What’s in a Name?

by Rie Sheridan Rose

“Tyrone, Tyrone…wherefore art thou, Tyrone?”

Doesn’t have the same ring, does it? Of course, in the 1560’s in England, Tyrone wouldn’t have been a very likely name any way, but suppose Shakespeare had gone with something more recognizable to his audience—like William, or Henry, or Robert. These names still wouldn’t have conveyed the sense of place and status that naming his hero “Romeo” presented.

When creating your characters, their names are going to be the easiest, most convenient way for the reader to remember them. This is your chance to give your audience a cheat code, as it were, to have an instant recognition of who that person is and their place in the story.

Therefore, it is vital that you make sure your choice conveys the information you want to make sure is given. While it may be fine to give the characters in a short story the first name that comes to mind—after all, the reader won’t be spending too much time with them—when it comes to a longer work, like a novel or series, there needs to be something about that name that will help the reader remember who it belongs to.

For example, in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Jo (short for Josephine) is the tomboy. Her name is mannish by her own choice. She is a writer, who wants to succeed in a world where her sex is a limitation, and she does what she can to negate it by the nickname. Meg (short for Margaret) is practical, conforming, not a risk-taker. Her name reflects the practical, sensible side of her nature. Beth (short for Elizabeth) is the dreamy, musical child with a heart two sizes too big and a desire to help those in need. Her name reflects the softness of her character. Amy is the baby, the pretty one, the snob. She wants to be a painter, so she is also artistic, and her name is the most reflective of this, sounding almost exotic compared to the other girls.

Perhaps Louisa May didn’t put this much analysis into her name choices—but I wouldn’t bet on that.

In fact, when naming the characters for my new Steampunk series debuting in July, I downright stole Jo(sephine) as the name for my heroine because she shares characteristics with Jo March. The same reasoning went into her best friend Winifred, who goes by Fred because she wants to fit into a man’s world as a scientist.

There are certain other aspects to bear in mind when choosing a name that fits your character:

1) What is their location? Country of origin? (The characters in Romeo and Juliet were Italian, despite their English playwright, and needed Italian names.)

2) What is their profession? Many last names reflect the profession of the bearer or his ancestor.

3) What is their genre? Names like Stan and Pete may not adequately reflect your fantasy setting. Perhaps Bertram or Florescue are more appropriate.

4) Are they pronounceable? If you want to name your character Eeonathor, for example, provide an alternative, like Ravenwing, that he goes by so that the reader won’t just skip over it in their head…

These are some basic things to bear in mind as you write. Remember, however, that nothing about our profession is carved in stone. If they don’t work for you, feel free to ignore them. But you might find that “A rose by any other name” doesn’t smell as sweet.

Rie Sheridan Rose has pursued the dream of being a professional writer for the last ten years. She has had five novels, three short story collections, five poetry collections, and several stand-alone pieces published by over a dozen small presses in that decade.

Learn more about Rie Sheridan Rose on her website and blog. Stay connected with Facebook and Twitter.

Happy New Year from The Penumbra Editor-In-Chief

2012 has been a great year for Penumbra.  Today, we're going to make the first day of 2013 even more exciting with a pair of announcements.

First off, we have now set the Best of Penumbra, Volume I anthology. A cross-section of Penumbra staffers, interns, and readers ranked their favorite stories to form a consensus top eleven.  These stories are as follows:

The Second Coming of Thogradorax by Andrew Kaye (Animals, April 2012)

Arrhythmia by Terra LeMay (Death Dec 2011)

The Jade Tiger by Rachael Acks (steampunk Mar 2012)

Song of Passing Grief by James Beamon (Steampunk Mar 2012)

The Princess's Kiss by Chuck Rothman (Fairy Tales, May 2012)

A Deed Without a Name by Nyki Blatchley (Shakespeare Feb 2012)

And When The Innocence Falls To The Floor by Damien W. Grintalis (Fractured Fairy Tales May 2012)

Cocklebur by Nathaniel Lee (Travel, November 2011)

The Square That Hides A Thousand Stories by Daniel Ausema (The Arts October, 2011)

The Reckoning by Bruce Golden (sports January, 2011)

The Memory of Huckleberries by Rebecca Birch (Native American Folklore, Sept 2012)

Musa will be releasing these outstanding stories in anthology form in early 2013. 

And second, today Musa Publishing is announcing a brand new project for lovers of speculative fiction to ponder as 2013 kicks off.

