October 10th is the birthday of that great jazz pianist, THELONIOUS MONK . Here's an image of his fabulous portrait, via the Smithsoni...

I think long and hard about a character's name. I've even changed a name or two when it wasn't working and suddenly the true nat...

One of my favorite things to do is nerd out about books. I'm always proud to be featured on the NerdyBookClub blog.  CLICK HERE for ...

Are you following Dorian Cirrone's blog ? If not, you should be.  Amazing writing craft tips. Great recent post, especially the par...

I've met so many kids this year and have considered borrowing so many of their names. I tell them about my Name Notebook and warn them...

You know how much I love collecting names, right? I tell the kids at my School Visits that I have an entire notebook filled with potential...

Looking for a name? Turns out naming a child (or a book character!) after a place is nothing new. http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n...

Sorry if I seem to obsess over the Name Thing. But I LOVE what Liesl Shurtliff says in her Author's Note to one of my most favorite, fu...

  Here I am again, worrying over a character's name.  I can't seem to get passed needing just the right name, so I was glad to ...

1965? Hand jive? Man, could we dance. (Or not.) Okay, now that you're inspired- I usually don't have trouble coming up with a ...

You'd have to be living in a newspaper/computer/TV-less world this week not to have seen the recent story about the most popular baby na...

For obvious reasons, names fascinate me. (I've been asked more than once if my own name is a pseudonym...) You never know when you'l...

Choosing names is a lot more fun than picking a title. Early on I learned from the best. My friend and critique buddy, Leslie Guccione, guid...