My Girl Sarah

Sarah. Sara. An angel, a shapeshifter, a secondary character. She just keeps begging to be put into my books.

I'm not sure why this name keeps cropping up in my work, but when perusing an older book of mine the other day, I was surprised to see a secondary character named Sara. That led me to the realization that I've used her name in other books, and namely as the heroine in In Plain Sight, a recent release.

I don't like using the same name for different characters in different books. It not only confuses me, it confuses readers. Unfortunately, Sarah isn't my first redundancy. The first book I wrote for Amber Quill, Darkson's Forfeit, starred Roane Paxton, a warlord from a barbaric land. And yet, low and behold, Roane Weston is the hero of Circe's Recruits: Roane.

What can I say? I don't keep a spreadsheet of the names I use. I can normally remember who's featured in each book. Take for example Hale, of Circe's Recruits: Hale. He was going to be Hal, but somehow that didn't fit. Problem is, Hale Reaper is Ethan and Trevor's brother (from Reaper's Reward and Satyr's Myst), and I intend to write about him in the future. Hmm, I think I'll give him a nickname. Or maybe he'll go by his middle name, whatever that is.

Perhaps it's time for that spreadsheet. Who knows? But I will say, I don't think Sarah will make another appearance as a new character anytime soon. Nor will Hale, or Roane, or .... Well, let's leave it at that.