Naming my kids was hard, and, I have to say, I picked good ones. Now I need names for hundreds of people and places that are near and dear… although, yes, I know, they are fictional, but it’s still a thing that means a lot.

Chase Anderson. Irresistible. Strong. Edgy. Solid. Originally, Chase was going to be Aiden, because I love the name, not because it suited the man. And Aiden became Aiden, because that was his name.

And, no joke, Chase, the hero of Chasing Forever? Ha! Nailed it.

Maddie was Maddie, and not Madelyn, so that’s only what her creepy ex calls her. Amusing, as I adore the name Madelyn and would seriously consider changing my name to Madelyn.

Ronan used to be Asher. But Asher is a little too playful, which is why Asher in All the Days After was written after Running Home, because Asher needed to be written. The Replace All feature is handy when you know that no words on your entire manuscript contain the letters “asher”… until your sister is beta reading and find several instances of “dishwRonan.” Ha! I still get the giggles over that one. He was then going to be James, but the lack of mystery, and the obvious reference to a more famous James the Spy struck me (no, it didn’t initially, thank goodness I discovered it before publishing Chasing Forever). Hence, his middle name became James, and because Payson had an obsession with another spy named James. But Ronan Mcallister, the mysterious, jaded spy? Yum. And still one of my favorite book boyfriends.

Payson is an adorable town in Arizona.

We had a dog named Sophie. I used to yell at the dog, “No, Sophie.” And the parrot we also had at the time would say in its garbled parrot voice, “No, Sophie.” It also yelled down the stairs to call my sister for breakfast for me. And it yapped like Sophie did (the dog, not the sister). Yet, somehow despite that voice getting stuck in my head, and the beloved dog that held the name first, it’s one of my favs. It was on the list of possible names of my son had been a girl, as had many of my heroine’s names. And, with an aunt Yvette and a mother, Colette, the French thing suited.

Freya is a name I don’t hear nearly often enough. As with many others, I considered it for my own children. Norse, confident, tall, strong, and unique. Freya Marks grew from there.

Zane. Claire. Grady. Ryder. Haley. Who can resist?

A few last names, which I won’t give away, are derived from family names. Because.

Quinn and Ryan. A match made in heaven. I have subsequently met a Ryan, and had to clarify, no, I knew the fictional Ryan first and felt there were way too few Ryans in my life. Now there are plenty. And he has agreed to not let it be awkward.

My demon hunter names are planned lovingly otherwise. Fischer suits both Quinn and Lana. Lana has a presence bigger than the state of Alaska, as I always think of with Lanas.

Hunt. Duh. Ward. Duh. Belak just sounds cool: Major Belak.

Orion is a warrior in the sky, but sounded too celestial for a down to earth guy, and too much like Ryan, hence, Archer. Bennett is the son of an English lady. As are Eleanor (or Ellinor, I haven’t decided yet) and her twin who has yet to find a suitable name.

As the vampire herself, Adair predated the demon hunters. And I didn’t realize she was destined wind up with Bennett until the epilogue of Six, and by that time, Astrid was already Astrid and there was no going back. Otherwise, I would never have made such similar names in the same series. Too confusing and I hate that!

Although, from Finite and Changed, Logan was going to be Finn and Bellamy was going to be Claire. But then I met Claire and Finn. Things change.

This post is longer than I thought it would be. But I’m not nearly finished! We have least three stanzas to go. Apologies for the lack of iambic pentameter.

The Connery family. Connery might have something to do with wolves. Boden is a shelter, but Bodie is too informal to be called such a formal name. And his middle name has much in common with Sophie. Noah wasn’t always Noah, in truth, his name changed many, many times. And I had already learned my lesson, and spent more time than I care to admit clicking “Replace Once,” rather than risking embarrassing typos. You should ask me about the clock vs cock incident someday.

Did you know, in the Middle Ages, spelling meant little to the people of Scotland. A name was spelled how the person spelling it thought it should be spelled. Blayk made just as much sense as Blake as far as spellings go, and what a cool name for a vampire? His story is in process, and the hard-hearted killer has a soft spot for the sister of the man he changed.

And no, I didn’t spell Richerd wrong. My poor editor had to practice a lot of restraint on that one.

I can’t tell you how much I wanted to name Natalie, Heidi, but it was too obvious. Chase will go to the ends of the Earth for Maddie in Chasing Forever. Ronan has to stay on the run to keep his family and Payson safe in Running Home. And Natalie can’t hide forever in Hiding Away. You see the dilemma. One should not be too matchy matchy, as my daughter would say.

There wasn’t going to be a title theme within each series. Yet it happened. I can’t stop using the word Day. And -ing words are addicting. Single word titles – after Six, there are few good ones to choose from, and I don’t technically have to stick to the convention as it’s my convention, but I am a creature of habit and stickler for sticking to the rules one has laid down for herself.

Carrie Thorne wasn’t initially going to be so Thorny. But her first few choices were either taken or were pricey on the dotcoms. And I may have accidentally stolen the pen surname from my new blog partner, so it comes back full circle, and we shall be the Thorne family for all eternity.

~ Carrie