Okay my lovelies, I need help. And not just in a men-in-white-coats way. You see, recently I've been somewhat obsessed with names.
I love both my parents, I really do, even if I don't like them that much very often. But, for various reasons that you may or may not know (if you don't, don't worry – if you need to know I'll tell you), I feel incredibly uncomfortable at the notion of writing under either of their names. At my birthday party in January, I approached the amazing Beth Webb to ask her if I could use her surname instead of my own. She told me that I was welcome to it, but that I might well not want it. And then she explained that, as a writer, the alphabetical position of a name is the most significant part. If you're standing staring at a great big bookshelf in a shop, your eyes are inevitably drawn to the bigger displays, to the titles by authors who are prominent in the literary market. Beth's advice was to go along to a bookshop, analyse the shelves, and see which letters are the best. So, yesterday, I went into town, visited the bookshops, and cross-referenced. Using three shops and every genre I thought I might one day write in. For several hours.
The end result of my research? The best letters for me are P, R and S. T is good, but occasionally it gets skipped and ends up in the wrong place. After this, I read through the phone book. I could hear the voices in my head, emerging like an XKCD cartoon.
1: So, what did you do on your Sunday?
2: Well, I cross-referenced three bookshops, and then read the phone book.
1: Wow... when you said you were giving up the internet to get a life, I never thought it would be so fulfilled...
Needless to say, I have not given up the internet. Nor am I planning on it. Even so, I occasionally worry about the ways I chose to pass the time. Fortunately, Babiji and I had a very fulfilling evening in compensation. Unfortunately, none of that is relevant. This post is, after all, about Names.
Eventually, I narrowed an infinity of possibilities down to five. Prior, Ruskin, Swallow, Sparrow and Stanton.
I've put a poll up on my livejournal, so please - go along and vote.
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2 comments:
humph...for some reason it won't let me vote.Is this cos I had the privilege of finding the first set of names? I think with Sparrow just L. works best...though maybe that sounds a bit Spanish artist ish
L Sparrow El Greco...ummmmm
I thought we had done this agonising business of naming our children once ....it seems even harder now than then, because you were so obviously the person you are when you arrived.
If you see what I mean.
Love you whatever you call yourself xxxxx
I'd forgotten the Captain Jack connection...that makes it RUSKIN for sure, from this perspective. I agree with whoever it was who said that Lucinda Ruskin also works, so you could adopt that in later life if you wanted to...or for a different genre.
As long as you hang on to good on Stanley Downton for your seedy crime writing.
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