I need advice. I wrote the start of a very short story that takes place in a remote region of the world in the near future. I worry that the names I used don’t reveal enough about the characters. Anyone have opinions on the names I used for these folks?
Here goes…
The gathering promised to be full of tension, as the ambassadors have never been of the agreeable type. Their world has never been known for its acceptance of other cultures. Each political district has tried for years to claim the disputed territories, and their ambassadors could be ruthless negotiators.
Perhaps the most aggressive was the team from the district formed in the remote regions of the Ural Mountains. Adnoh Drocca and Drof Sucof, each renowned for their clever negotiating skills, but as a pair, they were virtually unbeatable. Their eastern neighbors had a nearly comparable team in Amitla and Eugor Nassin, brother and sister, born in the border area they were fighting so hard to retain. Their tactics were more sly than the sometimes deceptive techniques of Drocca and Sucof.
Finally, the district to the south laid claim to the delta area where they demanded mining rights. Rota Givan and Odar Evlis usually resorted to alcohol to soften their opponents, waiting patiently to catch them at their most vulnerable moments, and seize the opportunity as had worked for them in earlier negotiations.
Comments welcomed!
Michael Crowl - Author 
And… So here’s the backstory… I was driving to work yesterday, and as it does, traffic sucked. I started noticing that if I read the car names backwards, they sounded like Klingon War Lords. I usually give the drivers imaginary names to pass the time, but yesterday… a whole new Chapter. Sorry about that. You know me. Just having a little fun!
Adnoh Drocca = Honda Accord
Drof Sucof = Ford Focus
Amitla and Eugor Nassin = Nissan Altima and Nissan Rogue
Rota Givan = Navigator
Odar Evlis = Silverado
So ummm… yeah. 🤣
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I think if these characters are from Earth in the near future, you could investigate the names of people that actually live in that remote region and use combinations of the first and last names so they’re not actually real people. To me, those names you used seemed confusing to pronounce and would be difficult to remember. The characters should have names that are easy to say and remember 🙂
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Mike, since you are up in the Urals, you could use names like “Samoyedov” (which literally means ‘cannibal’), and a derivative of that “Chompski” (sorry). Anyway, the Samoyed people are native to the Urals, and they have a cool name.
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So I shouldn’t have used the make and model of cars written backwards? Just having a little fun…. Bwahaha! (Although I DO like Adnoh Drocca, aka Honda Accord)
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I think the names are too different, too difficult. I liked the one close to Elvis. Make them close to names we can understand.
Maybe something like Hogan Malicon or Yaseeme Blodrick.
Jo
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