I Was Busy Last Week...
Which is why there was no post - for which I apologise, I was at a silent film festival (that's how I roll). I did still manage to get some work done and a couple of thousand words today, so The Werewolf of Priory Grange is still moving forward! Slowly. The good news is that I finished my ghostwriting assignment, so I have a bit of free time until the next one starts on the 1st of February. But I knew that this would be a difficult task that I would have to fit in around all my other work so; bring it on.
I've just finished chapter 3, a chapter in which a number of minor characters (mostly schoolchildren) are introduced whom I didn't plan when I wrote the outline and so who all needed naming. Naming characters is my one of the chores of writing I dislike the most (it's almost as bad coming up with titles) and I usually sit down with the TV listings and scan cast lists until I find a name I like. But, with the Universal Library I decided to take character names from the films that inspired the books - principally the Universal Horrors, then onto the Hammer ones if I'm struggling. It's still a question of finding the right names for the characters but at least I have a list to work from. I then chop the names up as suits me so I'm not stealing names from a series whose copyright I may already be tiptoeing close to. So, for example, in The Mummy's Quest, the character of Arthur Banning takes his name from Arthur Byron (who played Frank Whemple in 1932's The Mummy) and Steve Banning (the lead character in 1940's The Mummy's Hand). Likewise in The Werewolf of Priory Grange, one of the main characters is named Lisa Hobson after Valerie Hobson and the character she played in Werewolf of London (1935), Lisa Glendon. The name Glendon I gave given to another character. Today I was naming a bunch of school girls, which means that if I encounter more female characters as I continue through the book I may struggle, as I have practically exhausted Werewolf of London, The Wolf Man (1941), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Hammer Horror's The Curse of the Werewolf (1961). The exceptions to this rule were the Egyptian characters in The Mummy's Quest; the modern ones' names were taken from a list of popular Egyptian names, and the period ones taken from a list of ancient Egyptian names in which I tried to find names that were both appropriate (in terms of level in society) and which suited the character. The more significant exception is Amelia in The Mummy's Quest. Her name was a carry over from an abandoned project about a paranormal detective called Amelia Hammer (a nod to the horror studio and detective Mike Hammer). I changed her surname to Evans (taken from The Mummy's Tomb - 1942) and always intended to change Amelia as well. But it suited her so well, and I'm not such a slave to my rules as to piss away a good character name on the rare occasions I blunder into one.
I've just finished chapter 3, a chapter in which a number of minor characters (mostly schoolchildren) are introduced whom I didn't plan when I wrote the outline and so who all needed naming. Naming characters is my one of the chores of writing I dislike the most (it's almost as bad coming up with titles) and I usually sit down with the TV listings and scan cast lists until I find a name I like. But, with the Universal Library I decided to take character names from the films that inspired the books - principally the Universal Horrors, then onto the Hammer ones if I'm struggling. It's still a question of finding the right names for the characters but at least I have a list to work from. I then chop the names up as suits me so I'm not stealing names from a series whose copyright I may already be tiptoeing close to. So, for example, in The Mummy's Quest, the character of Arthur Banning takes his name from Arthur Byron (who played Frank Whemple in 1932's The Mummy) and Steve Banning (the lead character in 1940's The Mummy's Hand). Likewise in The Werewolf of Priory Grange, one of the main characters is named Lisa Hobson after Valerie Hobson and the character she played in Werewolf of London (1935), Lisa Glendon. The name Glendon I gave given to another character. Today I was naming a bunch of school girls, which means that if I encounter more female characters as I continue through the book I may struggle, as I have practically exhausted Werewolf of London, The Wolf Man (1941), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Hammer Horror's The Curse of the Werewolf (1961). The exceptions to this rule were the Egyptian characters in The Mummy's Quest; the modern ones' names were taken from a list of popular Egyptian names, and the period ones taken from a list of ancient Egyptian names in which I tried to find names that were both appropriate (in terms of level in society) and which suited the character. The more significant exception is Amelia in The Mummy's Quest. Her name was a carry over from an abandoned project about a paranormal detective called Amelia Hammer (a nod to the horror studio and detective Mike Hammer). I changed her surname to Evans (taken from The Mummy's Tomb - 1942) and always intended to change Amelia as well. But it suited her so well, and I'm not such a slave to my rules as to piss away a good character name on the rare occasions I blunder into one.
My favourite character name this time round is the head of the Universal Library and organisation, whom we have not met before, and is named Carl, or Uncle Carl. And if you're a classic film fan, then you'll know why I was quite pleased with this.
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