Why “Morgan” and what am I trying to say through him?
My male lead, Morgan, was named for a young friend of a friend who died a drug-related death. Some of you in Southern California may have known him as Morgan Bonan. I wanted to honor his early passing by giving him new life in my book. His father, unlike mine, served in Vietnam, and served me in adding a bit more depth to the character of Morgan’s fictional father.
The original name for Morgan in Tradewinds was “Jonny,” named after an old friend of mine, Jonny Smith, an awkward sort, who I used as a model for the early drafts. Jonny Smith’s real father died at an early age of lung cancer and left Jonny, in my eyes, as a sad, rootless kid.
Tradewinds was named for the prevailing winds that blow daily in Hawaii and Just Another Day was named for a Paul McCartney song (Perhaps you can go to Youtube and listen to it) of the same name that served as the basis for the story of my female protagonist, Livy Tinsley . But, like I said earlier, we’ll get to Livy a little later on. First let me finish with the title. The title of the Tradewinds section has now been changed in the current form of the book to “Got to Get You Into My Life” (Are you confused yet?) The reason being that a significant part of Morgan’s journey has to do with finding an ideal partner.
Morgan’s last name comes from one of my favorite English poets, William Blake. The fact that Morgan’s father’s name is William is meant to cause the reader to bring some of that transcendental poet’s wisdom to the table. There is also a bit of irony here which I’m sure many of you will see. Morgan’s father is, at times, much like the real William Blake, but at other times, much like Adolf Hitler. It’s the military side of him that drives him to be dictatorial. And it’s this side that causes trouble between himself and his son.
I’ll get into Livy’s character next week.
Have a good weekend.
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May 31, 2010 at 3:26 pm
suzannestock
What a great way to honor a friend! If you don’t mind, I might borrow the idea for a character in the second novel of the series I’m working on. Oh, and I love the tie in to William Blake too!
January 27, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Morgain McGovern
When I was 12, I lived next to Morgan Bonan on Morrison street in Sherman Oaks in 1986. He was 14 or 15 and I was madly in love with him, as were all of the girls. Every afternoon, my older sister and her friends would go next door to watch them (Todd Moffat-Dreamy!) skate the massive half-pipe in his back yard.
Me and my little Jr.high friends would try to go to, but my high school sisters would have none of it. Morgan would let us come hang out and always be cool to us. We ditched class one time and he took me and my sister to the beach, where we’d just watch the waves when it was too cold to surf.
Morgan was always kind and amused by all of the little girls who loved him. He was also a fantastic skateboarder and a good brother to his little sister, who’s name I can’t remember. His Mom was really sweet too, and his dad a cute surfer guy who drove an old Porsche.