The Nameless was my first foray into ‘real world’ writing. Which isn’t to say that this novel appears anything like reality. It’s not, but imagine looking at our world through a cracked mirror. So some things are similiar, and some things are fantasy.
But what it means is that I have real characters. No longer does it cut it to say ‘he’s a Knight of the Kingdom’. No, these characters have to have real world jobs with real world aspirations.
So anyhoo, the main female character was named Paige Lafayette. She was this faceless, soul-less creature that the main protagonist pined for. And it failed miserably. It’s extremely important that this relationship is believable…and it wasn’t.
So I had to create something completely different. I had to recreate her character. Or actually, create her character because Paige simply didn’t exist.
I created a back story. She no longer was the faceless ‘business woman’. In fact, all her passions and fears now seem real in my mind — seems like a real person. And a funny thing happened, as well. Her name is no longer Paige. The name didn’t fit.
Her new name is Jackie Gwendolyn O’Sullivan. And she’s as real as make-believe can be.