What's In a Name?

I got a commission to work on an oil painting for a friend of mine. She's a lovely person and fab author, so this isn't a huge hardship to paint her dog, a Boston Terrier.

As I worked, I thought about what colors I needed and what I wanted to mix to get that perfect background. (If you don't know, oil paint is really fun to work with, but be warned... it stinks because you MUST use turpentine to clean the paints and the paint takes A LONG TIME to dry - we're talking months of drying time. Yeah, it's fun, but waiting a couple months to get the paint to dry isn't cool...)

I also thought about a couple of the stories in my head waiting (patiently) to get out. I Have an idea for an anthology with three friends all in various stages of the dating game. The thing that keeps conking me on the noggin is what to name these guys! I want something to represent the alter egos (because I know these guys in real lie) and something that doesn't sound silly.

What to name a guy who's generally quiet, but strong... he likes to follow the rules, but has a wild streak a mile wide...

Thinking he'll be Torey.

What about his best friend who's a commitment-phobe? He likes being in a relationship as long as it's topical. Get too deep and he freaks...

He sounds like an Aaron to me.

Or the free spirit who never gave much thought about settling down. He's an honest, hardworking man's man, but he yearns for more...

He's my hardest... Ben? Karl? No... just not cutting it... Eric? No, I used that for a NASCAR novella... Dylan? Hum... Dylan has a nice ring to it. Thinking that Dylan sounds strong, but with a shy softer side.

Torey, Aaron, and Dylan. Very nice.

What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment. You might just help me out! ;)

Toodles.