What’s In a Name?

Those of you who follow my Instagram know that I’ve been sharing excerpts from my RIVER MAGIC manuscript. Expect to see more and more about my novel in the coming months. I know many of you who follow this blog initially came here for information on Druidry, Paganism, and related topics, but I promise you have nothing to worry about. Just as with my short stories published in Stone, Root, and Bone, the main characters are contemporary Pagans!

I will post more about this soon, but for now, as part of the #darkandlightauthorchallenge over on Instagram, I’m going to share the story behind my main character’s name because it’s part of my Pagan genesis*.

Lacey is a clairvoyant young woman. To be specific, she has prophetic dreams, but only about those closest to her. She doesn’t dream about major world events or strangers unless they directly impact her, her family, or dearest friends. When we meet her in my story, she is fresh out of college and trying to figure out why an old dream has returned to repeat night after night. Her visions, and their elusive meanings, are a major draw to the metaphysical. Since her powers budded in adolescence, she’s delved deeper and deeper into Paganism.

Many of us come to polytheism, witchcraft, and the occult when we are teens, myself included. I spent my childhood going to mass with my family, but as I learned more about the world, I grew curious about mythology and esoteric subjects. Like attracts like, and I found myself with an equally curious circle of friends. I went to a lot of sleepovers in middle school, and one friend was particularly fond of activities born out of the Spiritualism movement. We had seances, explored tarot, and, yes, played “light as a feather, stiff as a board.”

During one such gathering, a girl named Lacey joined us. My character doesn’t look like her, but the name and our attempts to commune with the Otherworld stayed with me all these years. I never met another person with that name, and when I was considering what to call my character, Lacey instantly came to mind.

(As an aside, Lacey shares the maiden name of one of my Irish ancestors.)

So there you have it! My beloved character was born out of my own early dabbling and a chance encounter with a kindred spirit. I hope you’ll get to learn more about Lacey in the future.

*Pagan Genesis should totally be a band name.