Greetings from Florence..and a comp!
Hello all! Here I am with the latest update of my travels abroad. We have been in Florence for two weeks now, having taken the night train from Paris to get here. It sounds romantic, doesn't it? "Night train". If you're like me, it might even conjure visions of velvet upholstery, highly polished brass rails and lots of wood paneling. Well, scrub 'em. Laminate was the order of the day, and the smallest cabin I have ever seen in my life!
Just room to stand beside our bunk beds while we pulled on our pjs at bedtime. Not that much sleeping occurred - I spent most of the night dozing off and on, staring out at the dark countryside, worried we would miss our stop. As it was, we were an hour late arriving in Florence the next day, which meant the lady who was supposed to meet us at our apartment had gone by the time we got there. We had to walk from the train station, too, because there were no taxis. It was a hot day, the sidewalks were crumbly, traffic was fierce and apparently completely random, and our guidebook map didn't quite stretch to cover the area of the train station so we were walking in what we thought was the right direction, but really just kind of randomly striking out into the city.
We got lucky and found our street, and after a short wait were let into our apartment (spacious! delightful! quiet!) From there, we set out to explore Florence.
I'll be honest. My first impression was not so great. Unlike Paris, the sidewalks are a disaster - up and down, holes, uneven edges to trip you up, so narrow you really can't walk two abreast. So walking is hard going. And the city itself feels a lot older and crumblier than Paris. Paint is peeling off the sides of buildings, there's lots of graffiti (a rarely seen sight in Paris, but let's remember graffiti is an Italian word!). There's precious little green in the historic centre, too - no window boxes, no tree planters, no parks waiting to surprise you around corners. Just miles and miles of uneven pavers. And there are people EVERYWHERE. It's actually off-peak here at the moment, but there are so many tourists exploring the city, it's hard to find a local. (As an aside on that issue, after reading all the guide books, we were worried about pick-pockets and thieves and I had all these schemes for guarding my purse when we went out. Well, let me tell you, any thief must be outnumbered by tourists by about a thousand to one. When they get to us, they'll probably be so sloppy and exhausted that we'll just slap their little fingers and send them on their way.)
Anyway, that was our first impression. Then we went out for dinner. Oh. My. God. The food here is incredible. The Best. Fresh pastas, cooked al dente, with simple, delicious sauces. Fantastic fresh produce - tomatoes taste INCREDIBLE! Fresh mozzarella cheese, home-made gelati, hot chocolate you can stand your spoon up in, amazing coffee... Italy is a food-lovers paradise, and, in case you hadn't worked it out by now, I am a food lover!
So, with the help of lots of food and lots of exploration, over the past two weeks my first impression of Florence has changed. Yes, it's a lot older and less "civilised" than Paris, but I've come to realise (d'oh!)it's it's own city, with it's own beauty. The color of the local stone is lovely - warm, mellow, soothing. And the architecture of most of the old buildings is stunning. Florence is also a city that keeps a lot of its secrets hidden behind closed doors, inside buildings. So far, we have explored the church of St Croce (Pic in photo blog to be posted alongside this one), which is huge and stunning on the inside, a real revelation. We are holding off on other paying expeditions until Chris's cousin and mum get here, but last night we took a bus up to a hill just on the outskirts of town where there is an old monastery. There's a big look out, with yet another copy of Michaelangelo's David holding court, so the place is called Micchaelangelo's Piazza or something like that. We took the steps even higher up to the monastery church, and there, on the viewing terrace alongside this beautiful Tuscan building, we looked out across Florence at twilight.
I'm sorry, we have no photos, but no photograph would ever have done the view justice. I got tears in my eyes, it was so beautiful. Surrounded by green-covered hillside, the city lies inside a border of greenery as though it's been cupped in someone's hand (excuse tragic attempt at being poetic!) The terracotta rooftops were glowing warmly in the last light of the day, and lights twinkled all over town. The huge Duomo cathedral dwarfed everything else around it, and the hilltops were all touched with a misty apricot-lavender light as the sun went down. Stunning. Truly the most gorgeous city I have ever seen. I want to go back every night for the remaining six weeks of our stay!
