Hi everyone! I am very excited to welcome author Clare London to Joyfully Jay! Clare is here today to talk to us about her new release, Freeman. She has also brought a copy to give away to one lucky reader. So please give a big welcome to Clare!
WHY FREEMAN? By Clare London
As a title for the book, the easy answer would be that it was a working title that stuck. Have you ever found that to be the case? A title isn’t immediately obvious when you start writing, so you decide to file the work in progress as “book XXX”, “FinishByXmasOrElse”, “The Mystery One”, or just “That B****y Book”. Then, as time goes by and the novel takes shape, the working title can’t be shaken off.
And for the character himself? The same thing happened with him. I can’t even remember where I got his name from, but one day it was there, and it stayed. Determinedly. Relentlessly. Doggedly. Dear me, that’s just like Freeman himself!
And why only one name? No one ever mentions Freeman’s first name in the book, not even the man himself. Maybe it’s like Inspector Morse, who doesn’t reveal his first name until the end of the series. Or like many a star in the public eye who’s known only as a single name. Is that behaviour kitsch? Coy? Paranoid? There are probably a variety of reasons for it, and to be honest, I can’t presume to know Freeman’s motivation.
He just is.
Names of books and characters are important to me. Sometimes the names declare themselves very firmly to me, right from the start. Even if I try to change them later on, it just won’t work!
And sometimes I have to seek for a while to find the right names. For a book, I’ll often look for inspiration in a poem or a popular saying. For a character, I’ll search lists of baby names of all ethnicities and sources, looking for the right sound and meaning. For example, Maen in Branded came from the Welsh word for “rock”, because that’s what he is to Dax and the other soldiers under his command. Niall in 72 hours means “champion”: Red in Flying Colors (out in Oct) is really called Richard, meaning “powerful leader”. I like to play with the names, you can see!
And yes, you’ll have guessed already I expect – Freeman was a prime example of the first situation.
What do you think about names? Do you like seeing new ones? Do they turn you on or off in a book? And will you forgive Freeman for being so taciturn about his own?
Thanks for visiting today!
Clare
Clare London … Writing Man to Man
Website / blog / facebook / twitter / goodreads
Excerpt
“Why the fuck have you only got one name?” Kit grumbled, his only greeting as I opened the door today. “Just says Freeman on your postbox. Some old guy in a purple shirt and tie wanted to know who I was delivering to.”
“What did you tell him?” I was interested to know how Kit might have spoken to the old guy who was actually a retired member of the House of Lords.
Kit shrugged. His hair was loose around his neck and his eyes were moist from the fresh air outside. His grin was infectious. “Told him I didn’t give a shit if Freeman was the name of a company, a professional wrestler, or a branch of Amnesty International, so long as I got a signature. Didn’t bother me again.”
I grinned back. I’d had my morning shower half an hour ago, though I was still walking around bare-chested and barefoot in nothing but my sweatpants. I padded back to the kitchen to start breakfast, Kit following me. I could feel his gaze on some unidentified point between my shoulders.
“So why just the one name?”
“You’re just Kit,” I replied calmly.
He grimaced. “That’s different.” I’ve got something to hide, is what he meant. A real name…a history.
I let it pass. We went into the living room and he flung himself down on the couch, the cushions bouncing underneath him. He tossed his baseball cap carelessly onto the arm.
“Eggs?” I asked, moving around behind the kitchen counter, fetching out a pan. “I’ve got plenty. You like them with bacon, I know that.”
“And I know fuck all about you,” he said softly.
I glanced over. He was staring at my half-clothed body, and his eyes flickered quickly and guiltily up from my torso. I grabbed a clean T-shirt from a pile of laundry on the counter and tugged it on. I smiled slowly. “There’s no mystery. I’m just a businessman.”
