My son brought his yearbook home yesterday. I may or may not have blogged before about how ridiculous it seems to me that when my kid is in the nursing home, he’ll be surrounded by Dakotas and Jaydens. And like, when I’m in the nursing home, I’ll probably accuse some orderly named Montana of stealing my lipstick. But as I’m looking through these children’s smiling faces and matching up the Souixzhans and the Hunters, I’m starting to think that elementary school yearbooks are underappreciated resources for romance writers. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Romance Novel Character Class of 2022:<\/p>\n
If you are writing a contemporary romance about baseball players, might I suggest:<\/B>
Brooklyn, Auston (not a typo)
Stryker, Gunner<\/p>\n
If you’re looking for a new twist on an old favorite, how about:<\/B>
Mica, Abbygale,
Aryanna (I really hope the occurrence of “Aryan” in this one was unintentional)
Mariea, Mekenna, Kamrynn,
Kasssandra, Alexxis, Madylin,
Shayann, Jaiyde, Mersaydies,
Jazzmine, Karter, Madysen,
Elyzabeth, Kersten, Nickolice,
Alekzander,<\/p>\n
If you’ve just created a series about an impossibly large family of brothers, each hotter than the last, you might try:<\/B>
Colton, Tanner, Ashton,
Brentin,Trenton, Dalton,
Karter, Landon, Caeden<\/p>\n
Writing a historical romance set in the old west?<\/B>
Montana, Cheyenne,
Dakota (There are two Dakotas in one class),
Dawson, Holden, Ezrian,<\/p>\n
Of course, paranormal, fantasy, and scifi authors need their names, too:<\/B>
Azlan, Tayah, Terri’aun,
Ameia, Rylie, Genel,
Therin, Tylar, Takaycee,
SiSi, Zarek, Rainen,
Kitara, Tehya, Kiau,
Coyana, Keghan, Deikon
Kaidyn, Emale, Thor,
Taygon, <\/p>\n
Velour historicals, I have not forgotten you:<\/B>
Azaria, O’Shea (That’s a first name, folks)
Alainna, Teaghan, Tristren,
Ciara, Bram, Justus,
Adrionna, Trystan, Katryna
Lilyana<\/p>\n
I don’t know why i didn’t think of this before. I agonize over finding the right name, that hasn’t been over-used (okay, so Dakota and Colton are way, way overused) and all I needed to do was pick up my kid’s yearbook. Of course, in years past it wouldn’t have worked. He went to a Catholic school, so all the girls were named Mary and the boys were all Joseph.<\/p>\n
Wait, that’s an option for character names. Saints! Why haven’t we seen a handsome were-panther named Ethelbert yet?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My son brought his yearbook home yesterday. I may or may not have blogged before about how ridiculous it seems to me that when my…<\/p>\n