The Darkside Chronicles

 In the Empire of Dalriada lies a city of steam and electricity and aether, where mechanical horses pull carriages through the streets and grand airships float overhead, patrolling the skies--a city where alien eyes watch the world of man and enforce a great and deadly penalty for man’s uncaring treatment of the world.

Dissecting the city's spires and buildings is the Dark Cloud--a fifty-foot high wall of pollution and filth that separates Sunside from the Darkside. 

Sunside is a place of wonder and beauty, where airships made from glass as strong as steel and pride as strong as diamonds contend for supremacy of the town, floating among the peaks of the city’s skyscrapers and the nobles and the movers and shakers reside. 

And then there's Darkside, the part of the town beneath the cloud, where only the faintest stray beams of light penetrate, illuminating what little hope resides in the citizens who toil in the underground factories or the Great Steamworks that provide power to the city. As Southwatch enters a new age of conspiracy, magic, technology and war, the people who live in the shadow of the Dark Cloud must choose sides when the whole city goes up in flames. 

When the day of reckoning comes, on what side of the Dark Cloud will you stand?

Musa Publishing is pleased to announce the launch of The Darkside Chronicles, a steampunk-inspired shared world project for writers and lovers of speculative fiction.

In the tradition of great shared worlds of the past like Thieves' World, Borderlands, and The Fleet, Darkside Chronicles invites authors to incorporate their favorite speculative fiction genres into the steampunk-inspired city of Southwatch.  Musa is seeking stories from 35k and up to help expand this new universe.  The world was built by author Richard C. White (with works published in the Star Trek, Dr. Who, and The Incredible Hulk universes among others)in collaboration with multi-published fantasy author and Musa Editorial Director Celina Summers, resulting in a expansive and comprehensive bible as a foundation for the stories of Southwatch.We will consider stories of fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, romance, horror, and noir set in the steampunk-influenced city of Southwatch.

To request a copy of the bible, please send a query to editor@musapublishing.com.   Please add "Darkside Chronicles" to the subject line. Submission guidelines specific to the line are included within the universe bible; otherwise this line will be treated and contracted according to the same guidelines as all the other Musa books. . 

The Darkside Chronicles will open to submissions April 1, 2013.

The Darkside Chronicles will launch for readers in Summer, 2013. 

Penumbra Goes Steampunk

Penumbra's Steampunk Issue Now Released

by Dianna L. Gunn

This month's issue of Penumbra has just come out and I am amazed. I'm not too familiar with steampunk—knowing little more than that I like it and that nobody seems to give me steampunk books—so this issue of Penumbra was incredibly satisfying for me to read, like a chocolate doughnut after a week of dieting.

Let me take you on the tour...

The Fiction

The Jade Tiger by Rachael Acks—Captain Marta Ramos makes a raid on a tip and then steals her informant's most prized possession.

The Star of India by A.J. Bell—René Santiago learns that he is not the best thief in the world.

Song of passing grief by James Beamon—the song of a woman's loss leads Russian soldiers to their doom.

The Time Maching by Stephen Smith—Harlan goes back in time again and again, until he can't make it back in one piece.

A Thousand Words by Shannon Leight—A photographer whose camera discovers secrets finds her career in serious danger.

The Non-fiction

Editorials by Celina Summers and Coreen Montagna—Celina, our editorial director, introduces us to steampunk from her recovery position while Coreen Montagna, our acting director, talks about why writers need an editor.

Foglio Interview by Brandie Tarving—meet the Foglios, creators of Girl Genius, who will introduce you to the concept of gaslamp fantasy and discuss some of their more recent exploits.

Terra Incognito by Richard C. White—This month's article discusses creating a map for your world—complete with pictures of a map he's created.

Back of Beyond by Lori Basiewicz—comparing steampunk to fairytales and using examples from Girl Genius, Lori shows how steampunk writers create suspension of disbelief in their readers.

Interview with Gini Koch by Dianna L. Gunn—This month I had the opportunity to interview Gini Koch, best known for her Alien series published by DAW—and slightly less well known for several works here at Musa.

With five great stories and several non-fiction features, this month's issue of Penumbra will round out your reading list quite nicely. All you need to get your steampunk fix this month is $3.99. You can buy this issue of Penumbra here. To purchase a subscription and make sure you get your reading fix all year, click here.

