Revision, it goes.

[rhienelleth]

Mercy Kincade.

I like it. It has a great sound together, unlike any of the other surnames I've tried for Mercy. However, it also has this vaguely familiar feel, and I hope I'm not borrowing from something I've read, and just don't remember. In the time since I've created and named Mercy, several books have popped up with MC's sporting that given name. But I don't care, I'm not changing that. She came to me with that name, and that's one of the few details I'd be completely unwilling to tweak. On the other hand, I've never been completely happy with any of the surnames I've tried to give her. "Kincade" meaning the head or front of the battle just works for me. 

Other revision notes:

~ Funny how one little question, "why did the Commonwealth exile the pirates instead of just trying to kill them all from the get go?" leads to lots of headslapping (yeah, I have no idea why that didn't occur to me, either), and then fixing that one background bit leads to lots (and lots) of unanticipated worldbuilding.

~ I know you all have seen my many cast icons for the space pirates before.  I know some of you may have recognized Megan Fox as Mercy.  When I picked those, I was very careful not to pick ones I thought of as her 'drop dead gorgeous' photos.  I wanted Mercy to be pretty, but not too pretty.  Of course, no such constraints when it came to casting the rest of the book.  But the revision called for a new Mercy icon, and this time around, I deliberately chose one of Ms. Fox's photos that I see as drop dead gorgeous.  One of the bits of advice that came out of the convo with the agent was "Don't be afraid to make her gorgeous. Still flawed, but gorgeous."  The icon is to remind me of that as I revise.

~ Holy epiphanies, Batman!  Oh....this has very little to do with Nemesis (other than some description notes), and everything to do with Consort.  Oh, yes.  OMG, I'm so excited by this, and I never would have thought about it without the domino effect started by that first bulleted revision note above.  *rubs hands together*

Comments

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, a quick Google search of "Mercy Kincade" and "Mercy Kinkade" turned up nothing. ;)

I can't wait to read the revised version of Nemesis, because you know how much I loved the first draft...

[rhienelleth.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to get it done. I can't believe all the great things - well, they seem like great things to me - coming out of this.

[rhienelleth.livejournal.com]

Point of interest: I, too, googled the name. And also Mercy Kincaid, just to be sure. :D

[quiet-rebel.livejournal.com]

Kincade makes me think of the artist Thomas Kinkade, the one Jared Padalecki did a movie about. Maybe that's where it sounds familiar?

[dragonsinger.livejournal.com]

Have you googled "Mercy Kincaid"? If nothing comes up, I'd say you're in the clear.

*Giggles* It sounds like things are sliding into place. Rock!

I finally got my act together and printed out the rough draft of WS. Will be sitting down with it this weekend.:) I'm actually kind of excited about this.

[purple-shoes.livejournal.com]

Personally, I love how Mercy Kincade sounds! It's one of those names that just works. It's interesting how some names stick and some can change... With my novel, I've not changed the male protagonist's name in ten years, but the female protagonist has gone through at least four name changes. I finally found one that just fits.

And it's strange how seemingly obvious questions don't occur to you until later, or until someone points them out. But to me, that does seem like a very important question, and besides the headslapping, I bet it's giving you some really interesting perspective on the world you've created!

::is excited to read your book one of these days::