What’s in a name? A first impression
By Jackie Braun
Your name is your first impression. Obviously, how you look is a first impression, too. Gauged ears and full sleeves of tattoos? Those say something about a person. (And they say it forever, as I like to remind my two sons.) A tailored suit, a beehive hairdo, aviator sunglasses worn indoors on a cloudy day? Those say something, too.
But a name, well, it can have folks forming a mental image long before they meet you, which is why writers put so much effort into finding just the right one for their characters.
When I start to work on a new book my hero and heroine’s names are often an important part of the story. Sometimes, their names come to me first and even help drive the story.
In INCONVENIENTLY WED! for example, my heroine’s name was Serena. She is anything but serene. She is rash and impulsive, which is how she finds herself married to Jonas mere hours after meeting him.
In SEX, LIES AND A SECURITY TAPE, a novella in the EXCLUSIVE! anthology, Tempest Herriman has a hard time living down her former wild child ways.
In THEIR UNFINISHED BUSINESS, book two of my Conlans of Trillium Island trilogy, cautious Ali is the polar opposite of her outgoing twin, Audra. Ali’s full name is Alice, a moniker that to me seems old-fashioned and a bit buttoned-down, as is Ali.
In my book IN THE SHELTER OF HIS ARMS, former foster child Roz Bennett is semi-illiterate and homeless. My hero, Mason, keeps calling her Rose. Over the course of the story, he manages to smooth out her rough edges and helps her to see herself the way he does: as a beautiful survivor whose future needn’t be dictated by her traumatic past.
Finally, in GREEK FOR BEGINNERS, my second KISS novel, which comes out in September, I wanted a fun name for my free-spirited, slightly klutzy heroine. Darcie fit the bill for me.
Darcie Hayes winds up in Greece alone after deciding not to go through with her wedding to ho-hum man who will never cut the apron strings to his mother. Once there, she meets sigh-worthy auction house owner Nick Costas and a holiday fling becomes so much more.
Now, back to my first point about how names create a first impression: It’s rather unfortunate that in real life we don’t get to pick our own unless we legally change them as adults. Our parents bestow on us this important piece of our overall identity.
Some parents do a good job.
My folks had eight kids and I think they did pretty well with the bunch of us. I like Jackie just fine. One of my sisters liked it so well she named her youngest daughter after me.
Now, if my parents had given me the sort of moniker that Hollywood types are famous for saddling their kids with, well …
Jackie Braun’s 30th book, GREEK FOR BEGINNERS, is out in September from Harlequin KISS.
