Introducing . . . Tadpole Press!

Happy New Year!  I have been needing to publish this blog post for awhile now and what better time than before the end of the year?  Not that I'm a big believer in completing all sorts of to-do lists just because it's the end of the year, but I did want to share with you all something really incredible that happened in 2016, actually just a few weeks ago.  I am now the founder and sole member of my very own company . . . Tadpole Press!

I primarily created it to have a company to publish my own books, but I am also going to be using it to offer my editing services.  I'm excited to see how it will grow.  There are going to be a lot of exciting things happening in 2017!

A few weeks ago, I had started to write a blog post about the difficulties I was having coming up with a name for my company, and rather than send that draft to the internet abyss, I will share it here with you now for any of you who are interested in a brief history of how I chose the name Tadpole Press . . .

* * *

As you already know, choosing a name is one of the hardest parts of writing for me.  I have found a good workaround in my writing, which has been really helpful.  When I write my story and create a new character that needs a name, I simply take one off the top of my head or glance at my incredibly long list of names that I have generated and take one.  Then I highlight it yellow in my text so I can go back and review it at the end of the book to see if it will stay or change.  Then I simply move on.  This way I don't get stuck (which happened a lot when I first started writing) and can get the actual story out.

It's been a pretty good process so far.  However, there is one problem that this process isn't solving for me.  I decided a few weeks ago to create a company to publish my books, as opposed to doing it under solely my name as an author.  I'm not rehashing the process of deciding that I want a company in this blog post, but I will sum it up by saying that after debating it for quite awhile, I finally decided that the pros outweighed the cons.  Now that I've decided to do it, I have to name the thing.  And now you see the problem.

I actually had a great name picked out while I was mulling it all over, but unfortunately Dandelion Press is already taken.  No problem, I thought.  I also loved the name Firefly Press.  Both dandelions and fireflies, or lightening bugs, represent that magical quality of being a child where nothing limits your dreams and anything you believe in will come true.  That was the quality that I wanted to have in the name of my company.

Unfortunately, since someone else already realized how genius those names were, I have to pick something else.  So I have been poring over my lists and lists of potential names, doing internet searches on synonyms and meanings behind names like nobody's business, and I'm still stuck.  So I am turning to you, my dear blog readers, to help me figure out a name for my company.

Here are the requirements.  First of all, it is going to end with the name "Press" because, as far as I can tell, Press means a company that publishes a few books and is basically a smaller version of a Publisher.  Since I am very much on the small end of the scale, my company will qualify as a Press.

Okay, next.  I want a name that invokes a certain feeling.  The feeling of excitement and anticipation that you get when you open a book for the first time and get sucked into the story.  The feeling of enjoyment and pleasure that you get when you read a really good book for fun, without having to rush or worry about how much time you're spending on it.  Plus, since I'm writing a lot of children's books, the feeling that I described above where you feel like anything is possible, and can dream and believe in a better world.  Where your childhood innocence hasn't been smashed to smithereens by people telling you why your dreams won't work out.

For me, I get that feeling on warm summer evenings at dusk when the sun sets and lightening bugs come out, when the sun's rays shine bright golden over the lush green of trees and grass, when the light fades to a twilight blue and the lightening bugs' spark lights up and then vanishes and then lights up again as they fly across the night, and the stars start to sparkle as the night sky takes over from the day and turns a beautiful deep blue purple.  If I could just paint the word, that would be it.  The swirling colors of gold and green, mixed with blue and purple.

A name that invokes a feeling that things will get better over time.

* * *

That's as far as my post made it, because before I was able to finish it, I stumbled across an old photo that I took near our creek this summer.  It was of a tadpole that was halfway transformed into a frog.  Much like how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, I think everyone knows the incredible metamorphosis that a tadpole makes to turn itself into a frog.  But what was really striking to me in that picture was the in between phase when the tadpole still has its long tadpole tail, but is also growing little legs and feet.  Seriously, where does its tail go when it turns into a frog?  And how does it change from breathing water as a tadpole to breathing air as a frog??  It is just as incredible as a caterpillar changing into a butterfly! 

