Shimmery writer Kate Harrad, who graced us with our first holiday story (“The Winter Tree”) in 2005, has a new short story collection for you to check out. Fausterella and Other Stories collects nine shorts, five of which are new to the volume.

Congrats, Kate!

Shimmer is looking for a new Art Director!

We publish contemporary speculative fiction with a focus on fantasy, and our publishing schedule is currently in flux–our goal is to once again come out quarterly, but the first step will be to publish biannually. Our new Art Director will need to be able to adapt to our not-yet-solid schedule and grow with us as our all-volunteer staff once again picks up steam.

We’re also looking into electronic versions of the magazine (we could come straight to your e-reader!), so any knowledge in this area is a big plus.

If you’re interested in what our current design is, check out Issue 10.

Check out the duties and requirements below–if you feel like you would be a good match for us, email editor-in-chief, Beth.

Art Director Duties:

-Review art submissions and accept or decline them. (Each issue will need a cover piece and several interior pieces.)

-Keep the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor up to date. (One of our goals is to have more visibility into this part of the process.)

-Occasionally put together ads or other marketing materials.

Requirements:

-Working knowledge of InDesign (or other layout software)

-Layout experience

-The ability to adapt to a still-in-flux publishing schedule

Emails should include any applicable experience and links to samples of previous work.

Cheers!

Big congratulations to Nicky Drayden (“You Had Me at Rarrrgg”) and Josh Storey (“Seek Him I’th’Other Place Yourself”) for their Honorable Mentions on their Shimmer #12 stories!

So you want to name a character

Naming a character can be a tricky thing. Names can be an easy way to identify a character, or to give your character some characterization without even trying.

Try this little exercise: think about a character named Bill. What does Bill look like?  What color is his hair? What color is his skin? What are his hobbies? What does he do for a living? If you asked five people this question you’d find some overlapping answers. For me, Bill works in insurance in Kansas, plays golf on Saturday mornings, and barbecues with the neighbors after the game on Sunday.

What about the name Horatio? You probably think of someone who doesn’t look like Bill, or like the same thing he likes. How about the name Oksana? Again, a different idea of someone that comes with a certain shared set of features. This is basically how stereotypes work: a belief or idea about a certain type of person based on a simple idea.

To sum this up using the old television show King of the Hill: there’s a reason his name is Hank, and not Lamar.

Going against expectations

Sometimes a character is given a certain name specifically because it plays off a stereotype. In the book Confederacy of Dunces, the absolutely absurd character has an equally absurd name: Ignatius J. Reilly. If I asked you to paint a picture of someone named Ignatius, you probably wouldn’t create a character described by the author as such:

A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs.

Similarly, a character named Romeo who was not passionately in love would be another example of an author going against a stereotype for a specific effect. I would advise you to use this particular naming method with caution, as it can be obvious and induce a serious case of eye-rolling in the reader.

What rhymes with X’yzlulzq’uzk?

I have seen stories where the alien or the monster has a weird and unpronounceable name. This is good logic: something foreign to humans will probably not be named Mike or Steve, and may possess a name consisting of sounds produced by body parts we may lack. However, the reader of your story is most likely to be a human, so go ahead and make the name easy to pronounce. A reader, when presented with the name X’yzlulzq’uzk will not pause every time to sound it out, and if they do, will be so kicked out of your story they probably won’t finish it.

Don’t try to be cute

Probably the most important rule of naming characters is don’t try to be cute or clever. Naming a character who has been through two major wars, has a prosthetic limb, and a patch of over a missing eye “Lucky” is bumper sticker humor, and will probably make the editor roll her eyes until they fall out and roll under the couch. Obviously if done well, one can break any rule and still find success. I will point to the example of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.  Naming your main character Ender, and then having that character go on to (highlight to see spoiler!) nearly kill an entire alien species shouldn’t work. It should make you groan and throw the book at the wall, but instead it’s done so well that it’s perfect.

So, 1) don’t try to be cute, and 2) there are exceptions to every rule.

Make the name part of the character, part of your story

In Kelly Link’s story “Magic for Beginners,” the main character is named Jeremy Mars. A couple times in the story the main character talks (or thinks) about the planet Mars. How could they not? Names define us. Names remind us of those who’ve come before us, and connect us to certain ideas or objects. Of course Jeremy Mars thinks about Mars. His friends probably mention it often. Every new person he introduces himself to must comment on it. This is one way to make your character’s name an important part of your story.

Has your name ever been brought up in a conversation, or mispronounced constantly, or made fun of by other children when you were young? Your character might experience the same thing, depending on their name.

A simple rule for naming your characters

Make your character’s name simple and interesting, but unobtrusive. Probably the best example of this I’ve seen recently is the main character from The Hunger Games.  Katniss Everdeen is a simple name, it’s easy to say, but has a memorable quality to it, because it is uncommon. It is not too cutesy and the author shows how others might make fun of the name (playing off of catnip).

Remember, simple and interesting, but unobtrusive.

Your Turn

What are some of your favorite character names–from your own work or that of others? Tell us in the comments.

“Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.” — John Godfrey Saxe

Luckily, there is nothing sausage-like about the Shimmer Fiktionwerks, so a good behind-the-scenes peek can only delight the reader; and the more you know about how the industry works, the better off you are. Thus we are thrilled to present this pictorial tour of our processes.

Slush Ore

The Shimmer Fiktionwerks fabrication process begins with the delivery of unprocessed slush ore. This ore is mined from ventures all over the world, wrested from the earth by the pure strength and daring of skilled miners. Several tons of it are delivered to the Fiktionwerks plant each day. Our team of highly-trained orphans picks through the slush ore, selecting only the finest pieces for further attention.

The Sorting Room

The ore is sent to the sorting room, where it is crushed into small pieces. Pure essence of fiction is extracted from these fragments and sent deeper into the bowels of the Fiktionwerks.

The rest is sent to the rejection plant, where it becomes an ingredient in patent remedies. Each tone of ore yields less than an ounce of fiction-essence.

Editing

In the editing process, the essence of fiction is spun into tales, sure to delight, terrify, and amuse. Any remaining impurities are stripped away, and the individual threads come together to create a pleasing whole. A complete issue requires eight to ten ounces of spun essence. The threads are so finely spun that they would reach all the way from your house to the moon–and halfway back!

Layout and Design

The next step is to lay out the tales. Skilled typesetters, master of the dark arts of presentation, prepare the issue for the printer. They convert the gossamer threads of spun tales into a pleasing arrangement of text and images, that may easily be read by all, using all 26 letters of the alphabet, plus a dozen compelling letters of their own design.

Printing

Now it’s time to print the tales! Each issue requires fifteen gallons of squid ink to print.

Distribution

Finally, an issue of Shimmer is complete! It leaves the Fiktionwerks and begins its long journey to homes all over the world, hand-carried by urchins to destinations as far away as Australia.

Thank you for joining us on this tour of the Shimmer Fictionwerks plant. Please exit through the gift shop. If you have any questions, leave them in the comment box below.

Just a reminder that Shimmer is closed to submissions starting today, December 6. We reopen on January 1st, so get your stories ready, and have a happy holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. The Shimmer blog returns next week, with a guest entry from the fabulous Catherynne Valente.

Erin Cashier, whose story “Near the Flame” appears in Shimmer 12, has sold three books to St. Martins.

Congrats, Erin!