Aren’t you guys excited about Origin!? It sounds great! Jessica Khoury is here today to share an excerpt and her thoughts on. It will get you even more excited!
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ORIGIN excerpt:
He smiles and squeezes my hand. “I was here the day you were born, you know. I was the first one to hold you. I was the one who chose your name.”
“You were?” He’s never mentioned it before.
“Yes, Pia, because it means reverent, and that’s exactly what I felt when I saw you.”
His eyes, locked on mine, are warm and earnest, and I find myself smiling. (Origin, page 30)
Thoughts from Jessica:
My character naming process might be a bit unconventional. I rarely begin a book knowing any of the character’s names. Often, I don’t even think about names until I’m in midsentence and it’s time to actually write down a name. This way, I feel as though I’m truly meeting that character for the first time, and am able to create a more organic personality. It’s almost like “discovering” characters, rather than formulating them. I feel like once I name a character, their personality is fixed, as if they’re somehow bound to act a certain way as long as their name stays the same. Sometimes, when I have difficulty developing a character, I change their name and find it much easier to change everything else about them. It enables me to see that char
acter in a new way and get past whatever mental blocks were stopping me from finding their true motives or fears or purpose. Most of the characters in Origin were named on the spot, in midsentence, in the heat of writing the first draft. Because of this, they seemed to take on lives and attitudes of their own.
Not all of my naming practices are rooted in spontaneity, however; I knew going into the book that I wanted the doctors to have a mix of heritages, and of course the Ai’oans would need Ai’oan names. For the tribe, I researched the Tupi-Guarani language family, which the Ai’oans speak and which is the actual tongue native to the Amazonian tribes, and invented names that I felt fit the sounds and conventions of the geographical area. Pia’s name was one of the first things I knew going into the story. When I first conceived the idea for Origin—which began as just the image of a girl trapped in glass walls surrounded by jungle—the name Pia popped into my head and I loved it and never thought twice about it from then on.
More about ORIGIN!
http://origin-book.com/
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Breathless Reads:
Breathless Reads Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Breathless Reads Tumblr: http://breathlessreads.tumblr.
Breathless Reads Scribd Samplr: http://www.scribd.com/doc/
Jessica on the web:
http://www.jessicakhoury.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Tour Schedule:
Monday 8.27 – The Book Smugglers – http://thebooksmugglers.com/
Tuesday 8.28 – Pure Imagination – http://www.
Wednesday 8.29 – Steph Su Reads – http://stephsureads.blogspot.
Thursday 8.30 – Mundie Moms – http://mundiemoms.blogspot.
Friday 8.31 – Forever YA – http://www.foreveryoungadult.
Monday 9.3 – Novel Thoughts – http://www.novelthoughtsblog.
Tuesday 9.4 – Page Turners – http://www.pageturnersblog.com
Wednesday 9.5 – Frenetic Readers – http://freneticreader.
Thursday 9.6 – Bookshelf Banter – http://www.bookshelfbanter.com
Friday 9.7 – The Story Siren – http://www.thestorysiren.com
Monday 9.10 – Green Bean Teen Queen – http://www.greenbeanteenqueen.
Tuesday 9.11 – The Book Muncher – http://thebookmuncher.
Wednesday 9.12 – The Book Cellar – http://thebookcellarx.
Thursday 9.13 – Book Chic – http://bookchicclub.blogspot.
Friday 9.14 – The Compulsive Reader – http://thecompulsivereader.
Great guest post. I really like the name Pia. That’s cool that it popped into her head and just stuck.
Amy @ Book Loving Mom recently posted..Cover Reveal: Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland
Great post! I think it’s awesome that you actually researched the language spoken by the tribes before deciding on a name! I like the names, they stick out and from what I’ve read and heard so far they fit well
(By the way, I also rarely think about names before I actually have to write them down in a sentence. Then I take forever to choose. I usually don’t even really notice that the character doesn’t have a name ^^” Glad to see I’m not the only one who doesn’t have it all figured out before the drafting starts.)
Carmen B. recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Confessions!
Oh this is fun! I’ve literally actually wondered about Jessica’s name choice in Pia before so this is neat that it’s your guest post today.
I’m really excited for this book! I’ve loved watching the publishing process unfold as Jessica Khoury tweets and blogs about it. :)
Asheley (@BookwormAsheley) recently posted..Ten Bookish Confessions!
It is really interesting that you wait to name your characters. And I think it makes sense that you find it easier to change a character when you change their name. I am totally going to try that the next time I’m having trouble with a character.
fakesteph recently posted..Top Ten (Tuesday) Bookish Confessions
Such an interesting way to name a character! I always like to create the character before starting to write, but find that about halfway in, that character has none of those traits! I love the idea of meeting characters as you write them though; that’s really one of the best parts about writing fictional characters. Great post and I can’t wait to read Origin!
Candice recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday – Confessions
i liked how she researched the laguages . cool post
roro @roro is reading recently posted..WOW #11
That’s really interesting that she comes up with names on the spot. I tend to agonize over them and often can never feel satisfied with what I do come up with.
candace recently posted..Review: The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron
I’ve heard so many amazing things about this book- can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Pocketful of Books recently posted..Book Chat: Literary Dinner Party!
I have this book too but haven’t read it yet. It’s always so interesting to have this insight from the author. I enjoy finding how how their story came about.
Wrighty recently posted..Giveaway reminder!