Perfectionist

Mother had a good heart, but she was prone to judge everything and everyone that came along. Names were a prime target. Even though Mother had given her own daughter a weird name, she felt free to critique the names other people had bestowed upon their children. Houses were also  fair game. As a devoted reader of Better Homes and Gardens, she mentally critiqued every dwelling she enetered, and, when she was home, gave the family her review. Her gavel also came down on how people dressed, fixed their hair, and lived their lives. Of course, Fiorella absorbed the perfectionist eye--and the mouth--at her mother's knee and made herself extremely unpopular in school by voicing her own judgments. Even now, in her dotage, she struggles to scrub off the vestiges. Back off, Fio. Live and let live.

Conspiracies and Coincidences

Friend Jeanell's life would be a field day for conspiracy theorists.

 During the same time frame, three women, all with names beginning with J, all romance writers, all members of ARWA, all on the shady side of fifty, had their computers go down. Then there were Jeanell's former neighbors--the husband's given name was the same as Jeanell's younger son's middle name, the neighbor's older son's name was same as Jeanell's older son's name, and the neighbor's younger son's name was the male version of Jeanell's daughter's name. Which all goes to prove that sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence. However, about those three computers....

Name Game

Fiorella admits it--she likes to play with her characters' names.  For instance, all three of her Bosque Bend heroes (Jase, Rafe, Bram) have single-syllable names  spelled with an "a."  And, in Where the Heart Leads, she named one character "Marcy Ann," then gave her the nickname of "Rocky,"  which Fio's father, a boxing fan, would have appreciated. Fiorella also listed all of her paternal cousins, aunt and uncle in a crowd scene in that book, and the crazy horse was named "Bella" after a crazy dog Fio and Husband had to have put down.  And in What the Heart Wants, Fio named the pound dog "Hugo" after her own sweet, dear-departed pound dog.

Sometimes Fio pulls names from classical mythology, although she had to  change one character's name from "Isis" to "Astrid" when the political scene heated up.  And did you notice that Vashti's musical daughters were named "Carmen" and "Micaela" after the leads in Bizet's opera?

Yes, name-wise, Fio is shamelessly derivative--enjoy!

+ opera?

Otherwise, Fio gets her names from baby lists according to year of birth, obituaries, and remembrances of classmates from her elementary-school days. And, for no particular reason, her lawyers are always named Charles.

Young Lady

In her checkered past, Fiorella taught at several colleges.  Her first agenda item in each class was to learn the students' names.  Names are important.  Calling people by their names acknowledges them as individuals to whom you can relate in some way.

Fiorella recently had a disturbing experience with a new doctor.  A bluff, hearty man, he continually addressed her as "young lady," probably thinking he was being cute or flattering.  But since Fio is neither young nor a lady--she's always been something of a smart ass--she wondered if he was mocking her.  Definitely, he was depersonalizing her: calling Fio "young lady" was an easy way for him to avoid having to remember her name or build a relationship.

Fiorella is in the market for a replacement doctor.

Fio's Pen Name?

Fio has to think up a pen name for when she hits it big as a romance writer.

What a trip! It's like when she was a little girl and would make up fantasies in her mind, the heroine of which always had a wonderful, beautiful name, like Theodora or Penelope or Victoria Anastasia.

To be able to name oneself is the ultimate power. Our parents named us when we were infants, little knowing what we would become--priests, serial killers, or naked movie stars. As adults, we know who we are, or at least who we want to be, so supposedly we can rename ourselves appropriately.

Hmmm.... how about Victoria Anastasia?

My Name, Myself

A person's name is magic. That's why some cultures do not reveal a person's true name. That's why our christening ceremonies are religious. That's why people get new names in secret societies. That's why Harry Dresden has been able to barter part of his name for greater power, but refuses to divulge his full name, which would give even greater power to the possessor of it.

If someone calls out my name, he commands my attention, if only for a moment. If someone remembers my name, I am well disposed toward him. When I was teaching, I tried to memorize every student's name within the first week, and I called roll religiously. I also regularly called on each student by name for class participation. My theory was that every student deserved to hear his teacher say aloud his name on a daily basis. It showed I knew he was alive.

Our names can outlive us. Centuries ago, a man named Herostratus set fire to the temple of Diana at Ephesus so his name would always be remembered. And it has.

Fiorella isn't willing to go that far, but she is writing a blog every day with which she hopes to set her own small world on fire. Such is eternity.