Right, enough from me. As you can see, I'm having a lovely time. Shoe purchase tally is four pairs. Bag total is three, and holding steady despite many temptations. I've started my next book. Life is good.
Now, to my blog question for the week: do the hero and heroine's names in the books you read make a difference to how you feel about them? I agonise over my character's names - I have to like them, or I just can't live with them for all those words - and I have a really hard time picking them. Some names remind me of people I don't get along with so well. Others just have goofy, unsexy connotations attached to them (bad example: Mork, as in Mork and Mindy) So, for a chance to win a full set of Secret Lives of Daytime Divas books (Take On Me, All Over You, and Hot For Him), or three books of your choice from my backlist if you have some or all of the Divas, let me know what character names you love, which you hate, and how you feel about character names in general. You have to be a registered member to qualify for comps, so make sure your name is in bold after you've posted. And don't forget to check out my photo blog below for Florence piccies!
"O Sole Mio!..."
Oh, Sarah, you're so lucky to be in Florence! I visited in '84 and saw the statue of David. It's amazing and my favorite statue ever! Buy gold. It's cheaper there. I got a pair of 18 karat gold hoops for 10 American bucks.
Character's names don't make any difference to me as long as they're not someone I don't like in real life either. I think it's interesting how an author can create a name for a hero and you sense he's good or create a name for a villian and you sense he's bad. I've read good examples of this in romances set in England and romantic suspense.
Ciao!
PS> Don't try the eel. It's to greasy. *g*
MelissaK
Ah, David...
I am looking forward to the statue of David. There is a copy out the front of the Uffizi, but the original has been moved inside the Academia, and we are booked in to see it in early Nov. My friend was staying with us this weekend, and she went to see it. She said it is amazing - perfect and beautiful, and I am really looking forward to it. The one out the front of the Uffizi is still damn impressive, but he's a little dirty and made of concrete, I guess. And no worries on the eel front - me and seafood have a very wary relationship at the best of times...
"Girls just wanna have fun..."
Where are you going after Florence, Sarah?
Speaking of Paris...I met Cyndi Lauper there. Paris was wonderful! Notre Dame Cathedral, Arc de Triomphe, Jardin des Tuileries...the food! the shops! I could go on and on...
We went in spring and even the pigeons were horny. lol!
MelissaK
paris in spring
you know, I think everyone is horny in Paris all the time. I saw some serious tonsil hockey going on over there in fall - and not just the teenagers. Once, we busted a middle aged couple having a full on second base grope in a doorway. Ew! As for my travels, we go home at the end of November, but we are doing some little side trips between now and then - Rome for four days all up, Venice for two, and we will probably do day trips to Siena and Pisa and any place else that tickles our fancy. Will keep the photos coming, don't worry!
Mmm...
Thank you SO much for the Italian update, Sarah--I love reading about your adventure (so I can dream that I'm there ;)) Next time tell us more about your new shoes and bags!
I think that names make a first impression, but don't necessarily prevent a character from earning my affections/admiration if their actions are sufficiently good/well-motivated. So although Dagobert (we were led to believe this was a dorky French name by our high school French teacher) isn't a great first-impression name, he might be a spectacular hero and change how I react to the name in general if his story touches me. Corny, huh?
Typically though, I prefer middle-of-the-road sort of classic names for heros (i.e., Christopher, Matthew, Thomas, Alexander...been reading a few historicals lately, and I guess these work better there too) and am a bit more flexible when it comes to the heroine's names (but I still don't like overly "foofy" or frou-frou sounding names).
I almost prefer "plainer" names, maybe not to distract from the character (sort of like too much lace on a dress can make it less appealing to me)?
Anyway, keep enjoying your trip and update us when you can--love those! (And would LOVE to win your Divas set...oy!)
