How do you come up with the names of your... â€� E. Lockhart Q&A

Amanda Sudo asked E. Lockhart:

How do you come up with the names of your characters? More specifically, I was wondering how you came up with the name Frankie Landau-Banks.

E. Lockhart Some characters just come into my imagination with a name attached and it never changes. Others I name and re-name, looking for the right fit. For Frankie Laundau-Banks, I wanted her to have a gender-neutral or boyish sounding name, and then a hyphenated surname to show two sides of her background. Landau is a surname some people would perceive as Jewish while others would not. I liked that ambiguity given how protestant her school is. Banks is the most conservative-sounding name I could think of -- the name of the father in Mary Poppins.

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What is your writing process? Do you outline? If so, does the outline change as the book progresses? What about word count? Do books ever tend to be less than your intended goal? What do you do if they are?

Amanda Sudo asked E. Lockhart:

I was wondering, in your opinion, do you think it's more difficult to write well rounded, believable female characters than it is to write well rounded, believable male characters?

Bonnie asked E. Lockhart:

I really liked the Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - but the ending made me so sad. Frankie is clearly brilliant and amazing, but never develops her own group of pals who understand and support her for who she fully is (although she does have a very sweet roommate). Will Frankie ever get a sequel (/close friends)?

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E. Lockhart

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How do you come up with the names of your characters? More specifically, I was wondering how you came up with the name Frankie Landau-Banks.

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What is your writing process? Do you outline? If so, does the outline change as the book progresses? What about word count? Do books ever tend to be less than your intended goal? What do you do if they are?

I was wondering, in your opinion, do you think it's more difficult to write well rounded, believable female characters than it is to write well rounded, believable male characters?

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