The Inspiring Photo (c) Amber Byers

And it also satisfied my requirements for a name above.  To me, the tadpole transformation represents the magical childhood quality where nothing limits your dreams and anything you believe in will come true.  Where you spend your time doing what you love just because you love it.  As a kid, I spent countless hours swimming in creeks and squelching through mud, trying to catch salamanders and tadpoles.  I loved it.

I think the name works really well for my children's books, but I also think it will work well for my adult books.  While I haven't spent as much time writing my adult stories yet, I know some of them will be about adult transformations, renewal, and shifts in perspective.  Maybe some will be about how things aren't exactly as they seem.  And finding the magic in everyday events.

Anyway, I look forward to sharing it all with you next year!  And may you all have a Happy New Year where your dreams come true too!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to my dear blog readers.  I wish you all health and peace and wisdom as this year ends and the new one begins.  And here is a little gift from me to you ~ one of my favorite quotes from Eat Pray Love, the book I am currently listening to.

(c) Amber Byers

May you all live your own destiny with health, peace, and wisdom.

Love,
Amber

Shifting Perspectives

There is a fundamental difference between being an attorney and being a writer that I have been pondering for awhile now.  It's primarily about time, and how time is viewed in the context of money.  Let me explain.

In much of private legal practice (which is what I did most recently), an attorney's time is spent in the billable hour system.  This means that attorneys track the time they spend on a certain case and bill that to the client.  What it looks like at a law firm is that every day, an attorney or paralegal's time must be accounted for in increments of 6 minutes, or a .1 of an hour.  Thankfully, there are software programs that work like a timer and automatically calculate your time and add it to the client's bill so you don't have to manually add it up (which I have also had to do, and takes an incredibly long time to keep track of).

This is all fine.  There are elements of the billable hour system that I actually liked.  For example, using a timer all day shows you how much time you've spent on each task during the day, and how much time you've put in total.  This can be interesting sometimes.

Then, at the end of the month, the attorney in charge of the case reviews the bill, cuts out time that is deemed unnecessary, duplicative, or in some way not able to be charged to the client and sends the bill to the client.  Depending on how many hours were cut, the profit from that client is going to be higher or lower than other clients.

The part that I have an issue with is the pressure to reach the highest profit margin on every single case.  To only do the work necessary to reach that goal.  While I certainly understand that law firms are businesses trying to make money, when the focus is so predominantly on the profit, it takes away from some of the underlying value that is given to the client when a little extra attention is given.  To me, it is worth it to put in a little more time and attention to some areas, even if that results in hours that can't be billed to the client and therefore results in a slightly lower profit margin. 

The other problem that the billable hour system created for me was that because there is always the pressure to bill more and push the profits higher to make more money for the firm (and thus, in some firms, become a more valuable associate), there is a constant pressure to put in billable time even if it means skipping breaks and lunches or working 12 hour days.  In other words, because there is no limit on one attorney's billable hours, there is only a minimum requirement and never a cut-off point.  If I could just eliminate my need to sleep, exercise, and spend time with my family, then the profits would be through the roof.  But that's not the kind of life I want to live.

On a side note, you might think that paid breaks are mandated by state law for all employees who work full time, and that should apply to attorneys as well.  And you'd be right.  But the reality is that there are still law firms today that do not pay attorneys to take breaks, and do not encourage them to take breaks at all, whether paid or unpaid.  Do I need my two paid breaks during the day?  No.  But when my employer is a law firm, I lose respect for them when they don't follow the law and at least give me the option that they are required to under the law.

And maybe I should have forced myself to take breaks more often, even if they weren't paid.  But I didn't want to seem weak, when I can just push through.  The problem is that after months or years of this relentless pressure, without breaks, the stress builds up.  There is a reason why so many attorneys die of heart attacks in their 50's.  I don't want that to be me.

The other part of this system is that I have never really been motivated by money.  I am careful with money and know how to scrupulously budget, and it will be so incredibly nice to have finally paid off my student loans from law school.  And yes, I am striving for financial security, even today.  But my goal in life has never been to reach the highest profit margin, to have money just for money's sake.  When I look at life through money's lens, I feel unfulfilled.

