I’m often asked how I come up with the names for the characters in my books and stories. I have to say it is not a complicated process since, more often than not, the character comes into my imagination pretty much formed and already named. They tell me what to call them.
For example, In Peril at the Point, Book 1 of the Lamb’s Bay Mysteries, my main character is named Hilaria Barton-Cheswick – known as Hilly, for obvious reasons. Let’s just say she got teased a lot!
The name Hilaria was a legacy from her father’s studies – he was a classics scholar and professor. He gave Hilly and her sister Vesta names based in Roman history. Hilly’s name, Hilaria, means cheerful. And she is mostly cheerful, except when she gets morose about the sad things in her past – a child who died, the loss of her father to cancer and betrayal by her long-time boyfriend and business partner. He took to sleeping around after their child died. Not very hilarious, but Hilly has rediscovered her fun side and it comes out even more when Vesta enters the picture.
You get to meet Vesta in Book 3 of the series. The name Vesta derives from the goddess Hestia who represented home, hearth and family. Plus there was even an order of, ahem, Vestal Virgins. You’ll soon find out she’s anything but the “home, hearth, chaste” type.
Brody Paxton, Hilly’s friend, emerged fully formed as well. A tall thin man, strong and with a very caring side to him, Brody went to school with Hilly and married her best friend. Why the name Brody? I don’t know really. Some name websites say it comes from the Gaelic for a rocky ridge and, since he lives on Paxton Point, well it works. But I didn’t know that before I named him.
Lester Spriggs, the police chief, introduced himself to me with that name and it stuck. He’s definitely a Lester, a name that means a fort, a walled city or fortified place. As police chief, Lester protects Lamb’s Bay and its citizens. He’s also very caring about his close acquaintances. Great name for a cop, I’d say. But again, I didn’t pick it. He did.
The biggest question about a name origin arises in Book 1 when Hilly is tricked into looking after her former boyfriend’s dog while he has surgery. He leads her to believe he could have cancer and die, but in reality he’s trying to worm his way back into her life – and using a dog as his Trojan horse. The dog is called HD. Why HD?
That’s a mystery everyone comments on – the characters in Peril at the Point as well as my readers. You’ll find out if you read the book – but – spoiler alert – it isn’t the name of his favorite cable television service.
