by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Over the holidays, I showed the first scene of the novel I’m working on to some relatives. They gave me generally positive comments and we’re generous and supportive, but here are the comments that caught my attention.
‘Funny’ names
One relative said my names were too weird and that took them out of reading the novel. I validate that, but one man’s “funny names” are another person’s “interesting names.”
“Nuk”
I use “Nuk” as the nickname for a character and one reader didn’t like that because it reminded them of a baby’s nuk. I don’t quit know what to do about that one. I don’t think it’s bad to use “Nuk” per se, but…I may have to think about that some. No one else has mentioned that as a problem
Terminology
I have a very specific — and mildly humorous — term for my androids or synths that I use an one reader wanted the origin of that terminology expressed spell out. I think in the context of marketing that that won’t be a problem, but just to be sure, I stuck a sentence in that explained the nomenclature.