There has got to be something else that inspires me or motivates me.  What I have done must have some meaning other than just making a profit.  And that's where I fall back on my writing once again.  To pursue something for the pure pleasure of it.  To create something beautiful because it is satisfying to use my natural talents and add something of value to the world.

What is interesting is that when I first started this transition from an attorney to a writer, my brain was so hard wired in the billable hour system that I thought along the lines of "how quickly do I need to write and how much do I need to sell to reach X dollars per hour?" and wondered whether I should track my time to input this factor into the equation.  I quickly decided that no, I should not.

For one, it is a pain to constantly think in these terms.  And for another, it is a distraction.  My goal is not to "get in, get out" and obtain the highest profit for the least amount of time.  My goal is to enjoy what I am writing, fall in love with the story, and build a sustainable income off of it eventually.  I don't expect this to happen overnight and I expect to run into many dead ends in my writing that, in legal terms would be called billable time that gets cut at the end of the month.  Rather than seeing this as a costly mistake, however, I believe that these dead ends are just going to be part of the process.  I have a lot to learn - about my writing style, about the publishing and marketing worlds - and I am going to put the time in to do a good job, whether or not I think it will lead to immediate profits.

Similarly, when I first started this transition, I wanted to start reading more books for fun and I quickly realized how long it can take to sit down and read an entire novel.  This was not fitting into the "get in, get out, move on to the next billable project" mentality that I had cultivated.  This was a much slower pace than I was used to.  Of course, when I sat down at first, I thought, "I can't just sit here and read this book for hours, how am I going to justify doing that when I'm not making any money?"  And I'd put it aside in search of something more promising "for my career."  But I kept checking out books from the library.  And one day, I started reading one and just got sucked into the story.  Like I did when I was a kid.  And it didn't matter that it wasn't the most profitable thing I could have been doing in that moment.  It was refreshing, invigorating, enjoyable.  I enjoyed sitting down in large chunks of time over the course of a few weeks until I finished the whole book, not just a few minutes here and there where I could squeeze it in.

I once read somewhere that efficiency is a man-made construct, whereas nature is quite inefficient.  I think the example they used was of a tree producing hundreds of blossoms or thousands more seeds than it actually needs to reproduce.  Yes, it overproduces because so many seeds will get eaten by predators and it needs them to ensure that a single seed grows into another adult tree that can continue to reproduce.  But we don't look at the abundance of blossoms and seeds and think, "what a waste of time."  No, we look at it and marvel at its beauty.

 

Photo used with permission by Totororo.Roro.

The First Snowfall

It's here!  The first snowfall of the year is here!!  Never mind that the sun was trying to convince us that we had entered into an eternal summer with a string of unusually warm November days, capped off with a day that reached 80 degrees yesterday.  Never mind all that.  The snow is here!

The first snowfall of the year is always my favorite.  It is magical, and fills me with the kind of excitement and joy that I felt as a little kid.  I especially love the first snowfalls that give more than just a little dusting.  And that's the kind we're getting today.  The sky clouded over this morning, dense with grey clouds.  Then the temperature dropped, and the first snowflake swirled to the ground.  This snow is the beautiful, puffy kind that floats softly down.  And it just keeps coming, thicker than the inside of a snow globe.

It's the kind of day that makes me want to snuggle up inside with a good book, or just write.  It feels like my house is a warm little cocoon where I can spin tales of enchantment and the belief that anything is possible.  So that is just what I'm going to do!

 

(c) Amber Byers

Update on the Conference

Just wanted to let you all know that the conference is done and it was incredible!  I absolutely loved the format of quiet, individual writing for several hours in the morning and then hearing presentations in the afternoon.  Having that time to be productive and write really helped to counterbalance the overwhelming or anxious feeling that can arise when I learn too much information at once about everything I need to be doing as an author.  Because really one of the best things I can do to be a good writer is to write.  And having a firm schedule and supportive community was just what I needed.

