Monday, November 30, 2020

What's in a Name, and Other Stuff

 

A belated happy Thanksgiving to the US folks out there! I missed my October PNRomantics post due to deadlines, and almost missed November too! (Hey, there's still a few hours left of today where I live.) A lot has happened in the last couple of months, so let’s get on with this.

My winged aliens have been set free and the Silverstar Mates series is complete! This series was a blast to write. Creating this new universe was a challenging change of pace from my Prophecy series. If you love sexy silver foxes, you should check it out.


Reflecting back, one of the most notable writing moments for me was one evening when I took a break and watched a documentary about immigration. In it they talked about the word “alien” and how it can be used in a degrading and insulting manner, and that many immigrants prefer it not be used at all.

This is a real-time issue, and I figured that intergalactic travelers might feel the same way. So, instead of alien, I chose to use off-worlder for this series. I kinda like the idea, and you may see this play out in future books of mine as well. I’m mulling that over right now.

Now for the fun little nuggets…. The heroes in these stories are winged beings, and as such have adopted various sayings like: On the other wing, instead of on the other hand; nest, instead of house; flock, instead of family; etc. There are too many others to list, but you can check them out for yourself.

Also, as you read the books you may notice something very special about the heroines’ names. All of their names—first and last (in some cases maiden)—are related to birds. Seriously! Robyn, Meryl, Martin, Vogel, etc. And there’s a future heroine mentioned whose name means “birdlike” in Latin.

And speaking of the future, as of today I started working on the prequel to the Silverstar Mates series. It will be a short story that takes place fifteen years before Above the Storm, and will answer the question I seem to be getting a lot: Who is Sovah Raptorclaw?

Heh, heh, heh. Who indeed? Stay tuned.

XOXO,

Lea Kirk

For more on Lea's books (past, present, and future), check out her:

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Need gift ideas? The print versions of my three Prophecy series novels are on sale through January 1, 2021.




 

5 comments:

Nancy Gideon said...

Oooooo! Mature heroes (sometimes I feel a bit pervy lusting on these just post adolescent 'men'!). Love the idea of the avian names and doing a prequel (hmmmmm...).

Maureen said...

Making stuff up is the best! I'm terrible at picking names for my characters. Love how your choose your names!

Mary Morgan said...

I love this term, "off-worlder", Lea! Choosing names for characters can be torture or spectacular for me. In one of my stories, I changed the heroine's name 4 times. By the middle of the story, she had developed two names (Ivy Kathleen), which was more a chore for me, yet perfect for the character. Happy Holidays!

Diane Burton said...

I really enjoyed this series, so far. I've read books 1 & 2. I loved the way they have to contort themselves to get into a house. I like the term off-worlder instead of alien. Words have emotional connotations.

Nightingale said...

I'm so grateful to my imagination. Without it I wouldn't be different from everyone else. haha Good post, Lee. Good luck with your Prophecy series.