A reviewer recently criticized the name I chose for the Dragon King of Pendor...King Sam, short for Sam Fendrake, formerly Samogvelorix, a huge red dragon, who in turn used to be Samog of the House of Velorix, son of a powerful wizard in the Kingdom of Tula. Thousands of years later, after the glaciers came and retreated, Samog regained his human form when a blacksmith's daughter told him she loved him for saving her father. He then took the name Sam Fendrake and married the blacksmith's daughter. All this is detailed in my book "Origin of the Dragon King" which I am writing now.
Sam is as good a name for a king as any other, isn't it? I don't think anyone would confuse him with King Samuel of Old Testament fame, although they do share several traits, wisdom being one of them.
I try to choose the name of each of my characters carefully, not wanting to detract from my reader's enjoyment of the tales I spin. Given that the world I created draws on Celtic and Norse mythology and traditions, some of the names reflect these sources. For example, in Kuhlain's Quest, my first book, I introduce a volva, or seeress whose name is Brigdsuil. Can you guess how I arrived at that particular name?
Writing my stories is immensely satisfying and I derive great pleasure from the process. I hope that my choice of names for my characters does not put people off from reading my books.
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