Goofy writing question

[jinxed_wood]

So, I'm writing a short story for this month's magazine theme at Crossed Genre's (Theme: boundaries) and in the guidelines, they do make a point of saying that they welcome stories from outside the US, so I thought it's be nice if I stayed local. On the whole, I like the direction of this story but the problem is I'm drawing a lot from my childhood

Comments

[cat_i_th_adage]

They do add an interesting flavour.

Um, make sure there's a difference in feel between the earthly names and the non-earthly? Even if it's just a difference like pronunciation or length in the form of the names, like Fiona (here) vs. Fionnuala (there)? (Don't know what your other setting is.)

Good luck!

[jinxed_wood]

Great suggestion (and thank you!)

[cat_i_th_adage]

You're welcome.

[quicksilverjen]

Disclaimer: I am American, and I read a lot of fantasy with Celtic/Irish/Welsh/Scottish influences.

Nessa, Colm, and Siobhan are all names that I'm familiar with in the "real world" and would not trip me up at all. Una seems a little exotic, but ultimately wouldn't be an issue.

Donnacha, Taigdh, and Diarmuid would definitely make me feel like I was dealing with fantasy characters to begin with.

[quicksilverjen]

Duncan, Teague (like Una, would work if grouped with more familiar names), and Dermot would be fine, though.

Hope that helps.

[jinxed_wood]

Ooh, I'll definitely steal Dermot, a fairly common name here. Duncan would be more common in Scotland, though, and Teague would be just considered a surname in Ireland. Ah, that fine line between having recognisable and common names for those outside Ireland without sounding weird to people in Ireland!

I was thinking of Sean and Conor? I seem to remember both of these names popping up in US telly quite a bit!

[quicksilverjen]

Sean and Conor/Connor are both common enough in certain parts of the US, so definitely would work!

[kachera]

From a US perspective when I think Irish names I come up with Erin, Megan, Colleen, Connor, Sean, Aiden, Fiona, Finn, Riley, Kelly, Caitlyn, Ciara, Shannon. All of those are common enough here in the states and I've had classmates with all of those names growing up.

I also liked the suggestion that your modern characters have shorter names than their non-earthly counterparts.

Also - go you on writing a short story!

[jinxed_wood]

I think I'm going to roll with the shorter/simpler names for my characters!

I'm looking at the names on your list and I have to laugh. Colleen is a phonetic pronounciation of the word Cailin which is the Irish for girl. Your average Irish person would have the same reaction to it as an Australian would have to a woman introducing themselves as Sheila!

And yes, I'm writing original fiction - the world may never be safe from me again!

[bastun_ie]

Likewise, Erin is the "poetic"/roughly-translated name of a country. I'd look askance at anyone introducing themselves as "America Jones" or "Canada Dawson".