Thank you Joe Young for kicking off my blog series on naming characters so successfully! I really enjoyed reading Joe’s answers to my questions, and they made me think carefully about my own attitude toward character names. I usually start out a novel with character names already in mind, but if I haven’t taken a little time to really think about who my characters are, I often find I need to change their names. I was especially intrigued when Joe said he knew there’d be a character named “the rabbit” in the book from the beginning, but he didn’t really know who it would be until his main character encountered him. I do love an opportunity to discuss writing with fellow authors. It’s always refreshing finding out about the differences and similarities.

Speaking of which, don’t forget to check back for A.J. Brown’s interview on Monday, January 10. It promises to be a good one. Get to know A.J. a little in the feature area to the upper left.

Finally, I received my latest royalty statement and am happy to report I sold a few more copies, so I’ve donated $25 more to the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. (If you’d like to add a little more to the fund, you can click on the link.) Remember, $25 is the minimum I’ve pledged to donate to a charity each month of this year. If my royalties go above and beyond $25, I’ll donate all of it to my chosen charity of the month.

Here are my HONEOWP stats so far:

November (NWF’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund): $25
December (NWF’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund): $25
January (Habitat for Humanity): ????

If you’d like to join me in my HONEOWP (Helpful Outstanding Novelists, Editors and Others in the Writing Profession) initiative, email me at michellegflye@gmail.com. I know 2011 is going to be a great year!