And Now For Something Completely Different

Did you know I’ve started my story to promote Echelon Press‘ upcoming re-release of FORCE OF HABIT?

I don’t have cover art for it yet, and haven’t put up dedicated pages on this blog, but you can read something about it here.

It would be hard to imagine a book more different from EEL’S REVERENCE than this one. FORCE OF HABIT is silly. Very silly. It’s a science fiction farce, with several species interacting, judging situations according to their own cultural and personal biases and just kind of bouncing off those walls.

The story I’m working on is called “By the Book”. Holly Jahangiri won the right to have her name in the story by random drawing in the recent contest held during my blog book tour for EEL. Karen Overturf won the same right through sheer volume of trying. Karen wants her husband, Jim Overturf’s, main character, Kurt Maxxon, to be the named character.

I’m also naming a character Devra Langsam. Devra is a major Star Trek fan and fanzine publisher from back in The Old Show days. She published my first stories, which were Star Trek fan fic. FORCE OF HABIT began life as one of those.

The first 200 words are on paper. It has begun!

WRITING PROMPT: If you named a character after someone you know, who would it be and why?

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “And Now For Something Completely Different

  1. KK Brees

    October 8, 2010 at 11:24am

    Gotta be careful with this one. My hero in Headwind is John, and that’s my jusband’s name. In some of my writing I’ve followed the tee-shirt advice: “Be nice or you’ll end up in my novel.” Writing is a great therapeutic adventure, if you follow that lead.

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  2. KK Brees

    October 8, 2010 at 11:24am

    That should have been husband, not jusband. Sheesh

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  3. Patricia Stoltey

    October 8, 2010 at 12:23pm

    I did that in my second mystery, using my three cousins’ and sister-in-law’s first names and the first two letters of their last names. It helped me create very distinct personalities for the elder ladies in the travel club.

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  4. Nancy Williams

    October 8, 2010 at 1:30pm

    Ugh Marian, that’s a hard one. I go out of my way to find names that are unique. It’s funny though, when I meet someone with one of my character’s name, usually I meet them online.

    Perhaps at some point I’ll do a contest and put the winners name in a story. That is the only way I’d use a real persons name I think.

    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, fantasy author

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  5. Mary Montague Sikes

    October 8, 2010 at 3:35pm

    Congratulations on the start of your new book! My children have always been sci-fi and Star Trek fans so I’m sure there’s a big audience for your story!

    All the best,
    Monti
    MaryMontagueSikes

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  6. Brenda

    August 29, 2011 at 6:07pm

    One of my favorite cousins, now long dead, would be an interesting side character, adding local color, plus he needs more air time than he got in real life. He was always kind and polite and remembrance of his one putdown causes peals of laughter in my household — one of the funniest putdown remarks ever (and yet totally polite). (No, I am not going to say here what it was.) If I can fit it in somewhere someday it may go in a novel set in his home state.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      August 29, 2011 at 9:12pm

      Your cousin would be a great side character! I love it that you would give him “more air time than he got in real life” by writing him (or someone based at least in part on him). 🙂

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  7. Brenda

    August 29, 2011 at 6:08pm

    I meant to add that I appreciated your sharing the start of your book & the people being named in it.

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