What’s In A Name.
Romeo and Juliet. Pussy Galore. Hannibal Lecter. Lestat.
Names are one of our main identifiers. Obviously most of us don’t have awesome and terrifying names such as those but it’s still the first word we learn to respond to, the first thing we learn to write, it’s one of the sexiest things to hear on a lover’s lips. Life begins and ends with a name. Sometimes we love the ones we have, sometimes we hate them, sometimes we pretend we’re called something else and realise that it doesn’t fit us quite as well. Choosing a character's name is almost as hard, if not harder, than choosing your child's name. If you have a certain look and feel in mind, getting a name that fits your idea can be troublesome. Baby names books are a lifesaver.
With that in mind, we thought we’d let you in on the secrets behind the names we chose. It wasn’t just a lucky dip, and once we had the characters in mind, they started to name themselves. Very forcefully.
Our heroine had a few names before she settled into her own skin and was born as Ashling DeMorgan. Her first name alludes to how people perceive her and in Irish Gaelic means ‘dream’ or ‘vision’. She is this to her mother first, and soon becomes Connal’s dream. She is someone he can’t believe exists and is the bright point in his world, someone who creates hope for him where there was once nothing. To the wolves that want her, she’s a vision of the future, a dream for generations to come. Isn’t that swell? She doesn’t think so.
Orphaned as a young girl, Ash’s only ties to her family are her surname, one she has kept no matter where she was. Her mother’s maiden name, DeMorgan, doesn’t just connect her to her past, it tells her enemy exactly who she is. Bet she’s wishing she changed it now. DeMorgan isn’t just fancy sounding. It names her as belonging to the Morrígan, the blood of a goddess. A hot commodity in the Becoming world.
Our hero, Connal Savage, pretty much named himself. Arrogant ass. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that meant pain-in-the-butt. His name is a road sign, it’s a tag on his species and doesn’t really need much interpretation. Connal is the ‘strong wolf’ in Irish Gaelic and he wears the title well. Strong in body, strong in mind, strong in personality, he’s every bit his name. And Savage is just in his nature, so much so that the wolves he hunts fear the very sound of his moniker. Ash has less respect for his awesome ferocity and calls him whatever she pleases, Big Bad being her favourite.
MacTire is an ancient being and he has an ancient name that probably doesn’t help humble him. Ash calling him ‘McFlurry’ might, but he has a temper and she doesn’t have a death wish. A kingly name, he’s taken it to heart. MacTire literally means Son of the Countryside and is the Irish word for wolf. He is the Ultimate, named for all wolves and the word still has a strong association with lycanthropes in Irish mythology today. Oh, how a name can shape us.
This is the bit where there are so many names for one person, it’s hard narrowing it down to a few. An official title and then one for the humans.
Anann DeMorgan is a goddess. The Morrígan, to be exact and she is called 101 things. Death, Phantom Queen, Torturous Bitch, to name a few. But we don’t call her those to her face. Myth has it that Anann is her personal name. So we call her soft, squishy old human facade the less terrifying Anann (or Nan, depending who you are) and her vicious, horrifyingly beautiful goddess form The Morrígan. To avoid confusion and certain death.
If in doubt, calling her ‘Your Worship’, ‘Most High Holiness’ and other titles of utter reverence will probably save you from a good flaying.
Whatever you’re called, remember to love it. Because if you can’t afford to legally change it, you’re kind of stuck with it. Forever.
The first two books in our Becoming Series, Becoming Red and Becoming Bad, can be found on Amazon and Smashwords.
How do you fight the monster when it is inside of you?
The black lake beneath Dublin’s medieval city holds a secret. Imprisoned there for millennia, an ancient race of demi-gods have found a way to the surface and are preying on humans to feed their sexual appetites. Hunted to near-extinction, these half-men, half-beasts have been without a single female to breed a new generation. Until now.
All her life, Ashling DeMorgan feared her dreams. She kept her head buried in ancient mythology, because the real world seemed so much scarier. On returning to Dublin to settle her invalid grandmother’s affairs, Ash discovered a city plagued by the same wolf-like creatures that killed her mother. Their bite is like sexual heroin and Ash has been bitten. Now she is trapped in a waking nightmare, with the monster who ordered the death of the only man she’s ever loved. Made to doubt if she ever really knew the assassin-turned-guardian who stole her heart and gave his life for hers, Ash finds herself betrayed by her own changing body.