Because Sherlock by Rachael Acks

Because Sherlock

Rachael Acks

My love of steampunk is all Sherlock Holmes' fault.

My mother read out loud to my brother and I when we were kids. We read a lot of books over the years, including Just So Stories and The Flame Trees of Thika. But I think the most influential books that my mother poured into my brain were The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Complete Sherlock Holmes.

The first two have an obvious influence, and on anyone that has ever written fantasy, whether you like the books or not. I've wanted to somehow touch that level of epic storytelling ever since I heard the description of the Battle of Helm's Deep. (Though from my end of things, by preference there would be a lot more women with swords and maybe a little less detail in descriptions of how pretty the forests are.) I wrote stories from a very early age, and there was that fantasy element in them from almost the get-go.

Sherlock Holmes was a different matter entirely. I loved all the short mystery stories, but it didn't infect my brain quite the same way. I didn't have much of a desire to write mysteries. Honestly, outside of Sherlock, I have little interest in the genre. But the world of stinking London streets and hansom cabs lurked in the back of my mind, just waiting for its chance.

There's a sector of people out there that didn't appreciate the steampunk-ish update that Sherlock Holmes received in the 2009 and 2011 movies starring Robert Downey Jr. as the title character. I loved it. Relished it. That twist to the setting and the addition of sudden, grinning and winking mayhem felt like Holmes had just been waiting for steampunk to be invented. It may be because to a little girl sitting on the couch in 1980s Denver, the 1890s in London felt just as far off and fantastical as the idea of zeppelins floating over the Rocky Mountains in some nebulous, quasi-Victorian era.

At their heart, the Sherlock Holmes stories are about adventure and being intellectual simultaneously, solving problems with an inventive mind first and a well-placed bullet only when that fails. Perhaps that is what makes Sherlock Holmes do so well in the speculative fiction family (just look at the spec fic stories that have been written about him, such as Neil Gaiman's A Study in Emerald) - he's all about thought and adventure. It feels natural to take that adventure and extend it into the 'what if' while maintaining that emphasis on the intellect.

There's a rabid curiosity fundamental to Sherlock Holmes as a character that also exists in every steampunk story that I've ever read and enjoyed. As a subgenre, Steampunk takes something very real - Victorian culture and steam - and goes on an adventure into a realm of big ideas where the first and greatest weapon is an inventive mind. That's what attracted me to the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when I was young, and what has fueled my enthusiasm for steampunk in recent years.

I thought about Sherlock Holmes often as I was writing my own story. I can't make claims one way or the other how much he helped me out, but I like to think there was a knowing smirk or two. 

Our March Steampunk Issue is Announced!

Penumbra goes steampunk!

The gears and gadgetry of the steampunk genre takes over Penumbra for a fast-paced and fun month. But we don't do steampunk quite like anyone else.  You don't need more than a great story to keep up a good head of steam—and with these tales that range from Victorian espionage to high level thievery to revenge served cold, you're guaranteed to go along for a wild ride.

The Star of India by A.J. Bell

The Time Machine by Stephen Smith

Song of Passing Grief by James Beamon

A Thousand Words by Shannon Leight

Jade Tiger by  Rachael Acks

The steampunk issue will be available for purchase on March 1, 2012 at www.musapublishing.com.  Until then, take a look at our Shakespeare February issue, coming out this week!

Excitement Is Growing at Penumbra

It's kind of hard to blog right now. I want to act like a completely spoiled brat and bounce up and down on my chair yelling, "I know something you don't know! I know something you don't know! Neener neener neener!"



But I won't. I promise.



This weekend we'll be announcing the lineup of the inaugural issue of Penumbra. The first issue of any magazine is really important, especially to the people who decide which writers/stories to publish. You second guess your decisions. (Is this really the best story? What about...) You want to ignore things that you're paid NOT to ignore.



Like budgets. Or word counts.



And in the end, you just get all the stories together and fiddle with them, reading them over and over until you decide which arrangement is going to work the best. That pretty much encapsulates my night, and considering that I'm blogging at three in the morning should tell you how *not* easy this was.



But at last it's done. And not just THIS issue, but I have the next TWO done as well, which gets us through the end of the year. This afternoon we spent an hour going through cover art images and that got me stoked too. So tonight, then, I've been luxuriating in outstanding short fiction from writers all over the world. Experience levels run from debut authors who've never been published to established pros whose resumes make me very jealous.



Interested in joining them? Take a look at the special calls for themes Penumbra has set up.



