What's In A Name?

Lately, I've been putting my writing on hold (sort of) to do some research. Mostly about witchcraft because - spoiler alert! - my book is about a witch. Which (hehe) I'm super excited about writing! I've been researching various forms of witchcraft, and I actually found a spell that will change the color of my eyes. It sounds so easy, I might even try it!

Then I had a very unfortunate thing happen over the weekend. During this research phase, I decided I needed some inspiration by finding some books that are similar to mine. I went to the bookstore and was very excited to find a series that looked promising. I opened the cover to skim the first page and discovered - gasp! - the character had the SAME NAME as mine!

How could this have happened? I felt cheated. Horrified. Appalled. I couldn't keep that name and risk someone thinking I was a copycat. And this was a SERIES of books, the latest of which had just been released. It felt like I gave birth to this lovely character and now I'm forced to change my baby's identity. What could I call her that felt right? Sally? Emily? Angie? No. No. No. They all felt wrong. I scoured the web trying to find something that fit, that had a significant meaning. But, alas, nothing felt right. I finally picked a new name to try on for size. I like the new name a lot, but right now it feels like a pair of pants that's a bit snug and uncomfortable. Perhaps I just need to wear the pants for a while until they stretch and mold comfortably to my backside. Maybe pretty soon the old name will have lost its magic.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever created something in a shiny, pretty bubble and then something comes along with a sharp point and pops it? How did you regain momentum?

This in no way ruins the story, or even her character, but it is a bit of a letdown. I'm sure I'll have MUCH bigger hurdles along the way.

And just for fun, here is Samantha from Bewitched! And no, I'm not naming my character Samantha :).