I've found a new name for the hero in Touching Indigo now, after days of searching through baby name books and sites, the telephone directory, and eventually in despair, the thesaurus:
Dr. Sebastian Faraday.
I started out with "Faraway" as a quirky and almost-but-not-quite-right surname, but then I thought, "Wasn't there a scientist named Faraday?" so I looked him up this morning and
Michael Faraday is my new hero. In addition to being "the best experimentalist in the history of science", he said stuff like this:
- "Nothing is too wonderful to be true."
- "Work. Finish. Publish."
- "The important thing is to know how to take all things quietly."
And best of all:
- "Speculations [about the hereafter]? I have none. I am resting on certainties. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."
*fangirls him shamelessly*
I also managed to convince another character who was being stubborn to change her name, so now Thea can stay Thea and it doesn't clash with any of the other main character names. Now I just have to name my villain... but he doesn't appear to care very much what I call him, as long as it's reasonably dignified.