People have been asking me about her name, where it came from and all that. Usually there's some kind of story to tell about the names we pick for our children.
Holly comes from my grandmother Ethel Idella Blumel. We were newly married and pregnant with our first child when she passed away, and we decided that if the baby were a girl we wanted to dedicate baby's middle name to her. The problem was that her name was Ethel Idella. We didn't much like those, and apparently Grandma didn't think much of them either. We compromised by using Grandma's maiden name, Holladay, which we shortened to Holly. Incidentally, Grandma was born on Halloween and passed away on the Fourth of July, which i always found funny given her name was Holladay.
Maira, at least the way it is pronounced, came from a song. Short explanation: we love the group, we love the song, and it was the name that stuck out on a very short list of girls names that we both liked. In the song it is spelled Mira, but having taken Spanish in school, i could only see the Spanish word for "look" (pronounced "MEE-rah"). And we preferred the spelling "Maira" over "Myra". Hopefully she will forgive us when people mistakenly call her "MARE-ah" or "Maria"
Extended explanation: "Song for the Mira", the song from which the name came, has a sort of special significance to me, which sprang from my writing. One thing you need to understand: writers live their stories. We feel what our characters feel, see the scenes and settings - we often find ourselves sitting down in castles or enchanted forests, or riding the ocean waves on a magnificent ship.
I was working on my current novel, building scenes of high adventure, danger, and traumatic near-death events. There was a lot of stress and tension, and i kept thinking in the back of my mind that my characters needed a little rest eventually. Not only are they hunted continually, but they are outcasts in normal society. What they needed was a safe place, a haven. I started building a place, but for some reason it just wasn't coming together as well as I'd hoped.
Then i heard this song, and had an immediate picture of the village - the land, the people, the houses... it was beautiful and perfect. Open spaces, sparkling river, lots of green. It was a place of tranquility - no rushing, no hatred, no worries. The people were warm and welcoming, generous and kind.
Ever since then, the song never failed to calm my heart. The sweet, flowing melody, the beautiful voices, the tranquil imagery - it takes me to that place again, out on the Mira, where everything is just so calm and perfect. I guess you can say it's just one of those happy places in my mind. And that beautiful, joyful, peaceful feeling is what Maira means to me.
