By Any Other Name

A good friend of mine recently caught the writing bug, and is writing her first novel.  She's already through her first chapter of the book from what she's told me, and all I know of the plot is that it involves a witch of some kind in a modern day setting, with some elements of 50 Shades of Grey mixed in for good measure.

(There's that book again.  I CAN'T ESCAPE IT!)

I already contributed my idea for the book's title: Which Witch Is Which?  She loved it, and if she ended up using it as the actual title, all I asked for in return was a special "thank you" in the inside cover.

I would've been a happy man if the book eventually got published just with using my idea for the title.  However, today she asked me for another favor in relation to her book.  She wanted to give her main character - a woman - a very complicated name that most people couldn't pronounce. 

My last name typically frightens most people when they see it in print for the first time.  What usually happens is a person sees it, stares at it for a few seconds, and then just asks me how to say it.  Every now and then I come across a brave soul who is willing to take a stab at it, and every once in a great while, somebody gets it right the first time around with no help from me.

The funny thing is, the only thing that's really scary about my last name is the first three letters.  It starts with "Tch," which is enough to have most people give up.  Once I tell them how to say it, they realize it's a whole lot easier to say than they originally had thought. 

So naturally, my friend contacted me to ask if I would allow my last name to be the inspiration for her character's name.

I gladly offered it up for my friend to use for her main character.  I've never had a fictitious character named after me before, and I think it's a pretty awesome honor.  I can't wait to see how it's used in the book, and I'm gonna milk this 15 minutes of pseudo fame for every ounce I can get from it.

On a semi-related note, my girlfriend and I have a running joke about my last name.  Her maiden name is O'Connor, so if we got married and she took my last name, she would most definitely be trading down.  Instead, we're going to be super progressive about this should we get married one day, and I'm going to take her last name.  I don't know if this would impact my name being used in the book at all, but at least I wouldn't have to phonetically spell my last name out to anyone who ever hears it in speech.