It’s All in the Name

Bish Denham is here this week talking about creating characters and giving them their names. And how sometimes they name themselves.

HOWEVER...Late Sunday night, Bish emailed me that "Due to circumstances beyond my control I'm not going to have any internet connection for a few days. Don't really know how long. I'll be there when I can."

So I'll be filling in for her here until she gets reconnected. Y'all will just have to deal :)

UPDATE: Bish is here after all! YAY!!!

Here's Bish.

Thanks for letting Marvin and me visit your blog, Carol! Marvin is really digging hanging out at the Tiki Hut because it reminds him so much of the islands. (Thanks, Bish! You and Marvin are always welcome here.)

It’s All in the Name

  

People ask me where I get my ideas and how long it’s taken to get something written. Well, A Lizard’s Tail has been simmering for a long time.

It began around 1977 in the Virgin Islands while I was working for a friend who had a ceramics shop. She made souvenir ceramic mugs and other touristy things, for wholesale. I helped with pouring slip, cleaning, and glazing. One slow days we’d sit around playing with clay, making small sculptures, beads, or hand-molding bowls.

One day I “sculpted” a lizard. When it was dry, I glazed it and fired it. It came out looking quite mischievous and obviously needing a name. Another employee, who helped pack and deliver orders to the various stores, was a nice, humorous guy name Marvin.

He saw the lizard and liked it so much I decided to name it after him, to which he replied that Marvin needed a last name. Right then a wind chime tinkled. From out of the blue his full name came to me. Marvin P. Tinkleberry. What the “P” stood for I had no idea, but we all agreed the name suited my little lizard sculpture quite well.

I knew immediately that I had a character for a story.

Early notes indicate that I was thinking of making him a kind of story teller that explained things like, why hibiscuses are red or why lizards do push-ups. But none of those ideas felt right.

And so Marvin slumbered. Later notes talk about him being vain and full of himself. I was getting closer. Then, about ten years ago, the actually idea for a story came to me. Marvin had to have conflict, what greater conflict could he have than dealing with a dangerous feral cat?

Thus, A Lizard’s Tale began to take shape. I wrote the first rough draft in short order. It was the revising and rewriting that took a long time. I did it in bits and pieces, in fits and starts, because for me, revising is the hard, boring part, though I’m getting better at it.

After I self-published Anansi and Company, I was determined to put Marvin out there too. And now, here he is in all his glory, a vain, young lizard who believes he has a destiny.

What, you may ask, does the “P” stand for? Well, you’ll have to read the story to find out.

A Lizard's Tail

by Bish Denham

From the moment he hatches, Marvin P. Tinkleberry knows he is destined for greatness. For one, he has a marvelous, well-groomed tail. For another he can puff out his throat pouch in the most spectacular way. Maybe the other lizards in his colony don't take him seriously, but he knows the truth. It lives in the marrow of his bones; he's going to be a hero.

When a feral cat threatens the lives of all who live at Stone Wall in the Garden by the Sea, Marvin knows it's HIS destiny to get rid of the fearsome beast. Travelling Over the Hill to find help should be as easy as snapping up a sleeping moth. But it doesn't take long for Marvin to see that the world beyond Stone Wall is not the same as his pampered life back at the garden. From the deadly Sucker Cactus Forest to deadly mongooses, danger lurks around every corner and Marvin will have to decide if he's willing to be the hero he's long bragged about being.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lizards-Tail-Bish-Denham-ebook/dp/B00OE6KHE0/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422975632&sr=1-3&keywords=bish+denham

Bish Denham was raised in the U. S. Virgin Islands. Her mother's side of the

family has lived in the Caribbean for over one hundred years and she still has plenty of family there whom she visits regularly.

She says, "Growing up in the islands was like living inside a history book. Columbus named the islands, Sir Francis Drake sailed through the area, and Alexander Hamilton was raised on St. Croix. Then there were the pirates who plied the waters. Life for me was magical, and through my writing I hope to pass on some of that magic."

Bish has known many lizards in her life. Marvin and Leeza are based on two that lived in her bedroom.

She is the author of Anansi and Company: Retold Jamaican Folk Tales which you can also find on Amazon.com.

Blog: http://bish-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BishDenham.Author

Twitter: @BishDenham

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This is the last week to enter the contest to win a copy of one of Nancy G. West's humorous mysteries about Aggie Mundeen. Click the WIN button at the top of my right sidebar, and enter for a chance to win. See http://www.carolkilgore.net/contest/ for details and information on Nancy's books. Winner will be drawn after 6 p.m. Saturday night. Good luck to all!