Discovering Character Names, Persunalities* & Other Delicious Details

What an incredible experience to see characters come to life in a story, especially as their

names and personalities develop.

When I first began writing ‘The Woman Who Forgot Who She Was’ I focused on my

grandchildren’s names because I wanted to memorialize these precious children all time in a

story. Avery Victoria Spencer was an easy choice. I wasn’t even thinking about how stunning a last name like Spencer would play out. Princess Diana was not on my mind-just my

grandchildren. Over time, tha fictitious Spencer family would work its way into my writing, but not for years.

(Nor was I thinking that such a name could also spell “A Very Victorias Pen Sir”!)

My character, Avery, suffers from dissociative amnesia due to a major life trauma. She doesn’t recall her husband, George Robert Logan, but I will never forget the day I arbitrarily typed the

name ‘Logan’ into my computer and discovered an old Scottish family line with a past that was perfect for a work of fiction. Lords and ladies, castles, King James VI of Scotland (also James I of England), even an unsolved mystery! Check out ‘The Gowrie Conspiracy’ on-line if you want to know more or wait for me to write a possible Volume Six. (I’d check on-line if I were you and if you want to know more right now). What’s in a name? A more exciting journey than I had ever imagined!

Tom and I traveled to visit places that now discovered, influenced my book plots. Places like

Rosslyn Chapel, museums in Edinburgh, London, and others, rich with details about tha 17th century. We even found Fast Castle (not much left) on the shores of the North Sea, which was

the ‘home’ of an unsavory character who (perhaps) got the Logans involved with the Gowrie

plot to (supposedly) kidnap King James. It ruined tha Logan family’s good name, at least for a while. When one writes fiction, anything is possible!

Remember, Book One is now available as an e-book or paperback on amazon. Check it out and I will cherish any review you are willing to write.

Bye for now.

*Probst likes to write in what she calls ‘WEnglish’, an inclusive form of English that respects all genders. More at vivianprobst.com/WEnglish

Vivian Probst is an award-winning author. Her latest work, ‘The Woman Who Forgot Who She Was’ is a five-book series (so far). Book One: Dissolving Her Despair is available as a Kindle’® e-book and as a paperback book on Amazon. Book Two: ‘Waking From Her Weariness’ is expected to be released by April 15th. Probst is writing each book in both English and WEnglish™, her linguistic attempt to make English more gender inclusive for all. More at vivianprobst.com

Getting to Know Amazon

February 21, 2020

“Getting to know you…getting to know all about you…getting to like you…”

That song comes from ‘The King and I’, an old, old movie starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. It’s a great movie about a missionary (Kerr) and her son going to Siam (now Burma) and teaching the King’s children. Love the dresses Kerr wore!

These days, I’m getting to know Amazon because that’s where my book life is focusing. Whew! It’s a foreign country to me. Yes, Amazon is only one resource for book marketing; yet it’s huge and I want to get my books out. I used to fear it as if it was a monster.

Anything we fear tends to take on an image of something overwhelming and unconquerable—a mountain; a monster. I’ve learned to watch for these types of feelings; I now know that indicate I’m ready to grow (up).

How I’m conquering my mountain/monster:

#1: Acquainting myself with others who already know it.

I have several friends who know much more about Amazon and other large enterprises than I do. Finding these wonderful people has either a) taken some of the work of getting to know the mountain/monster off me or b) shown me SHORCUTS--the quickest ways in or around it. For me, anyone under the age of 25 works. Then there’s always GOOGLE.

#2: Getting to know my mountains/monsters.

I’ve had to put my resistance away; my weapons (excuses) of why I don’t want to face Amazon. Would I like it if Amazon weren’t such a behemoth? Yes. Am I going to change that? No. Am I going to ignore it? No. Why?

#3: Knowing WHY is my biggest motivator. My latest book, ‘Dissolving Her Despair’, Book One in a five-volume series, ‘The Woman Who Forgot Who She Was’ is a story I was given as I faced a big problem in my life and I couldn’t rise above my own despair. That story so enriched my life that I want to uplift others. My books are always intended for that purpose. It’s my mission; my passion and I can’t let something stand in my way just because it’s unfamiliar and HUGE. NO WAY.

Vivian Probst is an award-winning author. Her latest work, ‘The Woman Who Forgot Who She Was’ is a five-book series. Book One: Dissolving Her Despair is available as a Kindle’® e-book and as a paperback book on Amazon. Book Two: ‘Waking From Her Weariness’ is expected to be released by April 15th. Probst is writing each book in both English and WEnglish™, her linguistic attempt to make English more gender inclusive. More at vivianprobst.com