Character Impact With Names

One of my favorite entertainments is watching soccer. Through my trusty satellite dish I follow the English Premier League (EPL), Italian Serie A, watch a few Mexican league games, and this time of year I'm a faithful follower of the North American, Major League Soccer (MLS).

At the beginning of the season, I was watching/listening to an MLS Houston Dynamo game. At the beginning of the game, I wasn't in the room with the TV and kept hearing the commentator talking about Tally Ho. I realized he was referring to the goalkeeper. Tally Ho? When I viewed the game, I learned the player's name is Tally Hall. I still got a chuckle from my mis-hearing, and once when I watched a Dynamo game on a Mexican channel, their commentators seemed to find the name Tally Hall (ho) amusing, too. (Mr. Hall is an excellent keeper with an impressive shutout record)

I started thinking of when I might give a character a name like this--one that the reader might misread, or get a sound image that could be amusing or disruptive. I think if I described a fairly unimposing character near the beginning of a piece but knew he would be important later on (say, page 98 and on), giving him a name with impact could be helpful. Readers would be more likely to remember a name such as Tally Hall than they would Ron Smith.

A few weeks ago I was again watching a Dynamo game, still aware of my reaction to the goalkeeper's name. They were playing the Chicago Fire, and that team made a substitution. Hunter, was the name on the new player's jersey. Then information came up about the young man…His first name is Hunter. Hunter Jumper?

Okay. Tally [Ho] Hall and Hunter Jumper in the same game.

I snickered and laughed about Hunter Jumper (the name, not the player). It's akin to Kandy Caine, Slim Pickens, or River Banks. Almost too humorous without having a purpose--in fiction especially. Of the books I've read where this play with names occurs, I usually start thinking the authors have rather inflated senses of self as they assume their wit is topnotch and universal. I also found myself distracted from the story.

Would I ever tag any of my characters like this? Maybe. A minor character with this type of impact name could be used to show personality traits of the story's more central characters: the protagonist could be polite and nonjudgmental; another character could react by being subtle and snide, asking, "Do you raise foxhounds?"; or the gregarious, no-tact person would say "I can't believe your parents did that to you!"

Too much of this, unless I were writing satire or attempting humor (neither of which I do), could appear I was making fun of my characters--or I that take myself too seriously. I'd definitely try not to be too clever.

Which brings to mind another soccer player...this one from the EPL Manchester United team...with a neat name, Tom Cleverly.

Pioneer Doctor: The Story of a Woman’s Work - Review

Published January 1st 2005 by TwoDot; ISBN 0762736542 (ISBN13: 9780762736546)

This book was loaned to me by a friend.

I enjoyed reading Pioneer Doctor: The Story of a Woman's Work. It was refreshing to see the struggles and accomplishments of a western woman, when so many biographies (and fiction) focus on the men of the West. Often the woman is the "supportive wife" the "hardworking sod-buster" and while those have always been necessary to the growing, 18th Century society, I like reading about a professional woman who succeeded in harsh social conditions.

Mari Graña has set down the a biographical story of her grandmother, Mary Babcock Atwater, who carved out opportunity in the frontier west. It begins at the end of the 19th century, during an era in women's history when those with strong will and positive thinking made a difference for the rest of us.

From Book Page:

When Mollie Babcock stepped off the train in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1890, she knew she had to start a new life. She'd left her husband and their medical practice in Iowa, and with only a few hundred dollars in her pocket and a great deal of pride, she set out to find a new position as a physician. Due largely to the fact that the mine owner's young wife was expecting their first child, she took a job as doctor to the miners at Bannack, Montana, and thus began her epic adventures in the Rocky Mountain West.

Using a narrative style, Graña portrays of Dr. Babcock's emotional problems of dealing with a divorce and trying to make her way in the male-dominated medical profession. Graña gives good pictures of both Mormon-dominated Salt Lake City, and the mining towns. She paints a vivid picture of both the harsh mountain environments and lifestyles of the times. She shows how Dr. Babcock dealt with not only the medical problems in the mining camps, but also tackled issues such as domestic violence and sanitary worries.

Through this book, I was enlightened about some of the circumstances of the mining areas--several of which are near where I live. There were a few places where the exposition of her situation seemed a bit long, but overall, I found this a well-written and fascinating story about a person who should be considered a true hero of the West.

Mari Graña is a freelance writer an editor in Santa Fe. Her book, Begoso Cabin, a regional history of New Mexico, won the Willa Cather Award (from Women Writing the West) in 2000 and the Southwest Writers Award in 1997.

Silent Witness - Review

I like a good mystery, and Shirley Wells's title, Silent Witness had some extra perks, too. I downloaded it to my Kindle after reading a blurb about it. At first I thought the book would be related to the BBC TV show of the same name, but it's quite different.

From the book page:

After his ex-wife bled to death in a bathtub covered in his fingerprints, the case against Aleksander Kaminski seemed open and shut. Though sentenced to life in prison, he swears he's innocent, a claim supported by his current wife.
Private investigator Dylan Scott finds himself drawn back to dreary Lancashire in a search for justice. The evidence against Kaminski is damning, but having been unjustly jailed himself, Dylan is compelled to pursue the case; if there's even a small chance the man is innocent, he has to help. The other obvious suspect--the victim's second husband--has a watertight alibi. But Dylan has a strong hunch that as usual, there's more going on than meets the eye in Dawson's Clough.
The deeper Dylan digs, the more secrets he unearths. The question remains: If Kaminski didn't murder his childhood sweetheart, who did?

Plenty of twists and turns in the story line, and Dylan Scott is a great character to lead the reader along the curvy path. This is the third mystery featuring this protagonist. I hadn't read the previous stories, but had no problem knowing him. The good characterization continues with the people who populate this interesting story.

I especially like that Dylan has a good relationship with his family. A few problems between him and his wife, yes, but it was evident they would work them out. The couple also has a teenage son, and it was refreshing to find him easy-going, not rebellious, and supportive of his family and the new baby girl in their midst....Yea!

This family interaction, as much as I approved, didn't distract me from the mystery of who killed Kaminski's wife. His parents believe he's innocent, and they have hired Dylan. Kaminski's wife is devastated by her husband's incarceration. She runs an canine rescue facility; the veterinarian who treats the many animals is very protective of her. Dylan's prison interview with Kaminski doesn't clear up much, in fact it adds more mystery to the mystery.

Several times I thought I had this solved, only to have my idea quashed by new (and logical) information. In all, Silent Witness was very enjoyable, with characters I will be glad to read more about.