Simple is good
I prefer old, simple names, too Fedora. If I could, I think I would call every one of my heroes Jack, I love Jack so much as a boy's name. I also like Sam, Ben, even Harry, all the oldies! Sadly, Tom has now been ruined for me by a certain couch-jumping lunatic, but it used to be up there, too. And I agree on the frou-frou names. Again, I try to keep 'em simple. I think Delaney is the most crazy I've gotten so far. Although Claudia was slightly unusual too... I promise to do a shoe/shopping update toward the end of my travels. Don't want to overburden you all with my consumerism! I did just buy a very cute little hate tonight before the movies. Now, if I could just find the perfect coat to match with it...
I do like the names in your books...
I like Jack, too, and Sam and Marc are up there among my favorites. I'd managed to forget about Tom's ruin, but ugh, yes... :(
Looking forward to seeing a picture of the new hat (maybe?) and here's hoping that the shopping fairy will guide you to the just-right coat!
Someday I'll get to visit Florence, too!
As for character names...well, they don't tend to matter much. But, when I read I tend to "hear" the story in my mind, so if it is a name I can't pronounce, it causes a disruption of the flow of the story. Sometimes I'll make up my own pronunciation for it, and that helps, LOL!!
Oh, yes!
Hard to pronounce is bad! I totally agree with you. Hermione, made famous now thanks to Harry Potter, was one I used to have a lot of trouble with. And Siobhan (shiv-von), an Irish name, is one of those names that looks just plain wrong on paper. I like fantasy novels, and most of them have unpronouncable names in them - in fact, it's almost like a badge of honour to see how weird they can get. I love that you make up your own pronunciation! I do that with lots of words - then I get busted when I say the word out loud for the first time. There's this whole vocabulary of words that I know what they mean, but have no idea how they are actually pronounced. Fortunately, my man usually knows and he always steers me right. Phew! Unfortunately, sometimes there are other people around, too. Oh well. I bet I can beat them at Scrabble, anyway!
I've been busted, too...
...usually at our book club, LOL! They all laugh with me, though. I always say "I can't pronounce it, but I can spell it!" I'm going to have to remember your Scrabble comment, because that will be a great new comeback for me. :-D Especially because it is true, he he!
Names
If a book is really well written, it's easy to get past an "unfortunate" name. But there are some names its more difficult to get past than others.
I just picked up a NEXT novel and the heroine is named Avril. Yes, I realize Lavigne is popular and that probably makes the name more popular but... Avril? It's neither a strong name (Kate or Claire) nor a pretty name (Miranda or Samantha). It's an old lady's name (apologies to anyone who just named their daughter, granddaughter, niece Avril).
Still, the blurb on the back of the book caught my attention enough that I bought it. Even with a heroine named Avril.
name vetos
This is interesting, Ani. I love the name Ruby, and wanted to use it as the name for the heroine in my first book for 2008, Burning Up. Especially because my character was inspired by the gorgeous, fun, cute character of Scarlet in Four Weddings and a Funeral - you know, that crazy, sunny, wacky chick who marries the Texan at the end? I wanted my character to be Ruby as a nod to Scarlet, but Harlequin weren't so hot on the name. They thought it was old fashioned, which it is, and while it has had a resurgence recently, there's not many 30 year olds sporting it these days. So... I changed her name to Sophie. Maybe I can dust Ruby off again in a few years, see what the reaction is...
Ruby?!
I love the name Ruby. It's much better than Avril.
And didn't Tobey Maguire (Spiderman) name his daughter Ruby? It might bring on a resurgance of the name.
A few years ago, Sophie was considered an old fashioned name, as was Sadie, and they're both being embraced now.
Yep...
By me! I've used both Sadie and Sophie as heroine's names. Maybe it's all the historicals I read. Or maybe it's just that when I grew up, mostly people gave their kids plain jane names, and so I look on all these fanciful "Angels" and "summers" and whatnots with a bit of confusion.
