I had to rename a character this week. Usually, naming characters is one of my favorite things to do. I love thinking of how the name fits their personality, their look, their story. I try to find names with meanings that suit the story and the person.
In this case, I had already written a full book, which was with my editor. I’d finished a novella prequel. And I was half-way through the second book. It wasn’t until the second round of edits on book 1, which my editor and I were discussing the edits over the phone and happened to say the names out loud that we realized… the hero and heroine slated for book 3 had names that rhymed.
Well…dang. Can’t have that. We decided that we needed to rename Hadyn. The problem was I needed Hadyn’s name to work on multiple levels. The character is super tough and super feisty. The name needed to fit with the hero’s since they’ll be a couple. The name also needed work with her 3 sisters (Kasia, Meira, and Angelika), all of whom have softer sounding names than I was going for. And the meaning needed to fit her situation.
So yes. I spent about 5 hours mucking around to find the exact right name. It took messaging my beta readers, and even bugging my editor for feedback. Boy was that hard.
And the name is… Skylar.
Phew. So glad I found something that works. Lol. Thanks to everyone who helped. Look for Skylar’s story soon!
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