One of the things I run into the most online is the question of where I took the name Windemere from. Many people think I snagged it from an existing place. Specifically, a lake area in England that might actually be named WindeRmere. This isn’t the case, but I figure 5 years of fielding this question means I should do a post.
The Possibilities:
Windemere Township Minnesota
Windemere Texas
Ernest Hemingway Cottage (Windemere at Walloon Lake)
Winderemere Island
Lake Windermere in England
The list keeps going for WindeRmere with places in the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.K. So, what is the true origin?
TOTAL COINCEDENCE
Originally, I had a world named Mylrix, but that was for another set of stories. It would get absorbed eventually, but people were still telling me it wasn’t catchy. This was in college where I was still learning and taking advice very seriously. So, I needed to think up something else and began combining words, letters, and whatever I could think of. It was during the early spring in SUNY Oswego, which is on Lake Ontario. The weather was nice enough to go outside and take a walk while I thought of more ideas. This led to me going down to the lake shore where the wind was very strong. Just stared out in the direction of Canada and let my mind wander. I kept focusing a lot on the wind because it nearly knocked me over a few times. Played around with that word and landed on ‘WINDEMERE’. I liked the sound of it and realized the wind showed up a lot in my descriptions too. So, it stuck and I went on for 12 years before anybody told me there was a Lake Windermere in England.
Anybody else ever come up with an idea and then find out years later that there’s something with the same name?
Legends of Windemere 
Very cool. It always reminds me of a popular real estate franchise. I like your history behind it much better.
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Thanks. I saw the real estate franchise show up too when I did a search. Guess it’s a popular word/phrase/place. Just locked within the human group consciousness. 😛
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It’s a great world name. Maybe in the future people will ask if they came up with their name from that fantasy series they read.
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That would be funny. Not sure what I would do if the shoe was on the other foot.
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Attend the raising of your statue somewhere.
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Now, I have this thought of a statute going up in a public park and then I’m fined for littering. 😛
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I usually use real place names so I’m not usually surprised. In my Wednesday serial, I use a person’s name for a place. (with permission of course) Interesting background.
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Never thought about using a person’s name for a place. That permission part is always tricky.
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True. I just ask and most say , Why yes.
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The collective consciousness can be a tricky thing! I learned early on you need to use a good idea straight away – if you leave it lying around too long, someone else will come along and pick it up. As a child I wrote a story about a boy who became trapped in the terrible Black Caves, his only escape route being a conveyor belt that was covered in banana skins and moving the wrong way. I called this contraption the Bananarama. A few years later, a girl band with the same name appeared in the UK charts. They couldn’t have read my story – it was never published – but I was still furious with them for stealing my idea!
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The hard part is getting the good idea into the public eye. I can only imagine how many times two people have the same idea, but the win goes to the person who happens to move quicker. I think I’ve heard of Bananarama. Your story actually reminds me of my friend who repeatedly comes up with ideas and finds them a few weeks later in a movie, game, show, or book that he had never heard of before. Every time, we have to imitate Gollum and yell ‘They takes it from us!’
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Sadly, I’m not too good at moving quickly. I think I need a rocket under me!
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I could use one of those this week. 🙂
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Nice to know the history behind the name.
I have had coincidences like this happen before. I was in the middle of writing a novel involving a character who is a soldier. Months later, I happened to pick up a new book by an author I like. She had a character with the same name and profession. I’d begun my novel before I bought her book. But I wound up changing the name so I wouldn’t be accused of copying her character.
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I’ve had it happen a few times myself, but rarely with the full name. Although, it can be an easy change of a surname or a specialty if it’s a persona thing. Always wondered how these coincidences come about.
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It really is amazing how they happen.
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I have. I needed a name for a town and typed in ‘Mata’, I think I was only using that as a placeholder until I came up with a better name, then a few years later I discovered it’s a town in Israel… I never did get around to changing it.
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Didn’t realize that. I’ve seen Mata connected to other names like a starter. For some reason, I want to say a Lego adventure line had that.
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It does seem to be a popular name now. I’ll swear that I never heard it before I typed it.
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I think it’s because it has a tropical feel to it.
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Nice story. It looks like anything we can dream of, exists already.
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Kind of a scary thought there.
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I’m channeling Lloyd, aren’t I?
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Not sure. It actually sounds more like my friends and I talking about the possibility of humans having a hive mind or collective consciousness.
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You and your friends are Jungian at heart, it seems 🙂
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One day, I need to look into that philosophy.
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In a sense, you have. He coined many terms we use daily (from introvert/extrovert to archetype to collective unconscious), even though few realize their origins. It’s a fascinating theory. I read most of his books in my student years.
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It’s funny that my friends and discuss philosophical ideas, but most of us don’t read the books. We work with our own thoughts and then see what they match up with later. I have seen the term ‘introvert’ get heavily abused over the last few years though.
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Its original meaning was someone who draws their energy from being alone. Extroverts, on the other hand, draw their energy from being among others.
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Now, introvert seems to be used for people who prefer to be alone or simply dislike social situations. Though, I’ve seen people use it for when they’re sad too. Kind of strange how introvert has become a ‘cool’ thing to be instead of extrovert.
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Has it, now? I must have missed that. Probably because I’m always behind a computer 😀
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It’s weird. People claim introversion as a mark of pride. I’ve seen others claim to be an introverted extrovert. I don’t get it at all.
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That’s what happens when medical terms enter the layman’s vocabulary 😉
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Reminds me of how people use depressed in place of sad.
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Well, in my town we have both Windemere and Wandermere. What are you supposed to do?
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Resign myself to telling the origin story a lot. 😀
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