As with all things things in life, change is inevitable. The same applies to an author’s characters. I choose Walker for my fictional family, but as my editor pointed out, Walker has been used ad nauseam.
So to the drawing board we go . . .
. . . and we came up with Lawson.
Of course, the ranch name also needed to be changed. Lawson’s Reach just didn’t sound as good as Walker’s Reach. Most ranches in Texas are simply named “surname Ranch”.
But Lawson’s Ranch was plain . . . well, plain.
So thanks, Candy, for the suggestion of Lawson’s Landing.
The next change needed was the name of the house the siblings grew up in. I used Homestead to refer to the family home. But strictly speaking, homestead refers to the entire ranch, as in homesteading a piece of land. For this change I went simple, and the Homestead became the Main House.
To non-writers this type of detail might seem irrelevant, but for an author creating a fictional world, it’s all in the name. This is the world an author brings to life for readers, and getting it right is so very important.
If you want to see what Lawson’s Landing looks like, head over to my Mott Creek Ranch post.