What's in a Name?

'The Meridian Trilogy' is one week away from being complete — 'Crown Ascendant' joins bookshelves on Tuesday, June 30, 2026! In anticipation of this full-circle moment, I invite you to … Pre-order a signed hardcover from my website (or, if you don't care about signatures, from Barnes & Noble or Bookshop) Join me on June 30 at The Book Tavern in Augusta, Georgia, for the official release party at 6 p.m.! This event features three fellow fantasy authors, snacks and drinks, an author panel, and a live reading. Costumes are encouraged! Keep reading this issue for some fun facts about where I got various character and location names from! The hardcover edition. If you've read my books and been curious where I got such-and-such's name from, this Substack issue is for you. If you know me in real life, you might find some of these sources of inspiration to be a bit familiar … Bridgette's last name, Conner, was straight-up pulled from the 'Terminator' franchise and how badass Sarah Connor is. I changed the ending vowel so it wouldn't be as obvious! 'Bridgette' is spelled that way for a couple reasons. I wanted a name that felt familiar for American readers, as those would likely be my primary readership, but 'Bridget' wasn't fanciful enough. When I was young, I had a good friend whose mom was named Brigitte, which I thought was just so pretty! I combined elements of that spelling with the normal 'Bridget' to get 'Bridgette'. Emi-Joye is named after a girl I knew when I was in third grade. Her name was Emily Joye, and she was tall, blonde, and really cool. I have no idea what happened to her after that one year she babysat for my brother and I during bus duty, but she was so kind to me as the new kid on the block at Riverside Elementary School. Vetur, by the way, is Icelandic for 'ice'. Trystane is named after my incredible yarn dyeing and knitwear designing friend Trysten Molina of Dragon Hoard Yarn. Aurelias' name comes from a faculty member who worked alongside my mom, Mrs. Aurelia Epperson. She is now a member of 'The Meridian Trilogy' fandom! This isn't a name, but Bryten has been a character in my head since the high school days of fleshing out what became 'The Meridian Trilogy'. I didn't know what to call him back then, but I knew he would look like the Spanish singer David Bisbal, except with horns, and would be shorter and stockier. And metallic gold, of course, a color choice I went with based on the 'Bulería' video I was obsessed with at age 15. Bryten is one of the characters whose art I can't wait to draw, since I've always had such a clear picture of him! Herewosa Donnachaidh never gets a surname, but his first name is sort of a surname. Donnachaidh is the Scottish clan that my family name falls into. MxMillian was a nameless character for more than a decade. His name is inspired by a sorority sister of mine whose last name is McMillian. Oleandra Pappas is the name of the aeris, or commander, of the Fairy Mîleta. This is a winged fighting force that uses arrows and spears as its primary weaponry. Because Heáhwolcen is multicultural with magical beings hailing from all over Earth, I try to incorporate names that evoke different ethnicities and heritages. I had not yet had a character who was explicitly Greek — Aristoces' name is Greek-inspired, but she is not — so I decided Oleandra would be. She shares a surname with my aunt Pam, whose Greek maiden name is Pappas, and whose family is heavily involved in the Augusta Greek Festival every year. Ironically, Aunt Pam now owns an aerial fleet of her own, Bravo Air private charters. Chalamet is Chalamet because when I originally wrote that character into 'Triumvirate Rising', I needed put something on the page. My brain was blank, but I had been seeing a lot of advertisements for 'Dune' and its cast. I typed 'Chalamet' into my blank space for her name and never thought of anything better, so it stuck. Dagmar, one of the human delegates to the Antarctic, is named after my favorite Atlanta news station meteorologist. Noah Irwin is the human delegate to Antarctica who represents Australia. If I tell y'all that I grew up watching 'Crocodile Hunter', would you be able to guess where his surname comes from? The late King Hermann is named after my great-uncle Herman. For Lucilla, I wanted a name that sounded uppity and very stereotypical blonde mean girl. It's a combination of 'Priscilla' and 'Lucile'. Naomi originally was going to be more of an on-page character. In some very early drafts of the trilogy, her story was supposed to be an entire book! She is named after the late country singer Naomi Judd, whose music I grew up listening to. The last name 'Ifans' is a Welsh name from which the English surname 'Evans' is believed to have been derived. I chose it because Evans is the surname of someone very important to me, who wound up inspiring almost the entirety of Sheridan's storyline in books two and three. Thorhallsson, commander of the Unicorn calvary, got his name while I watched a soccer match between Atlanta United and Orlando City. Orlando has a player with that name, and it sounded so broad and masculine that I knew it needed to go in the books somewhere. Fincher is named after my fellow butcher and one of my best friends, Donovan Fincher. Some of the scenes between him and Bridgette are inspired by our interactions in our real-life butchery! Paxson's name is kind of an inside joke between my brother and me. We used to beg our parents to take us to the PacSun store at Augusta Mall! The names for Serrabinx and Toby are some of my favorites. Serrabinx is named after another sorority sister of mine, Sara Spinks Hand, who dressed up once during a recruitment week event as a black cat. I called her 'Sara Binx' for the remainder of our college time together as a result. Toby — Tobias — is named after the main character in the 'Animorphs' book series, which was instrumental in my introduction to fantasy and sci-fi literature as a kid. Loch Liath is named for my friend John, who in a period of existential crisis after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic almost changed his name to Liath. I pulled the name for Maluridae Wood from the Latin name for the family into which Fairywrens are classified! Eulalia, a very minor Elven character, is named for my friend Lynsey's family member. She submitted the name in an open request I put out asking for fantasy-sounding names, and I couldn't get that one out of my head. I got Sixsi's first name by doing a play on Siouxsie Sioux! Hologrimoire is named for my hair salon, Hologram Salon, in Athens, Georgia. Sixsi also installs bronze strands into a certain character's hair in book two, just like my stylists do there for mine! Why is Artur, Heáhwolcen's founder, given the last name Cromwell? You'll have to read the prequel for the full canon, but from an author perspective, I picked it because I started writing what will be the prequel about the time 'Halloweentown' debuted on Disney Channel. The Cromwells are a very powerful magical family in that movie series. 'Wait,' you say. 'Prequel? What prequel?' I suppose you'll have to stay subscribed to find out …