It is a truth universally acknowledged that I will struggle with character names. So when I started writing By the Book with its New Year’s Eve party scenes, I nearly despaired at the thought of naming a bunch of partygoers, much less remembering all of their names.
In prior story Choirboy Caffrey, with fewer characters, I still got stuck and named the fourth member of Local Devastation Theo Guy, which derived from my thinking of him as “the other guy” when I couldn’t come up with a name. The first member of the foursome I’d named Michael Darling, realizing almost as soon as the name came to me that I knew it from Peter Pan. I went ahead and used that, naming one of the group’s albums Neverland.
For By the Book I intentionally turned to my love of reading, selecting Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as an inspiration for character names. Little did I know what else it would inspire.
First, it inspired an outcry from Neal. He didn’t want to use the alias of William Darcy at a party with women who had been drinking enough to embolden themselves to act on their fantasies surrounding famous romantic leads. He challenged Peter to try the alias out at home that night. Having a character named Elizabeth in canon, it was a pleasure to show her delight at the idea of Peter pretending to be Mr. Darcy.
Silbrith turned El’s love of costume dramas into a recurring theme. Now Elizabeth participates in community theater, and sometimes calls on their costume expert to help the White Collar team with disguises. Peter, meanwhile, is torn between appreciating the way certain movies and costumes put El in a romantic mood, while dreading having to wear costumes himself.
Second, it inspired a curse. When Neal tells June and Mozzie his alias, they warn him of the Jane Austen curse, which dictates that using Darcy as an alias brings bad luck to a con. Although Neal is successful, things don’t go as smoothly as he might have liked at the party.
Third, it inspired a mentor. I liked retired agent Thomas Gardiner, and brought him back in another story to advise Peter. He has the experience of being an agent to identify with Peter’s quandaries, but also has a distance of having changed careers to give him perspective.
Fourth, it inspired a follow-up. I had such fun borrowing from P&P that when I wrote Caffrey Flashback, I borrowed from Jane Austen’s Emma. Later, Caffrey Disclosure took names from the movie Casablanca.
And lastly, it inspired a romance. At the end of the story, Neal says Henry will help him keep tabs on the family he met at the party. In my mind, I already knew what they would see over the years. Student Guillaume D’arcy will return home to France, and when Bethanne goes to college she’ll spend a semester abroad and run into him, learning he isn’t as obnoxious as when he was a student at Yale and she was in high school. Eventually they’ll get married.
Of course P&P wasn’t the only story I referenced in By the Book. There's also a side plot about the theft of a copy of Paradise Lost and a fictitious series called School for Wizards.
By the Book on FF
By the Book on AO3
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