Names:

One  of the things I spent the most time on was character names. I wanted each character's name to really describe him - tell who he really is.   I haunted baby name sites to the point that all my websites were promoting all things baby to me!  I hope as you go through this list, you can see the  personality of each character.

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​Dylan - The name Dylan means "Son of the sea/tide/waves"

Murphy - Murphy means "Sea Warrior"   I chose both of these names independently, but together, I think they really describe the main character and his passion for the ocean. 

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Terra -  The name Terra means "Earth," "Land," or "soil".  I wanted to express this character's fear of the sea by deviating from the water-related names many of her ancestors had.  (I made a family tree for the family, and most of their names deal with water due to the nature of their bond with the shark)

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Delmar- The royal family's name had to show their tie to the sea.  Delmar mean "of the sea/ocean".  The first of the family on the island came from the sea when he was delivered by the shark.

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​Fedder & Fezzah -  These names are a package deal.  You can try to look them up on baby name sites, but I doubt you'll find them.  But I know the meaning of both!  Fedder and Fezzah both mean "feather."  How do I know this?  Several years ago, I began babysitting a little girl named Emily who was the same age as my son Rory.  When they were about age 3, I noticed the very different way each of them said "feather."  Rory said "fedder," and Emily said "fezzah."  So I joked with some friends of mine that the next book I wrote would have a set of twins named Fedder and Fezzah.  When I started working on Isola di Squalo, I intended it to be a space age book, so those names would fit.  But  as the story evolved into its present form, I couldn't drop Fed and Fez so easily.  So I came up with real names they could be nicknames for.  Fez wasn't so easy which was why it was sort of a cop out.  Fed just made up a name for his sister.  Fedder, though, sounded like it could be a nickname for Friedrich which, coincidentally, is an old family name.  My first German relative in America was named Friedrich.  Works for me!

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Friedrich - means "ruling in peace" and isn't that what the Delmars are all about?  Though I really chose this name for the above reasons, doesn't it seem plausible that Fed's parents would want their son to have a name that expresses the Delmar promise?

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Delphine -  is a French name meaning "dolphin."  Delphine, to me, has many of the same characteritics as a dolphin:  beautiful, graceful, intelligent and intuitive.

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Dirk -  This is the name I struggled with the most.  His character and much of this story line came from a work of fan fiction I wrote a few years ago.  In that story, the "bad guy" was Derk.  A name I just made up and liked because it sounded like "jerk."  As Isola di Squalo evolved, I needed a country for Dirk to hail from, and for the longest time, he was Greek.  I still have the paper with the list of possible Greek names for him, all meaning something like "enemy."  Ultimately, I landed on Scotland and accidentally stumbled on the name "Dirk" which means "dagger."  Perfect!

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MacRae - means "Son of Grace" or "son of the king," and isn't that what the MacRaes wanted?

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Ilario -  Ilario is an Italian name which means "cheerful."   He's not a huge character, but I enjoyed his presence, the ever-cheerful body guard/chauffer.

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Music:​

This was the first time I tried to write while listening to music, and I think it made a big difference.  The emotions of the different songs really enhanced the emotions of the story.   I tried out a variety of songs and bands, and these are the ones that stand out the most.