Happy writing! And remember: keep an eye on this blog and the Penumbra website for the announcement of the writers in the first issue.

Penumbra launches on October 1, 2011.

PENUMBRA OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

Sports and games:

Have a football story with an interesting twist? Invent a bizarre game on another world? Or, did you have a game on this world go horribly wrong? Well, if your story is around 3k or under, we want to see it!

CALL ENDS SEPTEMBER 15, 2011.

Shakespeare:

We have a deep and abiding passion for the Bard and his works. So if you've reworked one of his plays into your story, or have Shakespeare as a character, or even if you write the story PAST his plays—as long as there's a speculative fiction twist, then it might find its way into this winter, 2012 issue.

CALL ENDS OCTOBER 31, 2011

Steampunk:

Create your best gizmos and gear up for the goggle-gouging fun that is steampunk. And yes, at Penumbra, gaslight fantasy counts. All steampunk, all the time—which means anything goes for this issue as long as it's firmly rooted in the subgenre.

CALL ENDS NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Musa EMag 2011 Issues, New Opportunities and Spec Fic Everywhere!

Over the past few weeks, we've been playing with several different directions for Penumbra EMag, the upcoming electronic magazine from Musa Publishing. It's not easy to put a publishing house and a magazine together at the same time. But...well...we like challenges. At the moment, this whole process is exhilarating. Reading and adjudicating submissions, playing with different stories for different issues, working on layout and design, viewing art—all of these processes have been a lot of fun, believe it or not.



Each issue will be themed. Some of those issues will just have the genre as the theme, but others will be centered around a concept, one that lends itself to all three genres we accept. For example, the issue we're releasing on October 1, 2011, to launch both the magazine and Musa will be an arts-themed issue. Every story deals with either music or painting or writing or dancing or scultping—you get the idea. I *personally* am so impressed by the beautifully written, evocative, outstanding works of shorter fiction in my final selection group that I get excited just thinking about it.



Not very editorial, you say? You need to meet more editors.



The November 1, 2011, issue is death-themed. Yeah, I know: that creates a broad spectrum I can choose from, but I like that. Besides, you can never have too much death, now can you? (That would be the spec fic hack in me talking. I have more fun writing a great death than anything else) The December 1, 2011, will feature stories involving travel (time travel included!).



Once we get into the beginning of 2012, we'll have our sports-themed issue—either spec fic treatments of real-life sports or created sports in other worlds/eras/societies. What better way to survive Super Bowl Sunday than with a jai alai game in Hell? And then, there's my particular favorite, the Shakespeare issue. Reworking Shakespeare into a different genre—hardcore sci fi Romeo and Juliet could be a lot of fun. If Sense and Sensibility can hook up with zombies, just think how much fun Hamlet performed with hamsters could be! Or, conversely, stories that deal with Shakespeare in other ways—like an urban fantasy that takes place at a Shakespearean festival. We're looking at an all-steampunk issue, a space opera issue, an homage to Ray Bradbury whose short story All Summer In A Day still has one of my favorite sentences ever:

It was as if, in the midst of a film, concerning an avalanche, a tornado, a hurricane, a volcanic eruption, something had, first, gone wrong with the sound apparatus, thus muffling and finally cutting off all noise, all of the blasts and repercussions and thunders, and then, second, ripped the film from the projector and inserted in its place a peaceful tropical slide which did not move or tremor.

Let's just say the possibilities are endless. Speculative fiction is grand that way. (Authors—please don't submit for these potential themed issues until we issue a specific call for that issue. Thanks!)



In the next week or so, we'll be setting our lineup for each issue. One of the other exciting things we're doing with Penumbra is our Rising Talent free read. Every month, we'll select one of the manuscripts from a newer author that makes it to the later rounds of evaluation and publish it on our site for Penumbra fans to check out. That author will get paid a flat fee for the story—so yes, it's a sale!—and we'll introduce him or her to speculative fiction readers. We are also adjudicating art submissions for each issue. The art director will select her top five picks each month and use them in the magazine, and readers will be able to vote for their favorites. The artist who wins the monthly contest will get a cash prize of $50 and a commission for another piece of featured art in a future Penumbra issue.



Not too shabby.



So stay tuned. Keep an eye on what's going on. We'll list special theme submission calls, information about our authors and great deals for the readers. Excitement is building in the Penumbra offices—and hopefully that excitement is contagious.