Then, once I had some productivity under my belt for the day, I was in a perfect position to listen to the presentations.  And they were fabulous!  Everything from publishing and marketing, to developing a business plan, to the nitty gritty details of formatting digital and print books, to a comprehensive review of helpful writing software, to tips on blogging, and designing book covers.  As a newcomer in this field, it was so incredibly helpful to get all this information from people who have done this before, and have an opportunity to ask detailed questions about all of the steps in the process.  The prospect of writing, formatting, publishing, and marketing my book is much less daunting now.  Thank you, everyone!

Update and Looking Forward

I was surprised to sit down and look at the calendar today to realize that it has been 3 weeks since my last blog post.  I knew it hadn't been as frequent, but 3 weeks?!  Where did the time go?  I wish I could say I've been off galavanting around the world, tasting exotic foods, and learning new languages.  But sadly, no.

I've been fighting off the mundane challenges that arise closer to home.  Have I ever mentioned that autumn is my least favorite season?  In fact my feeling toward the season is closer to hate.  I am in love with summer.  The sunlight (if they could turn it into a potion, I would drink it).  The green trees (it doesn't matter that I'm allergic to nearly every type of them, I would spend every minute near them if I could).  The warmth (oh, there is nothing else to say except the warmth, it is delicious).  All of it combines to cast this spell on me that makes me believe in magic and hope and beauty and dreams coming true.

Then, autumn comes along and steals it all away.  I get sick.  Right away.  Every single time.  I get better, then a few weeks later I get sick again.  Everything that once seemed possible in the summer seems suddenly agonizingly difficult or downright insurmountable in autumn.

I know it's just a phase, and life can't stand still in summer forever.  As winter nears, I will get over it and adjust to the colder days and the darker nights.  And eventually it will be okay again.  But in the meantime, please don't think I've abandoned my writing or forgotten about you, my dear blog readers.  I am just busy getting by.

And on a more positive note, I wanted to let you all know that I will be going to a 3 day writing conference starting tomorrow and I am so excited.  The mornings will be devoted to writing and the afternoons will have a series of presentations on all sorts of topics relevant to writers.  I just went back and looked at some of my writing on my children's chapter book, and even though it is mostly a jumble of writing that needs to be sorted out, some of it was way better than I remembered it.  It was inspiring to read right before my conference, and gives me a bit of a boost that this is something that I can do.  Even if it is autumn.

Update 11/3/16 @ 1:29 p.m. - Something else amazing!

Just after I published this post, I checked the news and found out something else to be really excited about - the Cubs won the world series!  I have been a Cubs fan since I was a little kid, and I still feel like this might be a dream that is too good to be true.  But there you have it.  Amazing things are happening.

Marilyn's Monster and Other Incredible Children's Books

Spoiler Alert:  For those of you who like to read children's books without knowing what's going to happen first, please be aware that there are some spoilers below.

I recently came across an incredible children's book called Marilyn's Monster written by Michelle Knudson and illustrated by Matt Phelan, and I love it so much.

What it's about:  All the kids get chosen by their very own monster except Marilyn, who waits and waits for her monster to find her.

What I love about it:  I love how well they describe Marilyn's emotions changing from hope and excitement to loneliness and anger.  And I love that she takes the initiative to go out and get what she wants, even though everyone tells her that's not the way it's supposed to work.  Combine that with incredible pictures and make it a world where monsters are coveted, not feared, and it is just irresistible.

After becoming so infatuated with this book, I started thinking about my other favorite children's books, and here are a few highlights:

Little Robot by Ben Hatke

What it's about:  A little girl who plays outside all day, mostly in a junkyard, and becomes friends with a robot she finds there.

What I love about it:  There are very few words in this comic strip style book, but it doesn't need many because the pictures are so incredible and entertaining.  They really tell the story so beautifully, even making me laugh out loud in places.  I love when the cat touches a robot and all its hair stands up on end, and I love that even though one big mean robot eats a cat, the cat just sits inside the robot until it is rescued and the robot becomes good again.

