What happened to February?

I really am not sure what happened this month...it's almost over and it feels like it just began (although this was an incredibly LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG week at work!). Writing has not gone as well as I would have liked due to overwhelming demands of two different fundraisers and Girl Scout Cookie Sale coinciding. There are also the forty-odd blankets that are knitted and need to be crocheted to be finished...they take up a large part of my living room and will be donated to Project Linus when finished. (Two knitters using up odds and ends of yarn = forty+ blankets!)

So, with March on the horizon, what will I do? First, and foremost, is to finish Troll Quest. After that, I'll be editing it and moving forward with my YA book. (And no, the characters do not all have names...yet...just strong personalities!)

Dear Lucky Agent

There's nothing like a great contest to enter your novel in! The latest "Dear Lucky Agent" contest is for middle grades or young adult novels! Information on entering is at:
www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog

What is REALLY in a Name?

So the trolls are on their way to meet the queen of the sprites, and all is well in the land of Marf. The names for the characters and places were so easy to develop in that novel that I actually have a lot of great trolls who have not even been mentioned! That leads to the problem with my YA novel...names.

This is a futuristic sci-fi novel (not fantasy, for once!), and I want names that reflect the progress (as well as the lack of progress) of humanity. My MC's are twins, a boy and a girl. The girl's name came quite easily with the help of a good friend. Her brother, however, is simply a ? in the outline and manuscript beginning. So is his best friend. And their father. Nothing sounds "right" for any of these characters! I'm staying away from those stereotypical and slightly ghastly sci fi names you see WAY too often. There are no characters named Galaxia, Orion, Neptune, etc. Nothing that sounds as if it came from a bad sitcom or attempt at remaking Star Trek. If you have any ideas, I know I want the brother's name to start with a "N" sound and end in a strong consonant. Feel free to pass along your suggestions. Maybe one will work or, at least, go through a metamorphasis into the right name. For now, Enalia and ? are busy discovering who they really are and how to save themselves and all of the other "Imperfects"...