Ah, nicknames...

...can't live with them, can't live without....well, actually you could live without them.

As most of you know, I have in my recent years become saddled with a number of nicknames, when I went a good 18 years of life with a mere 2 (plus a couple nonspecific--cookie, angel, honey--ones). Most of them are listed here in my profile. 

So anyways, I wanted my character Olivia to have some nicknames given to her by friends and family, because I think it's always fascinating to follow the meandering, random road to any given nickname. Mine, for example, comes from the first of the bunch, Mangela. However, rather than retaining the "angela" part of the name, it was "Man" that fostered the next generation of nicknames. Odd. 

The flash of inspiration that resulted in the title of my novel, Landlocked, was actually the first thing that inspired me to commit to writing a story about an aquaphobic marine biologist. Because not only did I have a title that fit the general theme of the story, but it gave me my character's last name: Locke. Not only that, but it gave me a built in series of nicknames: Locke Ness monster, Ness, Nessie, and, to her best friend, Monster. And that was enough to go on. 

Of course then I had to think of a first name, but that was just a matter of writing down every female name in the articles and Zoo donor lists I was proofreading at work, and mixing and matching them. Olivia won, because it sounds kind of brainy. 

As for the story itself, it is moving along rather pokily (as am I, especially when compared to Katie's impressive 10,000-something words). My story barely feels like it has gotten started. Hmph. Oh well. By the end of this weekend, I hope to get in some real action, work in the rest of my characters, and get this ball rolling. All that has happened thus far is an extensive internal monologue centering around Olivia's exploding dishwasher and her inside jokes with her brother. 

Also, I totally want her house (big surprise, right?) for numerous reasons, but one being that she has an octo-clock! It's like those creepy '50s cat clocks with the eyes and tail that move back and forth except...it's an octopus. And I made it up. And I want one!