A rose, by any other name...

I'll admit it. I have a TERRIBLE time naming my characters.  It's like naming children (which also took us months). The names have to be cool enough that readers don't pause and thing, "Really?"

For example: Howard. He had a very cool nickname ("sixpack"), but when I first read Howard I stopped reading and thought, "Huh."  Howard.  BUT, this is a kickass book, so everyone should read it anyway.

But I can't name a hero "Frances" or "Maurice"...not easily anyway.

And what about the women? So far I have Lily and Annabelle and Olivia and Chelsea.  They practically named themselves. I have no idea where the names came from, but they work. Mostly.

What about you? Do you have an easy time naming characters  When you read, what are some of your favorite names? Or least favorite?

Feel Like a Woman

*cue Shania Twain song here*

The last couple of days I seem to have been bombarded with various points of view regarding what it means to be a woman. Not in the literal sense of course, but what it means to take pride in yourself. To be strong (both emotionally and physically). To be fit. To be a good mother. A good wife. The list goes on and on, but you get what I mean.

What stopped me in my tracks yesterday was the question about being ashamed of being a sexual woman. Feeling okay to ask your partner to up the kink in the bedroom, or try new things-even vanilla things, but new vanilla things.
You see, good girls don't talk about that stuff.
Right?
Go ahead, I'll wait while you finish laughing.

I'm not talking about whips and chains...unless you're into that stuff, in which case, more power to you. I'm talking about feeling powerful and able to take charge. Being comfortable being the instigator of whatever floats your boat.
Often times I see women who point towards their partner, saying he doesn't make them feel comfortable. Or, they point to him while saying they just weren't raised that way. Whatever.
I think this is why we like our heroes the way we do. The alpha bad boys with a good heart who just know what we want without communication. They touch that spot-right there-just the right way without any direction at all. It's like they have an inner GPS for the woman's body, or their woman's body at least, and they wield that knowledge to bring us to our knees.

Here's a reminder though...those guys are fiction. Not to say there aren't many wonderful amazing men out there. There are. But, we can't put our satisfaction or happiness solely in their hands.
We need to be strong enough to take charge. To tell them, even if we're blushing the entire time, that we'd really like to try that thing that was described in that book.
Heck, if all else fails, hand them a copy of that book, marked to that page and flee the room to pour yourself a glass of wine while he reads it. Men are simple creatures. Sometimes we have to be specific if we want something.
But, trust me. You will be happy you did.
Even if you were blushing the whole time.

What do you think? Should a man be able to read his woman's mind and just know what she wants? Or should we women stand up and take ownership?

More soon,
Carmen