Earlier this year I wrote about my rules for writing fiction. Little did I know that a few months down the line I would be breaking Rule #4: Characters without the right name have no life.

That’s right, I was convinced to change the names of major characters in The Secret of Fezar. Thus, “Kinnel” and “Tasil” took a tumble along with some key concepts and other names of people and places.

The siblings are now called Yavi and Fahe. It wasn’t as easy as doing a search and replace. These were well-know, well-fleshed characters, and changing the names was almost like saying goodbye to them and reincarnating them as new people.

Yes, Tasil and Kinnel will be missed, but I feel the change is for the better. I am liking the new names, but more significantly they fit better with my world. Also, “Tasil” was not an original name, since a Tasil exists in the Shadow in Eternity series, albeit in the background (Wahid’s wife, if anyone remembers Wahid).

All these changes were the direct result of some astute feedback from my editor. It also spurred me to work on a date and time system for the world the story is based in. More on that later.

Goodbye, Kinnel and Tasil.

~PD

Thinking of getting your own website? Not a bad idea. But here’s a really good tip — when you choose your domain name, write it down and read it. Carefully. Make other people read it. Then read it yourself again.

This can’t be stressed enough: Make really you sure your URL says exactly what you think it does. If you slip up, you could end like the following sites who dashed the expectations of their visitors:

1. Penisland.com really is only selling pens.
2. Whorepresents.com has nothing to do with the world’s oldest profession.
3. Expertsexchange.com will not help with transition surgery.
4. Speedofart.com does not sell smelly swimwear.
5. Molestationnursery.com is really safer than it sounds.
6. As is Therapistfinder.com.
7. Powergenitalia.com isn’t a site about dirty superhero stories.
8. IPanywhere.com isn’t a threat.

(This list is nicked from here, who may have a few more examples.)

No, really, what does your URL say?

~PD

Writer’s Log is now running on the spanking new WordPress 3.0, codenamed “Thelonious”. The upgrade was done automatically from WP 2.9.x and it happened in the blinking of an eye. Things are running smoothly subsequently.

WP 3.0 features the integration of WordPress with WordPress MU (multi-user), a slimline dashboard, a new default theme called TwentyTen that shows off all of the new WP’s bells and whistles, and lots of nice touches.

For one, now you can choose a custom name during manual installation instead of the default “admin” and a bulk update feature lets you update multiple plugins and your WP installation at the same time. Using custom menus, backgrounds and headers is much easier now, all possible from within the Dashboard instead of having to edit files. You can also generate short links. Various other new features make is easier to use WP as a full-fledged content management system as opposed to just a blog interface.

Oh, and lest one forgets, there are over 1,200 bug fixes as well. Check out the full list of features or watch a video:

~PD