I have met a real Martin (he didn’t look like a hologram), I can’t continue using the name “Martin” for the character I was planning to. It’s time for the Internet baby names game! I see, for example, if I want to stay with M, that I could name this person “Maaz,” which means “wooden.” Or “MacFarlane,” which means (wait for it) “son of Farlan.”

I definitely get into name patterns. I remember a time in a college playwriting class where one of my co-workshoppers had named all of his characters things that began with A – Angel, Alejo, Alejandra, etc.