Sunday, July 19, 2009

books and beaches

Lately I've been dreaming of the beach and a stack of books. Maybe some of you are there now. A few of my Kentucky relatives are at Myrtle Beach this week and I sure wish I could have tagged along. But this is my busy season. No sitting on the porch sipping sweet tea for me! But if I was there I'd take a bag of books - probably Thom's Sign Talker . Right now I'm in editing overdrive and he's a writer I just can't edit. Usually when I pick up a book my internal editor switches on:( Not a pleasant reading experience. But I don't do this with James Thom. There's a reason his books are still on the bestseller lists 20 years later. He's that good.

I'm nearly finished with book 2 and am so thankful. This last read-through is a pleasure. Kind of like cooking a huge Christmas dinner and then finally sitting down and enjoying it:) I've not found many things to change at this stage. Of course my editor may think otherwise. The book is due next week. Glory! Then it's back to book 3.

And now I'm thinking of book 4. Here are some women's names that I like for the female leads:

Naomi
Fiona
Willow
(a bit odd, I know)

My mind is drawing a blank. There were a lot of Charitys, Felicitys, Faiths, and such running around back then but I'm not too fond of those. I love the name Lael. In Red River Daughter my lead is Morrow. One of Billy Graham's granddaughters is named Morrow. Old-fashioned names are usually very pretty. Any ideas for these 18th-century characters? I'd love to hear them:)

I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up. -Benjamin Franklin

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and those who were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble. -Charles Spurgeon

4 comments:

  1. I like the name Willow.
    How about Grace, Emma, Amanda?
    I really like old-fashioned names.. . they are so pretty!

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  2. Thanks, Lisa! I'll add them to my list! I especially like Grace. Also Chloe. One baby who survived an Indian attack in Kentucky was named Liberty. Libby for short, probably. Kind of pretty. Names are one of the fun parts of writing. Kind of like naming your baby:)

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  3. Love the name Willow! Of course, it is one of Sarah Palin's daughters names as well. Old fashioned names are neat! My Grandma Stephenson's first name was "Ivy" and I always loved her name! It's in the middle of the night and I am at work reading your blog, ha! Can you tell I am actually caught up then at the moment! :)

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  4. Hi Rhonda! Late night reading is just fine:) Ivy is a great name - an old-fashioned to boot. I'll remember that one. In TFD I used our grandmother's name, Catherine Cleek, and it became Lael Catherine Click. Please keep checking in at work or otherwise - love hearing from you!

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