This was originally posted on Book Blather

I have to apologize in advance for this post. I had writer’s block. It wasn’t pretty. Then again, very little I do can be considered pretty. It’s mostly flailing. And swearing.

In this case, it involved canned spray cheese and a box of Triscuits…and, eventually, just the spray cheese.

Open wide, my hons! Here comes heart disease!

Ahem. Where was I? Oh, yeah, I recently got an email asking where I came up with the name Wicket Tate.

The short answer? I have no idea and, if you’re pressed for time, you could stop reading now and still feel like you’ve accomplished something. I won’t judge. Neither will Boy Genius. In fact, if you’re standing around the water cooler with the guys from advertising and someone says “What’s the deal with naming a heroine Wicket?” You can say, “The author is just as baffled as we are.” and you will be right and everyone will think you have the inside track. Next they’ll be asking you for investment advice.

You’re welcome.

Unless you don’t feel like answering questions about mutual funds, in which case, I’m sorry. Sometimes these things happen. Especially when you hang around me.

The longer answer? I have a thing for weird names. It’s probably because I have a weird name so it doesn’t seem so weird to me. It actually feels kind of normal. Still, I did have some issues with contest judges going all WTF? when reading FIND ME. I think one judge even said “No one names heroines Wicket.”

Technically, someone does.

Anywho, I don’t actually remember deciding on a name for Wick. It just sort of…came to me. And that’s the closest brush with having an artistic muse, I’ve ever had. I attend monthly meetings of Georgia Romance Writers and people often discuss their inspirations and muses.

Okay, it’s not like an every meeting thing, but it’s enough to give me a complex. They’re all “I was watching Despicable Me and, suddenly, I visualized this girl and this boy and they were…doing stuff. And then I wrote it all down. It was wonderful.”

Gives me the urge to kick something.

I don’t have inspiration, but I do have ambition, which is almost the same thing if you squint…and can’t spell very well. FIND ME was actually born out of a lie I told the agent I wanted. Sarah passed on my YA paranormal and asked me what else I had.

I had a big, fat nothing, but that didn’t stop me from shooting off my mouth (I like to think of that as one of my better qualities). Of course, the problem with shooting off your mouth and saying you want to write a YA thriller is the agent will sometimes say “Yay! Send it to me!”

And then you have to do the work.

Actually, I don’t really mind that part. I’ve gotten good at the slog. It’s the bubbling-over inspiration and touchy-feely parts of writing that I still don’t have. Other writers talk about the joys of story discovery and, when it’s my turn, I squint a bit so everyone thinks I’m sifting through brilliant answers. Then I ruin the illusion by saying, “Okay, see, it looked like agents wanted thrillers so I…wrote one.”

And before FIND ME, I wrote two historicals, one women’s fiction, and a YA paranormal. Because that’s how badly I wanted this.

So you can imagine how excited I am to be here with Annie on Book Blather! Huge thank you for reading and I so hope you enjoy FIND ME!!

This was originally posted on Book Blather