One of the characters in my Silent Series is named Tatsumi. I got the name Tatsumi from the writer in this photo. I met Tatsumi at a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Conference.

One of the things I’m always doing is looking for names for my characters. I read names on nameplates. 

I noted the name Tatsumi on her conference identification and told her I loved her name. She said, “It means ‘beautiful dragon and is usually a boy’s name.’”

Since I was looking for a name for the Asian male in my young adult novel, Silent Screams, I asked if I could borrow her name for my character. She gave me permission, and my Tatsumi was named.

Tatsumi works well for my novel because the character reads manga books and wears Converse sneakers. When he was in middle school, he drew dragons on his sneakers because he loved Dragon Ball Z anime.

How did you get the names of the characters you chose for your books?