Names
I usually don't think too much about the names in a book unless they are the same as people in my family. Then I have to get used to it but as I get into the story I won't notice even that. I often forget the name of the characters but will remember the story and what happens in the story but names are the least of what I care about.
Hilarious!
That's so funny! As a writer, I will never use certain names for my heroes and heroines. Like my nephew's names (Travis and Callum). Or my father's name, or my man's. It would just be wrong to think about my hero doing stuff to my heroine and having thoughts of the real person in my mind. Creepy! Ditto for reading a book with the same names, but I must admit I can get past it pretty quickly, because I am sure I must have read heroes with all of the above names at some stage. Interestingly, my sister's name is Claire, and the heroine in my first book ever was called Claire. I picked it because I felt very comfortable with the name, but I never thought of my sister once while I was writing. She had had great fun since telling all her friends she inspired the book, of course!
Glad things are looking up!
With those buildings, I guess you're doing a lot of looking up, too. ;) They're gorgeous... But I think your next blog should be all about the FOOD. ;) Pictures of food, much, much food.
Easy to tell where my priorities are, huh??
You've convinced me Italy is the place to be. ;)
Sam
Food!!!
You know, it probably tastes better than it looks. Even the gelato is very non-descript - they don't overpack the cones here, the way they do back home, so you don't get arm strain carrying the thing. And the flavours and colours are very natural, it's all about pure ingredients. I could take a million pictures of bowls of pasta, but it would never capture the flavours. However, we are going to the market tomorrow, and I will try to get some shots of cheeses etc, and some of the cakes and other yummy things. God, and the wine is great too. We have such lovely reds and whites in Australia, I tend to always drink local wines at home. Plus, the varieties from Italy were always a bit confusing to me. But they are wonderful - lovely light chiantis and sangioveses. Yum!
mmmmm...
Find a good Valpolicella, and I'll be ever so envious -- my favorite! :)
It sounds absolutely wonderful... Seriously, good food will get me over everything. Italy has just made the list of places to go someday!
Any stories of flirtatious Italian men? ;)
Sam
I'm so enjoying hearing
I'm so enjoying hearing about your trip and seeing all the pics. Some day I would love to get to Sicily and Italy (all my grandparents come from there).
A name is such an individual opinion you can never please everyone. I guess the only thing I hate is when I don't know how to pronouce it and like Cathy, it takes me out of the story if I can't settle on a particular pronounciation. I've always wished authors would have them in a foreward if they're strange names.
Viva Italia
I hope you get to Sicily soon! I am sure you will love it. Italy is a fascinating country. The people are always laughing and talking with their hands, and the food is wonderful, and the art is amazing.
On the name front, as I said higher up, I'm so with you on the pronunciation thing. It really does break the bubble if you stumble over the character's name every time you read it. Makes you feel like an idiot at first, and then just plain old annoying.
Mike's heritage is Sicilian, too
Just sharing. :)
Sam
I'm so jealous....
I'm so jealous of you right now lol. What a beautiful, culturally rich place Florence is. I hope you are having a great time!
While I have some names that I like better than others, the only thing that really matters to me is that the name fits the character. The only type names that I really don't like are names that are extremely hard to pronounce. I'm not talking about just unusual names, but rather those names that even Merriam Webster would not know how to say lol. Of course, if I'm otherwise into the book, I'll just shorten the name when I'm reading. :)
Names fitting characters
Bamabelle, this is important to me, too. My characters have to match his or her name - or, if they don't, I like to make a story point out of it. Like a really serious character with a silly hippy name, and what that might say about her relationship with her parents, that kind of thing. Because of my years working in soap, I have an in-built cringe for "made up" soap names, like Brick and Ridge and Thorn etc. They're just so not real and cheesey, and they make me disbelieve the story and emotions almost straight away.
Glad you are enjoying
Glad you are enjoying yourself!
Character names don't mean a lot to me. If I like the author , I will like the character names.
Easily pleased!
