What’s In a Name?

Shakespeare’s Juliet asked this question in self-reflection and came up with the right answer for her, despite the tragedy to which her conclusion ultimately led. My answer to the question, “What’s in a name?” is the opposite of Juliet’s: there is a lot of meaning in every one of the names of my characters in my upcoming work, Cooking for Ghosts and Lost Lovers.

This is a story I had been thinking about ever since my first visit to the RMS Queen Mary in 2008. I’d been given the honor of being asked to work on First Lady Maria Shriver’s California Women’s Conference in Long Beach, California. All the rooms at the conference center were booked. I could only find a room on the ship, which is moored near to the center. At the time, I knew nothing about the Queen Mary’s history, nor that she was considered “haunted.” When my eyeglasses were snatched off my nightstand and placed on my bed pillow, I returned them to where I’d left them three times before realizing that someone, or something, was moving them from one spot to the other.  There’s more to this event, but suffice it to say that I was determined to learn all I could about the ship after that, and my novel bloomed from what I discovered.

Over this six-year period of time, as I pursued other goals, this one story stayed in my head and grew into a trilogy of stories. My characters began speaking to me every day and night, until I finally put aside all else I was doing and wrote down what they were telling me about themselves.

Could this have happened because I was “visited” while on the Queen Mary? A fanciful thought, perhaps. But what isn’t fanciful is how real the people in my trilogy became for me. Upon reflection, I realized why: All of them are made up of the thoughts, dreams, fears and desires of people I know. Some of these people I’ve not met face-to-face, but have talked to on social media. For me, many of those connections have become as authentic as the connections I’ve made in person.

Let’s take  my father and son characters, Lee and Jack Branson, for example. Without giving too much of the story away, a friend I’d met on a blogging site once confessed in a heartbreaking post that he was only eight years old when his father left his family, never to return. He went on to write that though he knew on an intellectual level that the abandonment had nothing to do with him, as a child, he’d always believed his father left because he wasn’t a lovable enough son.  What went through my mind when I read that post (by this very lovable human being) was, “what if his father loved him more than he knew?” And so the father and son in my story bear that friend’s last name and answer, in my story, at least, what might make a loving father leave his son.

As for their first names of these two characters, there are several men I’ve had the privilege of knowing in my life who strive to always do the right thing. One of those men is Lee, a minister who’s fighting through his religious writings for the rights of gays to be accepted and welcomed into his church and other houses of worship. This fight comes at some personal expense, as you can imagine. As a result, though we’ve only met in person once, Lee has become one of my role models of integrity.   Another man who lives by this same code is my husband. I would have used his first name for one of these two characters, but then my father-in-law passed away. It was Jack Davis who taught all four of his sons, including my husband, to always do what is right, no matter how hard. All these men live (and die) by that code and I know my husband also taught his sons to have the same integrity.  So, there you have it—two characters named after three men I admire. (And since my husband is the only one of Jack’s sons who inherited his lovely blue eyes, both father and son in my story have those eyes, also.)

For those who might have an interest, the meanings behind the names of the other characters in Cooking for Ghosts and Lost Lovers are summarized below:

_________________________________________________

Angela Perotta – first name of a dear friend with whom I “grew up.” (Meaning although we were already grown, we blossomed and matured together through our experiences living as foreigners in Greece. We maintain a friendship to this day.)

Betty Montalbano – a detective who is named for two real-life law makers who helped with all the legal aspects of this story, including the crimes discussed. They are Betty Tsamis, a Chicago-based lawyer and Rosemarie Montalbano, Queens District Attorney. These women are amazing and their expertise helped prevent plot holes that may have occurred if I hadn’t had the legal information they so helpfully supplied.

Cynthia and Sarita Taylor – named after two beautiful blogging buddies and true fans of my writing. Cynthia and Sarita are main characters in my story but the actions of them both in the story, their backgrounds, abilities and experiences, are all invented by me. Thank you, Cynthia and Sarita, for being so inspiring and so supportive of my work.

Dolores Simpson – (this would be a giveaway, so I can’t say.)

Eric Gladwell – named for Eric Gladstone, a true-life food critic who writes for Bon Appétit. Without Mr. Gladstone’s patient and knowledgeable answers to my questions about running a restaurant, some of the descriptions and the dialogue that takes place in the galley of the imaginary Secret Spice Café would have been embarrassingly incorrect.

Inez and Marisol– two women who worked aboard the Queen Mary and told me of their encounters with the supernatural while they worked aboard the ship.(Marisol, who is only four in Book I, shows up again in Book III of the trilogy in a big way.)

Jane Miceli – another dedication to a very dear friend. She knows who she is and also knows the playfulness behind this first name.

Kathy Knight – a notorious, true-life murderess, whose crimes made me shudder.  But, no worries ─ she has no real part in the story at all. (I hope you’ll get a kick out of where you spot her name in the story.)

L’Oustau de Baumanière – one of the most amazing, true-life restaurants. Actually exists in France.

Michael – a name with many meanings, but one that sticks out is “patron saint of soldiers.” I hope those who read the story will tell me if I chose his name well.

Naag – An Indian name that means “snake.” Again, I hope those who read the story will tell me if I chose his name well.

Oliver Jenkins – again, a big give away if I tell before the book is out.

Raymond Thuilier – a true-life, great French chef.

Rohini Mehta – “Rohini” means “light” or “moon.” I chose her last name for Deepa Mehta, a film director considered to be the voice of “the new India.” Mehta is known for her trilogy of films, which includes, Water. This film took great courage to make and has done more than any other film to bring to light certain religious practices that are detrimental to women. Deepa Mehta is a true feminist, a woman I admire as much as my character, Rohini, does.

Tony Chi – a true-life designer. One of my favorites. But I have never met him and though he and his friends become inebriated at the opening of The Secret Spice Cafe, this is not in any way a commentary on his lifestyle. It’s simply something I made up for the story. I have no knowledge of this gentleman apart from his fabulous designs. (Check them out at the link.)

Vanu – means “friend.”

Village of Kambalwadi – a true-life, wonderful village in India that is leading the way in sanitation, self-sustaining farming, and women’s rights.  Read about it here.

Vincenzo Perotta and Douglas Rigby – First names and one last name of three dear friends of mine, who will know why I used their names (with love ) once they read the story.

Zahir – means “shining helper or supporter.”