Whaddya mean it's May 30th?

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me. So busy in fact that I almost missed my normal post day for the Paranormal Romantics blog! May 30^th tried to sneak by me without being noticed, but I caught it two hours before the day was over. Needless to say, this is going to be short and sweet. I only have two things to tell you about, anyway.

First, I need your help. You see, today is the final day of the Blue Book Cover Brigade’s efforts to raise money for the ALS Association, and we’d like to end the project on a bang. That’s where you come in. There are three ways to help:

1) Go to our web page, peruse the selection of out-of-this-world SFR and PNR titles. Purchase one…or two…or more, and 25% of each sale will benefit the ALSA. (Note: some authors will donate 100% of their book’s May sales—Prophecy is one of those books.)

2) Have you read all these books already but still want to help? No problem! Go to our ALS team page and make a tax deductible donation to the team, or to the author of your choice.

3) Share this information and links with your friends on social media!

Remember, the project ends May 31, 2018!

Second thing, the third book in my Prophecy series is now available for pre-order!

Collision, Book Three of the Prophecy Series

A heart-rending loss…

Flora Bock will never forgive the Anferthian invaders for murdering her birth-parents. Growing up with the grandson of her sworn enemies is living a nightmare—until the day she sees him through the eyes of a young woman. But giving her heart to him is the ultimate betrayal of her parents’ memory.

 A life in peril…

There are precious few places in the galaxy where Fander K’nil is safe. One look into Flora’s beautiful, hate-filled eyes is proof enough that Terr is not one of those places. He must keep her at a distance and stay alive long enough to fulfill his destiny. No matter what his heart desires.

An empire at stake…

Just as Fander and Flora begin to discover the depth of their feelings for each other, they are thrust into a deadly game of politics and assassination with an enemy who stops at nothing to stay in power. With the lives of everyone they love at risk, they must find a way to avert a new invasion before it’s too late—even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice.

Amazon * B&N * iTunes * Kobo

Haven't read books one and two in the series yet? Check 'em out...

Prophecy, Book One of the Prophecy Series

A woman who's lost everything, a man betrayed by his own, but together their destiny is greater than ever imagined. 

Amazon * B&N/iTunes/Kobo

Salvation, Book Two of the Prophecy Series

One incurable disease, two reluctant Healers, three worlds on the brink of war. What could possibly go wrong?

Amazon * B&N/iTunes/Kobo

And, boom! I finished my May blog with about an hour to spare. See you all next month with a well-prepared and informative blog. I hope.

What’s in a name?

One would think naming characters would be easy, but folks, it’s not. At least, a lot of the times it’s not. Like naming your babies, there are so many things to consider. The character’s family history, the author’s personal taste, the cheesiness level, and name meanings are just a few of those things.

When I started writing the story that would eventually become Prophecy, my heroine’s name was Alexis. This was completely understandable because at that time I was a teenager and I loved the name Alexis. There was no reason to question my choice as she was my baby and I could name her whatever I darn well pleased. Right?

Welllll, not so much.

About thirty years later, Alexis and her hero resurfaced in my mind. It was time for their story to be told, but with certain changes. Alexis had grown, matured. She wasn’t the effervescent (and often annoying) nineteen-year-old she’d been before, and her name needed to reflect that change. 

Fortunately, for this story, I didn’t need to change it much. I bought a mega-sized book of baby names and perused it in search of the perfect name. It turns out that Alexis means “defender of mankind”. This is essentially what her character does—defends mankind on Earth. She becomes the voice and face of her people to the new intergalactic community Earthlings are suddenly exposed to. But since Alexis was forever stuck in my head as a teenage girl, the name couldn’t stay.

But, whaddya know, Alexandra also means defender of mankind and sounded more mature—like twenty-two-year-old mature. Hey! I had a first name!

There is a quiet and tender scene in Prophecy where Alexandra (aka: Alex) and her hero have a moment alone to regroup and actually get to know each other a little better. (I love this scene, btw.) Alex tells him her middle name, which is…oh, crap. I had no middle name! And not just any name would do. It needed to tie her to her people, past, present, and future. It had to be something really meaningful. One thing I knew about her family and past was that her father had been the head of the history department at the local university and had taught ancient history. He particularly loved ancient Greek history. How could I use this to choose the right middle name for her? 

Quick, back to the baby name book. Weirdly, I opened the book to the girl “G” names, and a short way down the page I found the name Gaia. Do you have any idea what that name means? Earth. It means, earth.

Bingo!

Defender of mankind of Earth. Done.

Now, what about her hero? He was an alien, so an argument could be made that I could just make up a name and attach my own meaning to it, but that didn’t feel right. (Although, in a moment of frustration I did do exactly this for a minor character in Salvation, but that’s another story).

The hero’s ancestors had been the basis of the legends of Atlantis. For the sake of my sanity, I decided the aliens interacted first and foremost with the ancient Greeks, but their subtle influence spread throughout Europe including languages, names, and mythologies. One name that caught my attention was Griffin, meaning fierce and warrior, like the mythological griffon. Researching this, I discovered there are griffons throughout many cultures’ histories in Europe and the Middle East.

But, Griffin seemed a little too trendy for my hero. Shortening it to Griff might work, but he was an alien and that spelling was too, well, normal. If I changed the “i” to a “y” and dropped an “f”…yeah. Gryf. That worked.

Of course, he would also need a middle name for that quiet, tender scene. Once again I madly flipped through that baby name book searching for male names of Greek origin. I finally found Dimitri. You'll never believe what that name means. It means: Loves the earth.

Oh. My. Gawd. Is that freaking perfect, or what?

The fierce warrior who loves the earth. Dayum, I’m good. But, once again the spelling needed to be “alien-nized”, and the final result was Dimytro. 

Close enough!

And that’s how Alexandra Gaia Bock and Gryf Dimytro Helyg got their names.

I told you it isn’t simple.

Btw, if you haven't read Prophecy yet, now would be the perfect time to get started. If you have read it, you might want to reread it now to refresh your memory. The release date for the third and final book in the series arc—Collision—will be announced very soon!

A nightmare of galactic proportions…
One normal day turns into horror when Earth is attacked. Now ER nurse Alexandra Bock is imprisoned aboard an alien slave ship with no way out. She deems all aliens untrustworthy, including the handsome blue-skinned Matiran captain who shares her cell.

A betrayal from within…
One night of treachery leaves Senior Captain Gryf Helyg a prisoner of his enemies. Because of him, Earth’s inhabitants face extinction and his home world is threatened. But his plans for escape are complicated by his inexplicable draw to the Earth woman imprisoned with him.
​
A chance to save both their peoples…
One ancient prophecy holds the key to free Alexandra and Gryf’s war-ravaged worlds. Can two wounded souls who have lost everything learn to trust and forgive in order to fulfill the prophecy, and find a love that will last for eternity?

Amazon US & International  B&N  iBooks  Kobo

USA Today Bestselling Author Lea Kirk loves to transport her readers to other worlds with her science fiction romance Prophecy series (Prophecy, All of Me, and Salvation). She’s made one foray into paranormal with her Kindle World vampire novella, Made for Her. Currently she is working on book three of the series, Collision, which will be released later this year

When she not busy writing, she’s hanging out with her wonderful hubby of twenty-eight years, their five kids (aka, the nerd herd), and a spoiled Dobie mix pup.