Michelle Miles: It's All In A Name

Sometimes I have trouble coming up with surnames for my characters. Other times, they come to me out of the blue. Not sure how or why but I think it’s my subconscious at work. Like in my urban fantasy Dream Walker series, my heroine’s last name is Walker. It was something I did completely subconscious and then realized how fitting it was.

In other cases, I pick specific surnames to go with the heritage of the character. Or they might have a particular meaning I’m going for in relation to the character’s personality traits.

Other times I’m just completely stumped.

I’m working on a new paranormal romance. It’s about a witch who returns to her small East Texas town after a ten year absence only to learn she’s there for a reason bigger than anything she expected. I couldn’t think of a surname for her aunt who passes away in the opening so I did what I always do when that happens.