Where do I get the names for my characters, I'm asked.
The answer is a mix of places. Some I simply hear or see in the course of this thing called life. The doctor in the tvdetective series, Silifant for example - I borrowed his name from a firm of undertakers in Exeter, just because I thought it was such a great one. It felt to me as if it summed up an aged and grumpy medic. It's odd how some names do that - they seem to describe the person.
I often leaf through the phone book to get a mix of ordinary and more jazzy names - I hope the combination is convincing. There's such a great range to choose from!
A recent development is that friends have asked for their names to be used. One old school pal makes it into The Judgement Book as a long dead parish priest. The slightly worrying part of this is that he wanted to be a madman, or mass murderer! But he's far too fine a chap for that.
I've also put in a couple of friends who are getting married, as a sort of strange wedding gift. But before you ask, no, that's not just me being mean - I have bought them a proper present too!
Last thought in this blog - I'm told The Judgement Book is now listed for order on various websites. If you're interested, do have a look via the books page - www.thetvdetective.com/books.html