I Know a Lot written by Stephen Krensky and illustrated by Sara Gillingham

 

What it's about:  There are a bunch of books in this series, and all of them are fantastic.  They are early reader books focused on being proud of all of the amazing things toddlers learn and do.

What I love about it:  The rhymes and pictures are fantastic, and I love the way it captures the excitement and challenge of young children learning everyday things.  I love that it features a father, too, because there are not that many children's books that do.

Is Your Mama a Llama? written by Deborah Guarino and illustrated by Steven Kellogg

What it's about:  This is a fun, easy to read book about a llama who asks all of his friends if their mama is a llama.  It is full of cute rhymes that allows the reader to guess the answer on the next page. 

What I love about it:  Again, the pictures are just incredible.  I am a big fan of nature and animals, and all of these pictures are done just beautifully.  Plus, I love that each page shows the day getting a little closer to night, until it is completely nighttime at the end.

Where the Wild Things Are written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak

 

What it's about:  This book is a classic, and has been turned into a movie too, which is pretty incredible for a picture story.  It's about a little boy who gets in trouble for causing mischief, is sent to his room without eating supper, and travels to an imaginary place far away where he gets to be king of all wild things.

What I love about it:  The writing feels like poetry - 

 ". . . he sailed off through night and day

and in and out of weeks

and almost over a year 

to where the wild things are."

I love how he tells his mother he will eat her up when she calls him wild thing in the beginning, and then later the wild things tell him they'll eat him up, they love him so when he leaves.  And I love the wild rumpus, and most of all that his supper is waiting for him in his bedroom and is still hot.

Es hora? by Marilyn Janovitz

What it's about:  A little wolf getting ready for bed, and a series of questions about whether it's time to take a bath, brush his fangs, etc.

What I love about it:  This is such a fun book to read, and the sentences just flow together in a very sing song way.  This is a great Spanish book, but for those of you who don't know Spanish, there is also a Spanish - English version here.

I know there are so many other fun books that I didn't feature here.  What are some of your favorites?

10/14/16: Update - There are two other essential books that I can't believe I forgot!

Fancy Nancy written by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

What it's about:  This is a series of books about a little girl who loves everything fancy.  This means sparkles, extravaganza, and big words.

What I love about it:  The art is amazing, and I love the contrast between fancy, decorated Nancy and her parents - who are not fancy at all.  In this book, I love how her parents pick her up after she trips over her super fancy shoes and spills the fancy ice cream all over the restaurant.  There are a series of books like this one and all of them focus on fancy words, or bigger words, and explain in a fun way what they mean so it helps young readers build their vocabulary.  Plus, there are a few French words sprinkled in here and there, which is fun too.

The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton

What it's about:  This is a sweet rhyming book about getting ready for bed.  Specifically, about a bunch of cartoon animals on a boat getting ready for bed.

Why I love it:  The rhymes are adorable and catchy, and while you can remember them easily after a few reads, they don't get that obnoxious stuck in your head feeling.  Again, this is a series of books, and they all show Sandra Boynton's incredible talent for rhyming.  I am also impressed that a lot of her books are manufactured in America and sold at an affordable price.

10/20/16: Update - As I was brainstorming ideas for this post a few weeks ago, I wrote down a list of a few books that I wanted to include.  When I sat down to write the post, I couldn't find the list so I wrote it just based off of my memory.  And now that I've published the post, I found the list and have two more books to add . . .

Tuck in the Pool by Martha Weston

What it's about:  A little pig's transformation from not wanting to go to swimming lessons, and learning to love swimming.

Why I love it:  I love when his mom comes in to tell him it's time for his swim lesson, he says he's busy.  Then, instead of rushing him or telling him to get ready anyway, she asks, "What are you busy doing?" and he responds, "Showing Snyder the dark." because he's playing with his toy spider under his bed.  I just love that whole transaction.  And I love that at first, his favorite part of swim lessons is going home, but that by the end he even stays for free swim after the lesson.

