All
about Names
Hi everyone, thanks for letting me take
over this blog today to talk about my new book.
Now, I suspect your first thought when
seeing the title of this blog post is that I’m talking about the title of my
book or one of the main characters.
Well, you would be wrong. In fact
I’m talking about the name of a little creature I included in my story during
one of the rounds of edits and rather late in the day.
As always when I’m editing a story I like
to take on board the advice of my editors and work with them as best I
can. During the editing process for My Boyfriend’s an Alien my editor, the
lovely Sue, suggested that more description of Zak’s home world might be a good
idea. I decided to run with her
suggestion and added in extra details as she suggested.
Whilst adding to the story I decided to
include a new type of animal that is native to the alien planet. I wanted it to be a bit of cuteness and
naturally the creature needed a name. In
my infinite wisdom – she says sarcastically – I named this animal a
snuppet. What was I thinking? Word, the ever unhelpful program that it is
decided I was misspelling snippet and each time I typed the name of the animal
it ‘corrected’ it for me.
I won’t tell you all how long it took me to
notice it was doing this, but let’s just say I didn’t notice until after the
whole section had been put into the story and therefore had to go and alter
them all over again.
So, my writing tip for the day is to make
sure you don’t do what I do and pull a random made up word out of nowhere
without considering how Word will react to your typing it.
My
Boyfriend’s an Alien by L.M. Brown
Blurb
Zak, an
alien from the planet Trimmeron, is a member of a race of beings who transform
into other species during their years of puberty. It’s customary for the
youngsters to be fostered to the worlds native to their new forms, to study and
learn about the races who will play an important part in their lives.
When Zak
turns into a human, it comes as a surprise to everyone, for only one other
before him has ever done so. Nevertheless he is sent to Earth, a world he views
as primitive and barbaric. He arrives with a chip on his shoulder and attitude
to spare. He does not believe that anyone on Earth could have anything to teach
him.
When Zak
meets college student Sam he soon discovers he has a lot to learn, not only
about humans, but also about himself.
Trapped
on an unfamiliar world and in a strange body that seems to have a mind of its
own, Zak has no idea what is happening to him—only
that Sam seems to be the key to the strange afflictions he is suffering
from.
But can
an alien find love with a human being?
Excerpt
The gardens
were well tended and even the flowers were in orderly lines. Insects more than
twice as large as those on Earth hovered over the plants. Other animals looked
at them curiously as they approached. One rather friendly creature bounded up
to Sam’s mother on six legs and ran around her at a speed to rival a spaceship.
“Is it
friendly?” Mrs Palmer asked as she hesitated to pet it.
Zak looked
back over his shoulder. “Sure, he’s just looking to see if you have any treats.
They’re kind of like our version of dogs.” He reached into one of the gardens
and broke something off of one of the plants.
“Isn’t that
stealing?” Sam asked.
“No, the
crops in the front gardens are for anyone to help themselves. The ones in the
back are for the residents alone.”
“That’s very
generous.”
“It’s easy to
be so when we have more than enough for everyone.” He crouched down and held
out the yellow berries to the animal. Sensing the food, the animal came to him
immediately and slowed down enough for Sam and his mother to see it properly.
With long fur all over its body, it bore more resemblance to a mop than a dog.
Sitting on its back two legs, it used the front two to take the berries from
Zak and the middle two to beg for more.
Sam picked a
couple of berries for himself and his mother to feed to the animal, but before
they could give them to it, a second one arrived to beg too.
“That’s the
only problem with snuppets,” Zak said. “They’re greedy as hell and can sense a
soft touch a mile away.”
“They’re so
cute. Where are their owners?”
“They don’t
have them. They hate being indoors so generally run wild. We’d better give them
the berries and get moving or we’ll end up here all day.”
Sam passed a
couple of berries to his mother and they fed and petted the snuppets. The
animals followed after them for several minutes, clearly hoping for more
treats, until they realised there was nothing else on offer and scurried off to
beg from the next passer-by.
Available from Totally Bound
Bio
L.M. Brown lives in England, in a quaint little
village that time doesn't seem to have touched. No, wait a minute—that's the
retirement biography. Right now she is in England in a medium sized town that
no one has ever heard of, so she won't bore you with the details. Keeping her
company are numerous sexy men. She just wishes that they weren't all inside her
head.
L.M. Brown loves hearing from readers so don't be
shy.
Links
Where to find L.M. Brown
Website – http://lmbrownauthor.wordpress.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/L.M.Brown.author
Twitter - @LMBrownAuthor
