Sometimes a name means nothing, until you have to commit to one. Like that placeholder, I’d-never-use-in-my-final-draft name for your main character or capital city. Or that first initial you’ve used for the last 145 pages since a character’s introduction. Or naming your antagonist after that annoying-AF asshat from high school with every intention of changing it later (then it grows on you enough that no other name feels quite right).
Whatever the scenario, a point comes when you have to commit. The asshat needs a fitting name. The single initial really ought to have a few more letters after it. The placeholder must step down in favor of the One, True MC identity.
But, as the saying goes, what’s in a name? At the end of the day, does it really matter? When page 145 rolls around and you’re still calling someone ‘G,’ you pick a proper name purely for the sake of moving forward.
That’s how I felt for the last year about setting up a writer website and blog, and the time came to take the plunge.
I spent 3 days agonizing over what I would include in this first post. If that’s not an apt representation of me, I don’t know what is. So, I’ll start with the simple bits:
- I was born and raised just outside Washington, DC
- At 18, I moved to the UK for college (or ‘uni,’ as they call it over here)
- The day job is in finance, specializing in tax
- My vacations are spent doing volunteer archaeology, going to San Diego Comic Con, or otherwise exploring what the world has to offer
- I’m a gamer, but mainly system games (the Legend of Zelda titles have a special place in my heart). I’ve played plenty of computer games but my childhood favorites have always come from Nintendo or Playstation
- At 10, I discovered anime. I came to love Japan so much, I spent the next 7 years teaching myself Japanese on the internet and through books
- And, the most important bit, I’m writing a fantasy series that has been in my mind for the last fifteen years. It follows a small group of characters as they navigate adulthood while their wider world experiences a period of rapid change and instability
In light of the above, one of my resolutions for 2019 was to create and maintain a professional website to chronicle my writing journey and eventually promote my series. In the coming weeks, I’ll introduce my work alongside 2019 goals and resolutions (and ill-conceived writing advice). The occasional post on history, archaeology, and wider UK vs US lifestyle ticks may slip in.
In short, my name is Elias, and I write adult fantasy.
E P Larrson 