Kari Lee Townsend has stopped by today as part of her book blog tour.
Welcome Kari.
National Bestselling Author, RT Reader’s Choice Award & Agatha
Nominee Kari Lee Townsend lives in Central New York with her very understanding
husband, her three busy boys, and her oh-so-dramatic daughter, who keep her
grounded and make everything she does worthwhile…not to mention provide her
with loads of material for her books. Kari is a longtime lover of reading and
writing, with a masters in English education, who spends her days trying to
figure out whodunit. Funny how no one at home will confess any more than the
characters in her mysteries!
Kari writes fun and exciting stories for any age, set in small towns,
with mystical elements and quirky characters as Kari Lee Townsend. Kari also
writes romantic comedies and women’s fiction with the same sense of humor and
quirky characters as Kari Lee Harmon.
Kari, what advice can you give writers for choosing a character name?
Character
names are so important because these are the people whose lives you will be
entering. Who you will relate to and empathize with and root for. They are the
people that will stick with you long after the book is done. And in a series, a
name is even more important because you will be seeing that character over and
over again. The last thing you want is an annoying name that people will get
sick of, or a name that is so simple that people won’t remember. I try to go
for something unique and memorable.
I
try to really think about the type of character I am creating. From their style
to their hobbies to their nationality. All of that goes into choosing a name
that fits. It’s the same when a parent has a child. In that case, you don’t
really know if a name fits until after the child is born and develops a
personality. At least as authors we already know those details. Therefore, if
we mess up, it’s our own fault J
Another
thing to consider when choosing your character names is that you don’t want too
many characters with names that start with the same letter. It gets confusing
and hard to remember. I actually make two columns with a list of the alphabet.
I put my character’s first names on the left by the letter they start with, and
I put the last names on the right by the letter they start with. That way I
know if I have a lot of C’s but no L’s etc. It shows me what I have too many of
and what I don’t have any of.
For
my Fortune Teller Mysteries, my main lead is Sunshine Meadows, aka Sunny. So
far people have really responded to her. I take it as a sign that I must be
doing something right, and hopefully, this series will go on for a very long
time J
So tell me,
what do you look for in a name? Inquiring minds want to know.
Psychic Sunshine Meadows makes a dark discovery in the woods…
After clearing her name as the prime suspect in a murder, Sunny Meadows hopes she can finally enjoy some serenity in the idyllic town of Divinity in upstate New York. She’d also like a second chance with Detective Mitch Stone. But when Mitch’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend Isabel Gonzales shows up, Sunny’s not sure she can compete. Then Isabel mysteriously disappears. When the police turn to Sunny for help, her visions lead to the discovery of Isabel’s corpse in the woods. Before she died, Isabel scrawled a message in the dirt implicating Mitch in her murder. Now Sunny must help the man she’s falling in love with as she sets out to find the real killer. But this time Sunny’s clairvoyant abilities might not save her—as what she doesn’t see can hurt her…
To find out more about
Kari and all her books go to www.karileetownsend.com or click on the links below:
National
Bestselling Author of The Fortune Teller
Mysteries
TEMPEST IN THE TEA LEAVES 4 1/2 Starred RT Review
Best
Amateur Sleuth of 2011 RT Reviewers' Choice Nominee
Best
First Novel Agatha Award Nominee
CORPSE IN THE CRYSTAL BALL - June 2012 (preorder now)