Estella, love your work! I am sure I worry about it a lot more than any of my readers ever do, given the comments I've been getting above. Maybe I should just take a chill pill, scoff down a canolli and a latte, and concentrate on the actual writing and not the character names! It's not hard to enjoy yourself in Italy, I must say. Great food, the weather has been fantastic, our apartment is lovely, the city is gorgeous and interesting... What's not to love?
Italian men:0
First of all, that food is making me jelous. I'm all about traveling, just for the food and shopping.lol I'll overcome narrow streets for some yummy food. I wish we could all be there with you and I'm sure we'd come up with the perfect book. HA!HA! Now that would be funny!
As for names, I like to see different names now and them because I feel like so many books have the same names over and over. That being said, I want to be able to pronounce it and I can usually deal with about any name, if it's a good character. Italian men would be nice;)
I need to look up those divas. I think somebody gave me titles before, when we were talking about this.
Shopping as incentive
yes, I am afraid that shopping cures many ills for me, too. I'm sure it makes me terribly shallow, but then I just look at my crazy, cute new black ankle boots and sigh with pleasure. If only I was ridiculously rich and about two sizes smaller, I would need a small shipping container to get my new purchases home. At present, both are acting as (much needed!) constraints on my hip pocket - as I said, probably not a bad thing. As for the divas, if you mean the book titles, they're in my main post, toward the end in brackets, in order of the trilogy.
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Italy and shoes
I guess no one can visit the land without getting new shoes. LOL.
The Character names depend on what kind of story you are writing. You can't write a Contemporary story with old fashioned names or a historical one with modern. They have to fit to the characters. Just imagine you have a strong kick-ass heroine called Daisy and always think about this soft little flower. That doesn't work for me.
I notice such things, but not so much that it disturbs my reading enjoyment
See...
I feel exactly the same. The heroine in the book I just finished editing is a boxer, and I had a really hard time coming up with a name that suited her tough but vulnerable personality. I finally settled on Jamie, and all her relatives called her "Jimmy" as a joke. But she could never have been a Daisy. A bit like that Johnny Cash song, A Boy named Sue...
Great name
Sarah, I think that fits perfectly.
I totally agree with what
I totally agree with what Danny said!
I'll admit I'm really bad at
I'll admit I'm really bad at figuring out how to enunciate some foreign, never heard or seen names, with strange spellings, in those situations I'll just sort of mentally make a rough approximation of what I think the name is or replace it with something I feel comfortable with. I do think a name can affect how we perceive a character, so if an author needs to use an unusual name as part of the characterization it would help if the author explained how to sound out the name within the storytelling. I do like a character to have names that are not the most common or popular names like Michael or Jennifer. And there are some names that are just not sexy like George, Dick or Harry. And Agatha, Bernice and Gertrude are not what I'd call pretty girl names. But I can see an author using these names as part of the character development so really I'm not totally opposed to the use of any name as what's important is all in how the story is told.
yeah...
I guess, at the end of the day, if Brad Pitt as called Erwin we'd still think he was kinda cute, huh? And until George Clooney came along, I could have sworn that George was not a sexy name... so you're right, it's the character and the story that makes the difference at the end of the day.
Names...
Oh, I wish I could travel...I never get to go anywhere!
As for names, they don't matter too much to me...I am able to separate the names I read from those I know in real life with that name. I like all types of names...if the character is sexy enough or well-written it doesn't matter to me what his or her name is. I do have some issues with hard to pronounce names though (this is mainly an issue in the historicals I read). I tend to agonize over whether or not I am pronouncing an uniquely-spelled name correctly in my mind and feel bad that I don't know. Maybe I am a bit odd.
no no!
not odd at all - read the other comments, and everyone else feels the same way about hard to pronounce names. Even in the privacy of our own heads, we hate to feel like dufuses (that's a word, right?) Thank God no one ever asks us to read those names out loud!!!!
