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Thursday, December 30, 2004

Sometimes It's Scary

I was writing yesterday and Mika's cousin needed a name. She tells me it's "Kimi" and that's the spelling. In fact, Mika is adament that's the spelling. Well, Kimi is all human and is Japanese American and I thought her name would be Japanese. I went on a website that gives the origin and meaning of names, but a search produces no Kimi. But they suggest close names, like "Kimmy."

I keep searching, looking up all the feminine names that start "Kim" and what do you think I find? Kimiko. It's a Japanese woman's name.

Is anyone else hearing Twilight Zone music yet?

The same kind of thing happened to me with Mika. I was working on another story, and got up from my computer. As I'm walking, I see an Asian woman and all she says is "Mika."

Then there's Cai from The Power of Two. She did the same thing to me, only she did it while I was at work. She told me her name was Cai and gave me the sense she was part Asian. It's later that I found out Cai was a Vietnamese name.

As often as this seems to happen, you think I'd be used to it by now, wouldn't you? It still gets a little scary when I think about it. I know there are people who'll claim I heard the name sometime in my life and my subconscious just stored it away. I don't think that's true, but hey, whatever floats your boat. I prefer to think of it as a close connection with my characters. :-)

MN Weather Report: 28 degrees and hazy. Wind chill is 18 degrees. 50% chance of freezing rain this morning, so I've got to leave the house early. Just in case. :-(