What’s in a Name? by Guest Author Kimberlee Ann Bastian

Author Kimberlee Ann Bastian has stopped by my blog today with a guest post for her blog tour. Check it out!

What’s in a Name?

By: Kimberlee Ann Bastian

A friend of mine asked me once what my favorite thing about writing is. It did not take me long to answer, because it was right there on the tip of my tongue. I told her, I like to name things. When naming my characters I savored the process until I found the right name. Some of them, like Bartholomew were named for a specific reason, where as someone like Father Damek Van Lewen or Grocer Sylvester Pawlak were given their names based on their national origin, while others were named after people I personally know. Of all the names, The Orphan, the Soulcatcher and the Black Blizzard, there are eight personal names.

Hanna (The Orphanage Assistant Caretaker) – Named after one of my swimmers on the swim team I coach. She is quite the bookworm and is always coming to practice talking about the latest book she read or asking me how writing is going. In earlier drafts, Hanna only identified by the peach day dress she wares, but as the story evolved so too did Hanna’s role in it.

Cletus Reese (Charlie’s Father) – Named after my great uncle Cletus on my dad’s side, Cletus Bastian, who was a real jokester back in the day. My dad told me stories about how he would go help on his uncle’s farm whether it was to bale hay, feed the cows, or carry milk.

Gert Reese (Charlie's Uncle) – Named after my late grandfather Gert "Bud" Ulrich, my mother’s father was a rather stoic man from what I can remember of my younger days. Grandpa Bud was born in 1926, so in 1934, he was eight, the same age roughly as Jimmy Reese is in the story. His parents John and Marie Ulrich owned a farm near Klossner, MN and had seven kids: Walter, Werner, Chester, Myrtle, Frances (Daisy), Johnny & Gert (Bud) being the baby.

Mrs. Hamerski – Named after my late next-door neighbor, Ceil Hamerski, who was just as much as a grandmother to me and my brother growing up as our blood grandparents. She was tall woman with deep roots in her Polish heritage. She loved to work in her garden, always had candy in her candy dish and hated it when we were cut through her back yard to get home.

Sister Margaret – Named after my late Great-Grandmother Bastian. She wasn't a nun, but the Bastian side of my family has deep devotional roots and two of her daughters at one point in their lives were nuns. It really only seemed fitting to call the Sister Margaret.

Mr. Herdina (The Barber) – Named after a family friend, Mrs. Herdina, who has cut my family's hair for as long as I can remember. This character was always loosely a part of the story, but in the final draft the barber was given a name to round out the scene.

Ziemba (The Speakeasy) – Named after my best friend's mother's maiden name. It only seemed appropriate that I use it as her family did once live in the Back of the Yards of Chicago. Side Note: They did not own a speakeasy.

Miss Schwarman (The Orphanage Warden) – Named after my mother’s 4-H leader back in the day who was a mean old bird. She was a traditionalist in the biggest sense of the word. She thought girls should wear white gloves and act properly like ladies. When my mom told me the story about how she was punished for forgetting her gloves one day, I knew Charlie’s warden could go by no other name.

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