Pronouncing the names in "Moonlight and Magick"...

I think my biggest fan has got to be my mother.

It's funny how much she tells people about my book. She carries her e-reader around to show people my book, a copy of my cover art, and she's gotten people to buy my book, while at work, even.

This morning, she had to call me to tell me her favorite waitress at the restaurant where they eat breakfast finally read my book. The waitress gushed about how much she loved the novel, how she could not stop reading until the very end. Even was still at the computer when her husband got home and his first words in the door were, "STILL reading?"

She wanted to let me know that the only thing she had trouble with in the story was pronouncing the names of some of the characters.

I hemmed and hawed about using the names I did. I knew that using unfamiliar or too exotic sounding names might jar some readers from the story. However, there was no way I could name a Sidhe "Fred" or "John".

I did have some reservations in using the names I did, but in the end, I went with the integrity of the story. They're Sidhe, I had to use names that were "ethnically correct" for the people involved.

The biggest culprits were:

Ulwe - Ul-way

Amras - Am-ross

Calawe - Cal-uh-way

Talis - Tal-iss


If there are any others you had a question on, let me know! I'd be more than happy to break it down for you.