Michelle the Magical asked Jessica Day George:

How do you decide on names for your characters? (Specifically thinking of Creel.) Thinking of names is one thing, but how do you decide?

Jessica Day George I stole the name Creel! In the Dragonriders of Pern series, whenever the baby dragons cry, she said they were "creeling." I just thought it was a great name for a girl who rides dragons! Mostly, characters come to me with their name. At least, the main characters are that way. I'll just sort of instantly know, this is "Anthea, she's got brown hair and she's afraid of horses." For secondary characters I will think about what's the setting, would a made up name make sense here, like for a dragon, or a German name, for one of my fairy tales?

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