Kit stared for a while longer. I could feel his eyes on me while I broke eggs into the pan and the oil fizzled noisily into the silence. “No mystery, right. A businessman who lives in a fucking expensive flat, on his own, with some weird neighbours. With no sign of what that business actually is. A man who drinks too much coffee and works out of an alley behind the high street. A man who’s young and pretty fit, but who watches strange films and listens to old music.”
I grinned. “That’s me,” I replied. There’d been a time when science fiction filled the cinemas and soul music wasn’t classified as old, of course. And I’d pass quickly on the comments about my looks. “You want to listen to some of that old music while you eat?” I lifted the eggs onto plates for us both, piling toast and bacon up beside them.
Distracted, he stirred and yawned. His eyes lit up at the sight of the food. “Sure, whatever. You got ketchup?”
That’s how he was. How we were.
Available at Wilde City Press
(http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-mainstream/freeman/#.UfEBqp1wZ-U)
Blurb
Freeman’s return to the city is quiet, without fuss. Another client: another case. He’ll source what they need and be on his way. But he’s been missed by more people than he thought: his ex-wife, his ex-lover, and his ex-business partner. And at least one of them wants him the hell gone again.
Freeman – private, controlled – just does his job. But when he strikes up an unusual friendship with the young runaway Kit, trouble comes looking for both men, ready to expose secrets that can destroy their fragile trust. Yet, for Kit, Freeman’s more than ready for the challenge.
Giveaway
Clare is offering up a copy of Freeman to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest closes on Thursday, September 5th at 11:59 pm EST.
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Nice excerpt! Thank you for the chance!
Kassandra
sionedkla@gmail.com
Thanks for the excerpt and the chance to win!
Count me in too
Looks interesting. Please enter me in the drawing.
Great excerpt – I’d love to be in with a chance to win.
Names are funny things – I think Freeman is a great name, I like that it’s different but still cool. It’s not been done a million times or is too strange to put you off the book. Like that you get your inspiration from so many different places.
I love coming across unusual names, or names that just fit, regardless of whether they’re classics or something brand new. This post also reminded me of one of my favorite characters whose first name is also a mystery: Lieutenant Columbo. Just one more thing?
😀
Please count me in, thank you.
Yes, do like those ultra mysterious one name heroes!
Great excerpt! Thanks for the chance to win =)
As long as the name suits the character, I don’t feel strongly either way. Unusual can be good, as long as it’s not overdone; I was really distracted reading Chad Harbach’s THE ART OF FIELDING because there were just too many odd names (I’m sure it was some sort of veiled Melville reference, but still)…
Please count me in. Thanks.
Having grown up with a name that was not common when I was a kid (even though it’s altogether too common now) names have always been a big deal to me as well. Thank you for the excerpt and the giveaway!
I kind of laughed when I hit the excerpt after reading the essay. Very on-the-nose, in a good way. But I also liked what I read enough to comment and to hope I win. ^_^
Thank you!
love, lore
Please include me too. Thanks!
I like unusual names but not so unusual or madeup that I stumble over pronunciation. If my reading rhythm gets thrown off too much I have been known to give up and toss it in the corner. Freeman sounds like a good read that would not end in the corner.
Please count me in. Thanks!
Please count me in. Thank you!
I like the Freeman name. Great excerpt.
Thanks for the giveaway. Please count me in.
oooooh…I like the sound of this! Count me in please. Thanks
To be totally honest, I don’t particularly like the name Freeman *shrugs*
Please count me in anyway 🙂
penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com
Count me in. Thanks.
Well, I’m a fan of Martin Freeman, so it has happy connotations for me. I don’t mind the unusual names, but sometimes it does get a bit ridiculous, kind of like soap opera names. I would love to see a chart on names, how popular they are in entertainment compared to how popular they are in real life.
Thanks for sharing with us, Clare!
Many thanks to you all for dropping in! I think there may be opportunities for future blog posts on name-dropping – you’ve all given me plenty of food for thought 🙂
Count me in!
tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com