Owl Moon written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by John Schoenherr

 

What it's about:  A little girl goes out owling at night with her father, trekking through the snow and hooting owl sounds for the hopes of glimpsing a beautiful owl at night.

What I love about it:  The words, pictures, and phrases create an incredible atmosphere that is dark, silent, calm, and full of excitement at the same time.  I feel like I am right there, walking through the snow with them and I love to be sucked into the calm, peaceful experience of going owling at night in the winter.  I love the awe and respect for nature and animals that comes through in this story as well.

That's it!  If I come across any other children's stories, they are going to have to have their own post, because this one, with its two updates, is done.  If there are any other essential children's books I've forgotten, please leave them in the comments!

Shout Out for Illustrators

I don't know if this is true of most bloggers, but sometimes I publish a post and can't wait for the next one, and other times I post one that is just perfect and I don't want to write another one that will bump the perfect one down the page . . . that's how I feel about my Marilyn's Monster post now that I've finally included all of my favorite children's stories.  But that is the way life works I suppose, always moving on.

Anyway, I wanted to pass along the word that I am looking for an illustrator for children's stories.  I have been speaking with several friends about collaborating on some projects and am hopeful that may work out.  But I also wanted to expand my outreach a little further and see what happens.

I have a lot of ideas and a few projects in draft format, but am at a standstill because they need pictures.  And I am not very good at making pictures at all.  I think my artistic people-drawing abilities peaked in grade school.  You see the problem.

I am also very new to this writing and publishing thing, so am open to working with experienced, new, or independent artists.  I am looking for someone who creates beautiful, compelling worlds and interactions, who loves drawing or painting nature and animals. 

In addition to the examples of some of my favorite books in my last post, here is another book that is a good example of the kind of illustrator I'm looking for - Water is Water written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin.

 

If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please let me know - either through the comments section below or directly to me.  Thanks for your help!

Choosing a Name

Generally one of the most time consuming parts of my writing so far has been coming up with the names for my characters.  Last week I spent hours researching possible names and nicknames for characters, and the week before that I spent an hour trying to figure out this name in my head that sounded like Charlotte but wasn't Charlotte so I could call this character Char.  She's not even the main character in the story right now, and may not even grow into a bigger role down the road, but I still had to name her.  That's what's crazy in writing.  Every single person I write about has to be named.  And usually it is painstakingly slow.

I want names that are unique, beautiful, and easy to pronounce in your head as you read.  I especially love names that are all that, plus are either gender neutral or names that are used for an uncommon gender. 

As I researched names on multiple baby naming websites, I came across a fabulous discovery.  Most of the baby naming websites are summarizing information from the Social Security Administration's databank of names to create their own graphs of name popularity and add details about the meaning of names, etc.  The best part is that the SSA itself has a website that lists the names of all babies born in a particular year - dating back to 1880 - and includes the top 1000 names for each gender.

When I started looking through the names back in 1880, I came across a lot of gender switching names.  And by that, I mean that a lot of the names that we commonly use now for girls were common for boys back then, and vice versa.  Yes, most boys were named William or Charles and most girls were named Anna or Margaret.  But after that, I found a lot of names that I didn't expect to find on one or both lists.

For the boys:

Marion

Jessie

Sidney

Leslie

Alva

Pearl

Elisha

Allie

Lynn

Mary

Carroll

Jordan

Aubrey

Elliott

Dee

Addison

Sandy

Frances

Alma

And those are just the names that were in the top 500.  Starting with number 529, there's Anna, then

Bailey

Beverly

Clair

Dana

Jean

Sydney

Finley

Lindsey

Emma

Terry

Avery

Elizabeth

June

Lacy

Minnie

Addie

Ashley

Carrie

Clara

Clare

Ida

Shelby

Connie

Jennie

Lindsay

Rose

Vivian

Annie

Cora

Dora

Drew

Eliza

Elsie

Ethel

Hattie

Hope

Jessee

Nellie

Reese

Ruby

Sammie

Stacy

Tracy

Augusta

Daisy

Edith

Flora

Hayden

Ivy

Jewel

Jodie

Katherine

Kelly

For the girls' list, there are fewer names that are more commonly used as a boy's name today, which is interesting since it seems that today girls are more likely to adopt a gender switching name than boys.

