I’m happy to hand my blog over to Tina Leonard who is sharing about choosing the right name for our beloved characters. Make sure to leave
a comment because she will be awarding a $50 Amazon GC to a
randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
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I love
choosing names for characters! That’s one of my favorite parts of
writing. Sometimes you read a book or watch a movie, and the characters
have such perfect, memorable names that they stick in your mind forever!
I think of Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games—there was just something
about her name that people responded to—it was cool, different and memorable.
Who can forget Scarlett O’Hara or Rhett Butler?
So one of my favorite challenges is to choose names that really
fit the story and the characters. Even the town or city needs to have a
name that readers can remember and somehow relate to. I spend a lot of
time looking up names, their meanings, fitting them with other characters to
see how they blend. Would a nickname suit the story’s character better,
illuminating the story more? I think of Deanie in Splendor in the
Grass—maybe we never remember her full name, but the name Deanie sticks because
it suited the character so well.
I also keep a catalog of all the names I use, and I try not to
repeat, as every name usually fits a certain story’s character perfectly.
A catalog is also helpful because it keeps me from using names in a story
that are too similar, or which start with the same letters so that it confuses
the readers. Naming the characters and places is important enough to
really spend some time searching for the perfect combinations—who knows?
You could be writing the next Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and
Prejudice!
BLURB:
Perfection takes time, but desire waits for no man. Or woman…
Pecan Creek, Book 1
With more than one skeleton rattling in her closet, Sugar
Cassavechia hopes “The Most Honest Town in Texas” will be the perfect place to
start an online business. As soon as her mother remembers the family recipe
that’ll get hotterthanhellnuts.com off the ground.
In the meantime, no way is Sugar letting their new landlord get
away with renting them a run-down house that’s decorated like a rich widow’s
orgasm. Even if he’s the biggest hunk of hot she’s ever laid eyes on.
Jake Bentley would love to do nothing but sit back and be amused
as the Cassavechia women unwittingly stir up trouble in his uptight town. But
something about them thaws out his frozen rescue complex. Especially Sugar’s
long, chestnut hair and sassy mouth.
Right about the time Sugar figures one steamy night in Jake’s bed
won’t hurt, another skeleton joins the party in the form of a dead body in the
“Belle Watling” room. And Sugar must decide if her family’s reputation—and her
own heart—are safe with Jake.
Product Warnings
No sex in this book. Nope. None. Nada. Honest. Now, if you believe
that, the author has an iceberg in Texas to sell you. Better hurry before
there’s none left to cool the fevered dreams generated by this book.
Excerpt
Twenty minutes later, Jake had
driven by his house, grabbed a six pack of beer and a bag of chocolate chip
cookies—comfort food—and headed down the road to the creek. He had to think,
and the only place he could think in peace and quiet without Kel’s issues or
his mother’s fixation with the Hot Nuts, or Averie wanting to relive their
relationship, was his private hideaway.
He passed Sugar and Paris walking
down the road, looking like she might be heading into town. “Don’t do this,” he
told himself and backed up his truck.
“Hey,” he said, and she smiled at
him.
“Hi.”
Just her smile made his muscles relax. He hadn’t realized
how tense he was until he breathed out at the sight of her. “Where are you two
ladies off to?”
“We’re heading into town. We’re
going to get a new dog bowl and a bag of dog treats.”
He looked at Paris, the world’s most spoiled dog now, and
her beautiful red-haired mother. Paris had on an autumn-leaf-themed kerchief
around her neck. Sugar wore capri jeans and a green top that showed just a bit
of her waist, and he wanted to sit and stare at her all afternoon.
“Where are you going?” Sugar asked.
“Just going to head off for a bit.”
“Oh.” Sugar smiled. “Have fun.” She
started walking again, and he watched her fanny move from side to side in the
tight jeans, and groaned.
She was dynamite in his world,
capable of blowing his heart to bits. He knew that now, but he wasn’t entirely
sure it mattered.
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
USA
Today Bestselling and award-winning author Tina Leonard has sold over 2.6
million copies of her titles. She has made the USA Today Bestseller,
Waldenbooks, Bookscan, and Ingrambook lists, and has written and contracted
seventy-one books and special projects. Her work has been published by
Harlequin, Samhain Publishing, Robinson Scarlet, and most recently Random House
Loveswept contracted for a single title trilogy project, Hell’s Outlaws.
Leonard was chosen to be among the first authors published for Robinson’s
Scarlet line, writing four single title novels for that imprint. Not long
after, she sold on proposal to Harlequin American, where she has since written
several popular series, most notably the Cowboys By The Dozen, Morgan Men, and
Callahan Cowboys series. Her newest single title project, HOTTER THAN TEXAS,
was published in March 2013. Leonard is known for her fun sense of humor,
endearing communities, snappy dialogue, and memorable characters.
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