I have an unusual relationship with character names, probably because I have such a poor memory (as Electra likes to point out). Quite frankly, I don’t particularly like the process of coming up with names. As the saying goes, you don’t know how many people you dislike until it’s time to name your child. Or character. Plus, once I finish the book I forget the characters’ names within a few days at most (which makes reading Game of Thrones exhausting).

My way out is to name people after their role in the book. For example, in Runaway Smile we meet the boy and his mother. Neither has a name beyond that. Similarly, many characters in A Heaven for Toasters are called “The Professor,” “The Captain,” etc. Easy to remember, if not so easy to write, as I always struggle with capitalization.

When I do need to come up…