I love that genie names are something special in my world, that a genie revealing their name to a human is something significant. But there is a difficulty with having genies’ real names be super special and secret, and that is me remembering not to reveal them before they’ve actually been revealed.

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Thank goodness for beta readers and editors in the world of writing, because I have definitely listed the genies’ real names more than once before I should have. I struggled with Rajan and Ocean in particular with accidentally putting their real names in the text when they’re first introduced. Rajan’s name is revealed fairly quickly after his introduction, but readers still don’t know Ocean’s real name (and won’t for a while). 

I’m pleased to say I haven’t struggled with revealing Light’s real name near as much! But for a reason that’s kind of cheating. It’s because it took the longest for me to settle on what I wanted his name to be. There were a couple different ideas I wavered between, but it’s easy not to call him anything other than Light when even I’m not sure what else he might be called. 

And even when a genie’s name is revealed, that doesn’t mean I don’t have to still worry about making mistakes. Like with Shadow/Darios. Whenever I’m writing about him, I have to keep in mind whose perspective I’m writing from and who’s talking. Some of the genies openly use Darios’s name, since Ali already knows it, but some are more respectful and still call him Shadow, since he hasn’t given Ali permission to use his name. And Ali still thinks of him as Shadow and calls him that. 

Ali herself is also a bit of a struggle. Garan always calls her Lady Flora, while Illan refers to her as Miss Ali, and Ocean calls her Master. Then there’s Darios and Light who call her human. I have to make sure no one uses her name who shouldn’t. Rajan is easier, with switching between Girlie and Ali, depending on how he feels, and Tavor switching between Ali and Kitten.

I don’t think a mistake with names has been published yet, thanks to my wonderful helpers. Here’s to hoping that holds until the end of the series!