In a dangerous world of suspicion and divided loyalties, Ash must come to terms with what she is becoming. Worse still, her infuriatingly arrogant captor may just prove to be her most unlikely ally in what will become a life and death race for survival.
MacTire, king of a once formidable race, has lived his life in the shadow of a half-brother who took everything from him. Connal Savage seduced his mate and engineered a genocide that all but exterminated their species. Finally, he has a chance at retribution. Connal’s woman is his for the taking. But are the bonds of brotherhood so easily severed and are the ghosts of the past ever truly dead and buried, or will they come back to haunt him?
.
Becoming Red
Book One
of the Becoming Series
‘You got me back. You always said you would.’
Ash DeMorgan, graduate, orphan, ice maiden, has long since
consigned the fairytale nightmares of a troubled childhood to the realm of
fantastical childish imagination.
Now, lured back to Dublin, the scene of her tragic past, Ash
encounters a city pulsing under the dangerous sexual influence of a new street
drug the locals call Rave. Nothing is as it seems. Ash is about to discover
that her nightmares are real, ancient Irish myths are larger than life and
roaming the streets of the medieval city, and she has become the prey in their
erotic hunt. A step back into her past is about to become a high adrenaline
race for survival.
Connal Savage, outcast, assassin, and living, breathing hunk
of ancient mythology, has lived a thousand years servicing a debt of revenge.
Dead inside. Until he encounters his boss’s granddaughter, an infuriating woman
who threatens to lead him to hell with all his good intentions, who manages to
chip away at the hard encrusted defences of a lifetime spent at war and burrow
herself deep into a part of him that hasn’t breathed for centuries. He is about
to discover that when it comes down to the wire, when you’re bargaining with
the Grim Reaper for the life of the one you love, you will do anything...
Book one of The Becoming series. A new voice in paranormal
fantasy and romance.
Becoming Bad
Book Two
of the Becoming Series
How do you fight the monster when it is inside of you?
The black lake beneath Dublin’s medieval city holds a
secret. Imprisoned there for millennia, an ancient race of demi-gods have found
a way to the surface and are preying on humans to feed their sexual appetites.
Hunted to near-extinction, these half-men, half-beasts have been without a
single female to breed a new generation. Until now.
All her life, Ashling DeMorgan feared her dreams. She kept
her head buried in ancient mythology, because the real world seemed so much
scarier. On returning to Dublin to settle her invalid grandmother’s affairs,
Ash discovered a city plagued by the same wolf-like creatures that killed her
mother. Their bite is like sexual heroin and Ash has been bitten. Now she is
trapped in a waking nightmare, with the monster who ordered the death of the
only man she’s ever loved. Made to doubt if she ever really knew the
assassin-turned-guardian who stole her heart and gave his life for hers, Ash
finds herself betrayed by her own changing body.
In a dangerous world of suspicion and divided loyalties, Ash
must come to terms with what she is becoming. Worse still, her infuriatingly
arrogant captor may just prove to be her most unlikely ally in what will become
a life and death race for survival.
MacTire, king of a once formidable race, has lived his life
in the shadow of a half-brother who took everything from him. Connal Savage
seduced his mate and engineered a genocide that all but exterminated their
species. Finally, he has a chance at retribution. Connal’s woman is his for the
taking. But are the bonds of brotherhood so easily severed and are the ghosts
of the past ever truly dead and buried, or will they come back to haunt him?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
The writing duo of Jess and Paula met online through their
mutual love of paranormal and urban fantasy romance. They sparked creatively
and have been writing together for the past three years. Paula lives in Dublin,
Ireland with her family. She set aside a career in medicine to raise her three
children. Jess lives in Manchester, England with her mother and dog, Simi. When
she isn’t writing up worlds with Paula, she’s a wedding planner for a large
retail store.
Awesome giveaway! Can't wait to read them. Thank you for the chance! :-)
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