Willie

Francis

John

William

Alpha

George

James

Donnie

Vinnie

Ira

Clyde

Frank

Charles

Henry

Robert

Claude

Joseph

Fred

Johnnie

Ray

Thomas

Walter

Clarence

Hedwig

Theo

Clifford

Harry

Leo

Arthur

Edgar

Glenn

Joe

Louis

Charlie

Dave

David

Dean

Earl

Edward

Some of the names on these lists have already become common unisex names, and some are still evolving.  I think it is really interesting that Ida was more common as a boy's name than Justin in 1880.  And John was more common as a girl's name than Olivia or Agatha in 1880.  It is liberating as a writer, too, because it makes me realize just how much names and their associated genders fluctuate over time.

I think most people tend to let the first person they meet with a certain name define their expectations for anyone else with that name.  So if you meet a girl Kelly first, you might be surprised to hear a boy named Kelly.  It's the same thing with how to spell a name.  If you meet someone who spells their name Jordyn, you might assume that every other person with that name will spell it the same way.  Once you know someone with a different name or a different spelling, it expands your horizons.

On another note, I have to point out a few other interesting categories from the SSA name database. There were quite a few girls named after states in 1880 - think Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, and Texas.  Whereas there were quite a few boys named after cities - for example, Denver, Ballard, Arlington, and Lafayette - and even colors - such as Green and Pink.

And for anyone who has read Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller series, you might enjoy learning that Ambrose was a popular name back in 1880.  As soon as I read that name, I immediately thought of Ambrose in The Name of the Wind.

Oh, and as for that character that I spent so long deciding her name - it ended up being Charmaine.  Which fit perfectly with what I was thinking in my head.  She can still be Char for short, like with Charlotte.  It's not really a gender switching name, but it is rather uncommon, beautiful, and hopefully easy to pronounce when you read.  Who knows, now that I've got her name figured out, maybe I'll give her a little bit of a bigger role in that story.

My Dandelion Phase

The culture we live in is predominantly focused upon our achievements, our productions, and our output.  Specifically in terms of monetary value, but also just in terms of items or products.  While I believe this is necessary and valuable, it only tells one side of the story.  The other side is about taking time to decompress, lazing about, and regenerating.  While there may not be as much to show on the outside from this process, it is essential.  Far too often, we are too busy, rushed from one thing to another without time to process.  Eventually, the hectic pace of our lives builds up and the long-term stress negatively impacts our health, our relationships, and our motivation.

When I was discussing the fast paced, busy nature of my life and job with a good friend, she said we are called human beings, not human doers, for a reason.  But it's hard to just be, and not to do, act, produce, have something to show for your day.  Hard, yes, but possible and so worth it.  I'm no stranger to taking the hard road and going against the predominant culture to forge my own path.  I believe that having down time to reflect, relax, and just be is crucial to my life.  So in addition to transitioning from an attorney to a writer, I think this year is also about transitioning from a human doer to a human being.  To slow down and appreciate my life, instead of waiting until I've paid off all of my student loans and secured retirement to fully live.

A few months ago, I came across an incredible time lapse video of a dandelion turning from the bright yellow flower to the white puff of magic that kids love to wish upon.  What struck me about the video was how long the flower stays in the curled up brown phase.  Honestly, it looks like the flower is dead when the leaves dry up and curl into itself.  And it stays that way for such a long time.  I've probably walked past flowers like this outside and thought they were dried up, dead flowers.  But I was wrong.  They were working, with magic going on inside that we couldn't see.  While they looked so dried up, they were actually undergoing a huge transformation.  And that stage was absolutely essential to becoming a white puff of a dandelion.  This is what I call my dandelion stage.  When there is such a huge transformation going on underneath.  Maybe it looks like it's dead on the outside, but just wait.  Oh just you wait.  And don't rush it, either.

Here is a link to the video by Neil Bromhall.  It is just incredible, and the music is so powerful.  I just love it!