I know, I know, annef…I got all grumpy and grumbled to you about being tired of seeing “funny” spam headings when I had to delete so much spam of my own. But I’ve had a sudden inspiration.
One of my stumbling points–not major, but minor, like running on a beach made of rocks–is coming up with lots of names for supporting and minor characters. Somehow, when I have to think of a name fast, I can barely get past “Joe Smith.” I don’t want the names to be too distracting, and names with strong ethnic/cultural components control what you can say about the character (either they have to go along with the name or you have to justify why not). But I don’t want all my minor characters to sound like I borrowed them from Fun With Dick and Jane.
Then last night, I was deleting my usual three-score-and-ten-per-12-hour-period spam delivery, and all of sudden, the light bulb went on.
Scattered among all those entries was a goodly percent that had computer-generated, plausible-sounding fake senders’ names. Eileen Langdon. Rebecca Singleton. Bill Zamora. Bess Grace. Thad McClellen. Roy Loranda. And on, and on, and on, and on…
I’ve got a name gold mine! And it’s coming right into my IN box for free! *amazed stare*
Wow, you can even make lemonade out of spam!