These are the names of the characters in my new book ‘The Self Invention’. I’ve separated them into two different groups and provided a little bit of info. I’ve tried not to go into too much detail as the plot is insanely complex to write (not to read though thankfully!). The setting is Ledanrod, 1905. A city in a parallel world to ours in which Christianity never took off. People still worship a set of Greek style Gods. Electricity is the newest big thing but with no big wars to spur on development the world is at least twenty years behind ours technology wise.
The [name]Palace[/name]
Main Characters
[name]Princess[/name] Arg (Ayella [name]Rebecca[/name] [name]Georgiana[/name]) [name]Von[/name] Gartenfeld Hasley - Twenty. Known as Arg but refers to herself as Ayella. Rarely leaves the palace, is ignored by pretty much everyone in her family except for her Uncle [name]Olav[/name] and her old nursemaid Lady.
[name]Cashel[/name] Lockett- Thirty six. Known as [name]Cash[/name]. Drug addict and thief. He is part of a criminal gang masquerading as a theatre troupe.
Supporting Cast
[name]King[/name]: [name]Emmerich[/name] von Gartenfeld Hasley - A weak king. Bends to his wife’s every whim.
[name]Queen[/name]: Genovetta [name]Maria[/name] von Gartenfeld Hasley - Since the death of her only son (twenty seven years prior) she has been in constant mourning. She blames herself for his death and hasn’t been able to look at herself since. She banned mirrors throughout all of Ledanrod city and insists that everyone in the palace must wear masks in each others presence. Slightly nuts. She resents Ayella for not being the son she and [name]Emmerich[/name] desperately wanted.
Uncle: [name]Olav[/name] von Gartenfeld Hasley - Desperately trying to hold the country together.
Uncle: [name]Ulrich[/name] von Gartenfeld Hasley - Ayella’s tutor. He is extremely strict with her.
The Sisters: [name]Princess[/name] [name]Fay[/name] (Florianne [name]Araminta[/name] [name]Yasmine[/name]) [name]Von[/name] Gartenfeld Hasley
[name]Princess[/name] [name]Mel[/name] ([name]Magdalena[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Lorraine[/name]) [name]Von[/name] Gartenfeld Hasley
[name]Princess[/name] [name]Nan[/name] ([name]Nicolette[/name] [name]Adeline[/name] [name]Natalia[/name]) [name]Von[/name] Gartenfeld Hasley
[name]Princess[/name] [name]Bec[/name] ([name]Benedicta[/name] [name]Evangeline[/name] [name]Catherine[/name]) [name]Von[/name] Gartenfeld Hasley
[name]Princess[/name] [name]Ria[/name] (Raphaella [name]Imogen[/name] [name]Alexandrina[/name]) [name]Von[/name] Gartenfeld Hasley
[name]Princess[/name] Lot ([name]Lucienne[/name] [name]Octavia[/name] [name]Thomasine[/name]) [name]Von[/name] Gartenfeld Hasley
They’re all married to counts and barons and dukes etc and are all far older than Ayella. None are mentioned often but I wanted to know all their names anyway. [name]Just[/name] in case.
Nursemaid: [name]Leticia[/name] ‘Lady’ Morrowe - Raised Ayella.
Her [name]Son[/name]: [name]Leonardo[/name] ‘[name]Leo[/name]’ Morrowe - Lazy and boring. He is a jack of all trades and could be good at anything he wanted if only he had the focus and drive to go for it. He is happy to coast along.
Ayella’s Handmaid: [name]Grace[/name] Lockett - [name]Little[/name] sister to [name]Cash[/name]. Lives with her aunt and uncle. She and [name]Cash[/name] were abandoned by their parents when they were very small.
The Thieves
Main Characters
[name]Robin[/name] Apparently - Thirtyish but he can’t be sure. Woke up in an alleyway surrounded by bags of money with no memory. He is ‘rescued’ by Twist who tells him that he can either join his gang or face being hung when the police catch him. [name]Robin[/name] chooses the gang.
Twist - Forty eight. Named ‘The Director’ by his gang. Twist is an incredible actor and political dissident aiming to replace the [name]King[/name] with a puppet of his own choosing. Since [name]Robin[/name] has no memory, Twist decides he would be the perfect candidate and sets about moulding him into shape.
Cydrid [name]Roux[/name] - Forty four. Hair and makeup artist extraodinaire. She has the ability to transform people’s faces. An old flame of Twist she has been with the group for years. [name]Cash[/name] and [name]Grace[/name]'s mother.
[name]Gordy[/name] ‘[name]Hen[/name]’ Cammish - Thirty seven. The cook. [name]Hen[/name] is a little simple but will sometimes come out with gems of wisdom. He likes proverbs and his favourite sayings are about chickens, hence the nickname.
Supporting Cast:
The following names are members of Twist’s gang. I haven’t decided much about them yet but they’re mainly just names I can throw around to pad out the group.
Nettle
Norcross
Sheer
Vertigan
Pointer
[name]Bowman[/name]
[name]Kale[/name]
My two questions are as follows:
- [name]How[/name] would your pronounce Ayella if you saw it in a book?
- Are there are first name/surname combos that sound out of place to you? If so, why?
((If you feel you need more info on some of the characters to be able to judge please ask and I’ll write some more.))
I’ll definitely keep you posted. I’m still in the plotting stages at the moment. I have the first few Ayella chapters worked out, one [name]Cash[/name] and two [name]Robin[/name].