Today I'm excited to welcome back author Janet Bly as she shares about the next book in her recent series.

Sometimes the name of a character comes through an ‘aha’ moment.

The name for my main female character in the Trails of Reba Cahill Series evolved over several years’ time as my plot line kept changing. Then one day I saw a picture of the country singer Reba McEntire. I knew her name was Reba and she was a redhead. From then on, her story began to form.

She became a 25-year-old cowgirl who worked a ranch with her grandmother on the Camas Prairie in north-central Idaho, full name Reba Mae Cahill. That sounded right when I said it aloud with a country twang. With her name chosen, her personality and what she did for a living easily developed. And it certainly fit the times of the series setting: summer of 1991.

CHARACTER NAME CHANGE

In one case in Down Squash Blossom Road, Book 2, I wanted to change a character’s name, but decided I couldn’t.

A funny thing about Reba’s stalker in Book 2 …

In Book 1, Wind in the Wires, he appears as a hitchhiker who got picked up on a road trip and had only one name: Quigley. Though he turned out to be a bad dude who had to be carted off by the police, I had no idea at the time he would turn up again in Book 2. When he so rudely intruded in the follow-up story, I kept with the single name and didn’t add to it. No middle name. Nor last name. Just Quigley.

I then realized the association could be made with one of my favorite western movies, Quigley Down Under. The Quigley in that story is a good guy. However, the die was cast. Stuck with the name originally given, I dealt with the unexpected turn in the events.

If I had known ahead, I’d choose something more ominous or exotic … like Quylon, which means Sword; or Quirin, which means Magic Spell. The reason I’d stay with the Q letter is because I try to divvy out the alphabet when choosing character names in a story, to keep them as distinct as possible. Q had not been used yet.

TOO MANY CHARACTERS

Several readers mentioned that Book 1, Wind in the Wires, contained so many characters, it could be overwhelming to keep up. So, in Book 2, I tried to cut back. Plus, I added a Character & Place Names List at the back of the book. Hope that helped!

Here’s the link to the Character Names Cheat Sheet for Book 1:

http://www.blybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/WIP-Reba-Character-Cheat-Sheet-Copy.pdf

What’s the most memorable name for a good or bad character in a novel you’ve read?

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About Down Squash Blossom Road :

WHAT SECRET LIES DOWN SQUASH BLOSSOM ROAD?

Cowgirl Reba Cahill’s schedule is full. Save the family ranch. Free her mom from a mental institute. Solve a murder and kidnapping. Evade a stalker. Can she also squeeze in romance?

Reba Cahill focused on the duties of the ranch, along with her widowed grandmother. But a crippled Champ Runcie returns to Road’s End in a wheelchair and seeks revenge for the accident that put him there. He blames Reba's horse. Meanwhile, a letter from her estranged mom forces her and Grandma Pearl back on the road: I can leave now. Come get me. Love, Mom

When they arrive in Reno, her mother issues a demand and refuses to return to Idaho. They head west instead. In California, Reba’s friend Ginny’s marriage is on the rocks. The family business is threatened. And squabbles turn deadly.

Reba digs deep to find the courage to forge a relationship with her mom and escape a crazed man’s obsession. She also hopes for a future with a horse trainer who offers her a new horse to replace the one she lost in the accident. But why does he have a photo of a pretty woman on his wall? 

About Janet:

Janet Chester Bly is the widow of Christy Award winning western author Stephen Bly. Together they published 120 fiction and nonfiction books for adults and kids. Janet and their three sons finished Stephen’s last novel, Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot, a Selah Award Finalist. The Trails of Reba Cahill Series includes Wind in the Wires, Down Squash Blossom Road, and Beneath a Camperdown Elm. Find out more at Bly Books website: www.BlyBooks.com

3 Books available here: https://www.blybooks.com/genre/contemporary-fiction/

Or Book 2 on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yYnMVo

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Download Now! 5 free chapters of Wind in the Wires, Book 1!

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Download Now! 5 Free Chapters of Down Squash Blossom Road, Book 2!

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