I really try hard to research properly everything I write about; anything which I have insufficient knowledge of I leave out… I would hate to seem careless or stupid by writing something wrong. I am particular about names, trying as far as possible to use totally imaginary names – occasionally there must be real people with the same names as my characters, but I do check to make sure any such person is totally unknown to me, either personally or because they are well-known in a particular area.
In my latest novel,, The Double Act, the main character is called Genet; the name just came to me out of my imagination and when I checked it out it seems that it’s a small Spanish horse… or so I thought. Actually it’s true, there is a spelling of such a horse which is the same as my character, although the common spelling is jennet, only Old Catelonian has it as genet. One of the other main characters comes from South Africa, and he becomes a friend of Genet. I discovered last night that there is a small and rather cute South African animal called a genet! I’m now worrying why he didn’t make some comment to Genet about it… It seems as if despite my research there is a bit of an inconsistency here… There is nothing I can do as the spelling of her name is quite crucial later in the story.
However, the South African doesn’t know how her name is spelled so maybe he thinks its Janet or Jeannette… the little creature which is called a genet looks a little like a spotty and stripy cat with a very pointed face. It was introduced from its native country in Africa into parts of Europe… If I ever rewrite the book, or write a sequel, then it will be sure to be mentioned!
here is a link to my novel, available as an e-book:
Lois Elsden 