When The Third Man Met the Third Person

I have been asked, a lot, why I picked the surname Cotton for the protagonist of my novels. It is not a signally heroic sort of name. No Spade, Laidlaw or Reacher. Nor is it the obvious name of an anti-hero.

Perhaps I should have made things clearer, because people have also said – ah, you mean he 'cottons on'? Actually no, I didn't have catching on in mind. Others have mentioned one of Peter Rabbit's siblings – Cottontail. Kindly, they don't mention Flopsy. But again, Beatrix Potter, so admir...