visa-versa.
By Any Other Name
To begin with, all my story ideas start with characters and the trouble they can get into. Also, since I like justice and hopeful endings, the romance they can find. For the most part, however, those characters don't start out with names. Or at least, the names they end up with. More on that in a minute.
Next, we have to talk about the difference between my space opera universe and the worlds of my paranormal romance series.
The Central Galactic Concordance series is set in the far future, with faster-than-light travel and 500+ settled planets. Humans haven't found any other intelligent species to object, so whenever they find a suitable new planet, they terraform it, then colonize it. Sort of like when a cat rubs on everything in the house to declare ownership. 
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Names can follow, I agree.
I didn't mention it in the post, but sometimes my characters have multiple names in the same book. Especially in JUMPER'S HOPE, where our heroes are hiding from their pursuers (and the press) by moving around and changing names often. I had to keep a spreadsheet while writing to keep track of them.
