One of my favourite parts about writing is naming my characters.<\/p>\n
Baltsaros is the Greek version of Balthazar but has its roots in Assyrian\u2014the name means \u201cBaal protect the king\u201d. Baal is associated with the god Hadad (god of storm and fertility) who was decreed a false god and where the Christians picked up the name \"Beelzebub\". So... it's a reference to the captain\u2019s inner devil, his primal sexuality, as well as his obsessive self-interest (Baltsaros protects Baltsaros\u2026 at least at the start )
\n(Side note: His close friends and relatives call him \u201cSaros\u201d, which is a nod to one of my favourite movie villains, Sarris from Galaxy Quest.)<\/p>\n
Ah'Puch for a false Mayan \u201cdeath god\u201d. Katherine\u2026 or Kat because I wanted Jon, the wolf pup, to be surrounded by cats (Baltsaros\u2019s black lion; Tom, the captain\u2019s tomcat).<\/p>\n
Doug the blacksmith was because fantasy names get tedious.<\/p>\n
Byron Anders Danielsen and Michael Ashur Nassar\u2026 when you put their names together, it really underlines what Better the Devil You Know is about.<\/p>\n
Kestrel and Talon made for a good pair and a title of a book, and Grim who wasn\u2019t so Grim at all.<\/p>\n
Gregory Faraday (a nod to my own Irish roots); Emyr Morgan Hughes because it\u2019s a good Welsh name. Stuart Leandro, inspired by the cover model; Timothy Leblanc for the Montreal prevalence of English\/French name pairs; James Talbot sounds stuffy and upper-class paired with Rudie Brauer, a lower-class, rural name for his humble beginnings.<\/p>\n
Reginald Wilkes and Andrew Murphy\u2026 Sarge and Murphy. Just good, solid names.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s alllll the side characters that I get to name after friends, family, or just names I\u2019ve made up that sound good. Baal\u2019s Heart IV is still a ways out, but I think you\u2019ll like the names of the new folks the pirates will team up with. :D<\/p>\n