Last week I shared how waiting for the release of my new book, The Reluctant Billionaire, is similar to the process of expecting a new baby. And like any new baby, my book needed a name. It was a challenge to come up with the title.

There is more to a book than the title, though. There are also character names to come up with. Not just the hero and heroine, but all of the characters, from those that get mentioned once to the names of their close friends and family.

There are around 300 descendants of my paternal grandparents. My dad was one of 12 brothers and sisters who had more than 40 children among them. Their children (my generation) had children, and so forth. The family continues to grow each year as more marriages and babies are added.

My husband is from a large family, also. When we were naming our babies, we had to take all of our relatives’ names into consideration. We didn’t want to use a name that belonged to another family member. There weren’t as many in my dad’s family back then, but it was still difficult.

Also, a lot of my friends were having babies at the same time I was and I didn’t want to use any of their favorites.

It’s no wonder, then, that the task of naming our children was a challenge.

The same is true of every story I write.

When naming characters, I take into consideration all 300 of my dad’s family, along with my relatives on my mom’s side, my husband’s family members, plus friends and even acquaintances. I don’t mind using a name that I’m familiar with, but I want to make sure that the characteristics don’t emulate anyone I know by that name.

A lot of thought went into naming the characters in The Reluctant Billionaire. In the original manuscript, the hero and heroine had different names. Then a couple of people appeared in my life with those very names and it didn’t feel right to use them anymore. So I started listing all the possibilities and by process of elimination, I came up with the names Liam and Jessica.

Now that I have written Liam and Jessica’s story, the names fit them exactly right.

Anna

Anna was one of two kittens who showed up with their feral mother cat one afternoon in May or June 2016. The first time we saw them, they crawled into a bucket that was tipped on its side. My daughter took a picture of them. I said, “Let’s bring them into the house and litter-train them and find them good homes.”

Well, you can picture how the story went. We brought them in and fell in love with them. We kept them in a carrier for a few days and let them out to slowly adapt to their new environment. We treated them with kid gloves: literally, we put on gloves to draw them out of the carrier so we didn’t get scratched.

Of the two, Anna was the feisty one. That’s why, a year and a half later, we knew something was wrong when she just lay around, lethargic. We took her to the vet and found out she had a condition that caused her blood to be low. She was nearly gone and the vet recommended a blood tranfusion. She was going to bring her healthy, chubby cat to the clinic as a blood donor.

Anna had been on medication, a steroid, earlier in the year for the same condition, and we decided to try the medicine again. In a short time, she started to perk up again and got out of the danger zone. She still takes the meds three days a week. I crush up the pill and add it to canned food.

Anna is the reigning queen of our house. She presides over her kingdom from beneath the dining room chair, where there is usually a coat that has fallen from where it was placed (ahem–I’m too lazy to take it to the coat rack.)

Her favorite spot used to be the chest freezer in the entry. She was friendlier there. Once we moved the chest freezer to my son’s house, she lost her throne and became a little less friendly. Just ask my brother. He used to be able to pet her when he came in, and since then has tried to bite him. She “talks” to him, though, so she still likes the attention.

She also likes to get up on the furniture and specifically, my desk. Right in between my keyboard and screen, so I can’t see what I’m typing.

Yes, Anna knows how to get our attention, but she’s a treasured part of our household.

One of the most memorable spring break vacations I’ve been on is when my older kids were four and five years old. We took them to North Carolina to visit my sister and her family, and joined them on a trip to Orlando. We went to Disneyworld and saw all of the sights there. We waited in lines, took the kids on rides, and ate the popular foods. It was exciting, but the park and the crowd were overwhelming.

At another time (not on spring break), my husband and I took the kids and went to Chicago. He’d always wanted to see the Sears Tower (as it was called at the time). I’m scared of heights, and being so far up with glass windows and small children gave me anxiety. There was much about the trip that I loved, but at the time I was really nervous and again overwhelmed.

I could go into detail about other trips we went on, like Niagara Falls,and Brockway Mountain and Lake of the Clouds in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where my anxiety kept me from enjoying myself.

You can see that crowds and high places make me nervous. That’s why I like quiet vacations on the water.

Living in Michigan, we are surrounded by the Great Lakes. I’ve seen most of them. My favorite is Lake Superior. Despite the water being cold, it is so pure that you can see the rocks on the bottom clearly.

We’ve stayed in motels along Lake Huron in both Mackinac City and St. Ignace. I enjoyed sitting on the beach there, especially in the mornings when it was quiet all around.

I’ve visited Lake Michigan many times and waded in the water close to shore.

One of my favorite places is surrounded by calm water, Mackinac Island in Michigan. I don’t mind the ferry ride to get there. I’ve gone on a bike ride around the island twice, taking in the beautiful shoreline.

Psalm 23 reads:

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters; He restores my soul… Psalm 23: 1-3a.

There is more to the Psalm than that, but those two sentences, He leads me beside the still waters; He restores my soul, are meaningful to me. I struggle with social anxiety. I’m nervous in groups of people, no matter how many are around. I have a hard time going to unfamiliar places. Sitting and looking out over still waters calms my soul.

I don’t want to let anxiety rule my life, however. I need to remember that even if I’m not sitting beside still waters, the Holy Spirit in me can bring me peace, even in the midst of a crowd.

This pandemic has made me even more isolated than I was before. Now a difficult winter is behind me and the weather is getting nicer, I’m tired of being at home.

I want to get out and go on adventures. I want to return to Mackinac Island this summer. I’d also like to take the train to Chicago and visit the Navy Pier. Will it give me anxiety? Most likely. Will it be worth the effort? Most definitely.

My daughter has taken the train to Chicago and Ubered around downtown for a conference. I’d like to take her with me, because she’s already been there and will know her way around. I want to trust that even in a crowded city, my soul will remain calm.

Do you have an adventure you’d like to go on this spring or summer?

THE RELUCTANT BILLIONAIRE

will be released on April 13!

I’m so thrilled to share this book with you!

Coming soon: a cover reveal and preorder link.