Month: April 2015

I always assumed that Gabriel has always meant messenger. The roots and meaning s are from the Hebrew name גַבְרִיאֵל (Gavri’el) meaning “God is my strong man”.

Gabriel was one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition. He appears in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, where he serves as the announcer of the births of John to Zechariah and Jesus to Mary.

According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the Qur’an to Muhammad.

Do you believe in ANGELS? I would like to, especially guardian angels.

I like the idea of ARCHANGEL GABRIEL conveying messages.

I have a work in progress which I have tentatively titled , Years of Futility; Defining My Youth The main characters are Fortuna the unlucky and Felix the unhappy. This is one of those cases where I took names with obvious meanings and in adding to the story line play with the irony of their names.

Felix of course means “lucky”, “favored by luck” or “the lucky one” and Fortuna “Good Fortune”. In my WIP  Felix is far more than unhappy he is dangerous and Fortuna born on a Friday the 13th struggles with creating her own luck.

Have you ever met anyone with the names FELIX or FORTUNA? I have and frankly their names suited them, have you ever met people with names that just did not fit them?

The meaning of some names is so obvious that it makes for a great writing tool. Oscar Wilde uses this beautifully in

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST .    There are so many Oscar Wilde stories I love and  so as an ode to a writer I love… but the name Oscar which apparently is a combination of deer and friend will not be my choice for O.

“I am told; and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Earnest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence“. (Wilde, 1979: 263).

As a child I loved The Selfish Giant by Wilde and of course who can resist The portrait of Dorian Gray but my all time fave is

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime

Defined by Others by MCV Egan.

THANKS ! Love the review

This was a strange book. But not in a bad way! In one of those, “I totally was not expecting that” kind of way. And more specifically, the book itself. Like I didn’t expect it to be as dark and different it was, but it was enjoyable!

This books deals with situations likes cyber bullying and catfishing but with middle aged adult women, something you would not expect.

The writing in this book is spectacular. It is probably one of the most surprising and well written books I have read in a long time.

I can’t really say I was surprised by the character of Anne. I had pretty much figured she wasn’t sunshine and rainbows but it was interesting to see the story play out.

I actually enjoyed this book a lot.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

☛    DEFINED by OTHERS TOUR

For the Movies that have impacted me A-Z visit 4covert2overt ~ A Place in the Spotlight

There are many names that begin with D that I happen to like. I seem to have great Karma with women who have the name Debbie or Deborah, which means honey Bee. I like the name Damian, even if the Omen was a movie that made my skin crawl and gave me a few nightmares in my teens (the original version,  yes, I am that old) .  Dennis which means lover of wine  could have  been a fun choice. Despite  that I chose DAVID it means beloved or friend, but to me it means HERO.

DAVID and Goliath 1545 by Titan  source ARTINTHEPICTURE.COM

As a child I was raised with many biblical stories and  DAVID and GOLIATH  was one of my favorites. The idea that with wits and courage, and of course as a Catholic in those days with God on my side I could topple a giant was fascinating to me. It was a story that gave me a foundation to believe that there was something inside of me, of everyone, that could  possibly be powerful and heroic.

Many Stories impacted me as a child growing up, and not all were necessarily religious, Mexican Folklore, or frankly international as my parents traveled quite a bit and  surrounded us with books and tales from many countries. I was also surrounded with books of tales like The Grimm Brother’s, Aesop’s Fables and of course impacted by Disney movies like Snow White and Mary Poppins. The art of story telling in my opinion is one that transcends and in many ways helps us all shape our character.

As a parent I tried hard to find a wide variety of stories for my son and to discuss what was important and made them special, he is now a teen, but we can still discuss books and movies in such a fun way from which both of us learn.

What stories whether Disney Movies, favorite children’s books Aesop’s Fables, your own folklore, religious impacted you?

I love my given name CATALINA , I was christened Maria Catalina and I love the names on their own or combined. CATALINA means PURE. Maria can mean bitter  or bitter sea and I am a very happy go lucky person, perhaps that is why when I write I often create characters whose names have meanings that are the very opposite of their personality.

When I was researching THE BRIDGE OF DEATHS  the name CATALINA was very helpful to me. The book revolves around a real 1939 plane crash and I had to visit archives and museums related to aviation. The aviation archivists and curators who were so kind to help me often asked; “Were you named after the Seaplane?”  Sometimes  they introduced me as the woman named after a sort of aircraft.

(images harvested through BING and credited to BBC)

My name was my paternal grandmother’s and had absolutely nothing to do with the seaplane, but I certainly thank my lucky stars that it opened doors for me when I needed it.

What does your name mean? Is it you or the opposite of you?  There are many name sites I like to use this one

Meaning of Names