Ryn W
asked
Maurice Africh:
How did you decide upon the names of the crew? (Also is Grey short for anything?)
Maurice Africh
The first thing I ever did was create the crew. The original crew was a little bigger than it is now, but the final crew members were all there. I actually still have a little piece of paper with names and "job titles" that I doodled the day I came up with the initial spark of the concept.
Anyway, when I create characters, I always lead with VIBE + NAME. Or, in this case, ROLE + NAME. So, the names almost came first. I wanted something opposite and cutesy the badass female knight who doesn't smile. Mars probably stemmed for my love of Red Rising, and my inclination to make every part of the character feel as big as the man himself--using a planet evokes size, at least to me. Minnow and Farlow felt like they were from the same family tree. Willow, though, felt different. And I chose Bones (Billy "Bones" Barnabe, to be exact) because I wanted one of their names to be super pirate-themed. There's no real method involved. It's all just vibes, haha!
Also, Grey is not short for anything! It's always just been Grey Shimada to me. As with most things, I think I just ... liked it?
Anyway, when I create characters, I always lead with VIBE + NAME. Or, in this case, ROLE + NAME. So, the names almost came first. I wanted something opposite and cutesy the badass female knight who doesn't smile. Mars probably stemmed for my love of Red Rising, and my inclination to make every part of the character feel as big as the man himself--using a planet evokes size, at least to me. Minnow and Farlow felt like they were from the same family tree. Willow, though, felt different. And I chose Bones (Billy "Bones" Barnabe, to be exact) because I wanted one of their names to be super pirate-themed. There's no real method involved. It's all just vibes, haha!
Also, Grey is not short for anything! It's always just been Grey Shimada to me. As with most things, I think I just ... liked it?
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more