I went back and read the
I went back and read the other comments after I posted and now I don't feel so bad. You should have heard how I was butchering Hermione from Harry Potter before I heard someone pronounce it...LOL...it is not a name I hear that often.
hermione
I know! I have never been able to get that one right, but then a very good friend (the Hanky Panky of my book dedications, actually!) named her first child Hermione. So I kind of had to learn, and now I can say it with out tripping over a single vowel sound!
Hermione
When The Child was younger and first reading Harry Potter (he'd have been about 7, I guess), he called Hermione "Harmony" and Neville was "Knee-ville".
When he was practicing reading with me one night I had to set him straight and he was NOT happy about it.
And the Marauders Map was Mudraiders. LOL (I'm not sure I spelt that correctly but if you've read the books/seen the movies, you know of what I speak!)
ani
Getting it wrong
We still tease my brother for his versions of words when he was a kid. Cordial (as in the drink) was "cordigal", and hospital was "hop-piddle". There were others, too, and it was very cute, but my brother holds a mild grudge against my mother for not correcting him on some of them because she found it so endearing. He had to find out for himself the embarrasing way. So, you know, maybe your son should thank his lucky stars!!!
So jealous, Sarah!
Wow, you have got to having the absolute time of your life! Go you!
I don't think too much about names for heroines...unless of course she's 25 with a name that seems more suited for an 85 year old. Then I wrinkle up nose and wonder what the author was thinking. And I have a character named after my sister, too. Not intentionally, because, like your Claire, she's nothing at all like my sis. It's just that names come to me as I'm first writing the basic notes for an idea and I'm stuck with it. Hers happened to be what flitted into my head that day. Luckily, so far, I haven't had any awful names pop to forefront of my brain.
But hero names...hmm. Those are different. They have to be just so. I just read a book with a hero named DJ. The cover portrayed him as looking barely legal. Between the two, I had a really hard time seeing him as an adult. I suppose I care so much more about a name fitting a face or personality for men because I, as a woman, obviously notice men more. Who knows.
And one last thing on pronunciation. Even if I realize the correct pronunciation for a difficult name partway through a book...I'm stuck with my first impression. I just read/critted a novel for a friend who had a character named Ascuncion, but at first glance I thought of "assumption", so, to me, she was Assumption through the whole book! :)
anything for me is ok.
anything for me is ok. samantha's book i know a lauren baker lol. has that ever happen to anyone else?
i like origanl names for charcters.
you know...
I don't think this has happened to me. Maybe I don't know enough people! Or maybe it has happened and I didn't register it. Hell, I read a lot of books. Who knows? Love that you're easily pleased, Kim.
Wow! Ascuncion...
I can barely spell it, let alone say it!!! And yes, I read it as Assumption, too. I hope your friend is writing an historical or paranormal...? Sometimes if I'm really stuck for names, I do a google search and find out what where the most popular names for the year my hero would have been born. That helps, sometimes. Other times I just have a very clear idea that pops into my head and sticks with the character. Again, with my boxing book, the hero is called Cooper. I love that name, and I felt like it really suited him, although it's not a very Australian first name, and so I stuck with it.
And yes, I am having a great time! And we're more than half way now, too! Boo hiss!
I love Cooper!
That's a great name! Cooper and Jamie. I like those! Is this another Blaze you're working on, Sarah? I am so overdue for another Blaze from you.
And Ascuncion is actually the snotty ex of the hero in my friend's book. Think Cruella Deville. :)
Glad you're having a good time! Enjoy every last second of it!
Cooper and Jamie
This is my June Blaze for next year. It's tentatively titled Below the Belt at the moment - it was originally Going Down, but it was deemed a little too racy. Oh well! I think my next Blaze is out in Feb - Burning Up. That one's about a naughty playboy actor and the woman who's hired to act as his personal chef while he recovers from a leg injury. Boy,did I have a lot of fun writing about food!!
Oh, yay!!
I'll be anxiously awaiting both of them!! :)
Ooh!
Those sound fun! Can't wait :)