A Mouse With Two Names

There were cartoon names like Bernard from The Rescuers Down Under and Stuart of the Littles. Fitting literary suggestions like Heathcliff, Clive (for the C in C.S. Lewis), Sawyer, Gatsby. Names from my novel-in-progress (how did you know?), which were Hank and Emerson, and then Samuel, a name I always wanted for a boy of my own (didn't have, probably won't, maybe a dog someday?).

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Go here to see them all.

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Well, it's official, and so now it's time to (re)introduce you to . . .
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TIMOTHY PIP!

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Mason Canyon said:

The name that popped in my head was Timothy. He would never be called Timmy or Tim, always Timothy. He would need his spectacles only for reading and the pipe would be filled with a cherry-flavored tobacco. He should also have a pocket watch with a chain so he can let you know when you've worked too long.

Also, Marie said (on Facebook):

Hmmmm... How 'bout Pip(squeak)? And I think he's British, by the way... He needs a tall dapper hat to go with his wee pair of spectacles, and he's an old soul. He's great with words, and writing poetry on rainy days. [Janna adds here: Plus, Pip is a character from Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, so there's that literary tie-in. COOL BONUS.]

 How can you beat a name with all that personality? I adore it.

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Thank you, girls! Mason, if you'd send your address to jannawritesATyahooDOTcom, I'll get your gift in the mail soon. Marie, I'll buy you lunch or somethin', okay? (Marie is a dear friend of mine.)
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And thanks to everyone who participated or followed along. I had fun! I hope you did, too.

Help Rename My Mousey Muse!

He's from Starbucks.

This is Huxley. He's "The Mouse Writer." He's sort of posh in appearance, and debonair in presentation. I want to get a tiny pipe, a wee pair of spectacles, or maybe a teeny C.S. Lewis book, and put it in his vest pocket there.

"This might surprise you," he says (on the small card that accompanied him), "but I write stories with my tail. It just takes a bit of ink and some imagination, really."

He sits by my desk, and I see him everyday. He smiles at me, with encouragement, and has the warmest eyes. I'm not convinced the name Huxley fits him, though. I'd like Shane or Phillip or Bim or something like that, I think. Refined but not pretentious.

Want to help me decide what it should be?

It just takes some imagination, really.

Leave your idea(s) in the comment section of this post. By end-of-day this Sunday (02/13/11) I'll pick the suggestion I like most, and we'll have a winner--and a new mousey moniker!

If yours is the name I choose, you'll get a gift from me, as yet to be determined, and which will be (sorta) personalized to the best of my ability.

What name would you like him to have?

What's In a Name?

Last night it occured to me, I don't know why, that not everyone may know how my name is pronounced. And I'd like to think it's pertinent, should I one day be published.

Both my first and last names are pretty easy, I've always thought, though I've had awhile to get used to them. Especially my first...

I've been called John-uh. Jane-uh. And even Yawna. But it's just plain ol' Jan-uh. Like Jana, just not as naked. It's Scandinavian, which I bet my parents didn't know when they picked it. Story has it (at least at one point, I'll have to ask if it was a fib), I was to be named Valerie until some friends of my parents "took" it for their newborn. So in looking for a new moniker they stumbled upon Jan, whom my big sister liked from the Brady Bunch, but gave it a twist. I'm glad they did, because I sure don't look like a Jan. Janna (even with my spelling variation) is the female form of John, which means "God is gracious." Indeed He is. And I think that's pretty cool.

My last name, Qualman, is a bit trickier. It's German and, though misterwrites may be pulling my finger, I'm told it means Dungeonmaster. Neat, eh? Even if not, there aren't too many around whose name starts with that funny lookin' Q... Many struggle over pronunciation, but it's easy - there's no bird, no quail. It's pronounced Kwallman, simply put.

Nicetameetcha.

What about you? Do people mess up your name? And is there any special meaning behind your moniker?