What’s in a Name?

Melilyn is an abbreviated form of my name. Melanie is often shortened to Meli, and Lynne can be shortened to Lyn. Ergo, the name of this site is me, MeliLyn.

Melanie, according to the name dictionary I use for my characters, means dark and mysterious. It comes from the Greek, and has the same derivation as the word melanin, which is the pigment that controls how dark our skin is. Compared to the women in my family, I am dark, but I don’t find myself mysterious; in fact, I’ve been told that I can be read like a book! According to those name cards often found in Christian bookstores, Melanie means “courageous,” which is the biggest joke I’ve ever heard.

Melanie in Hebrew is comprised of the following letters: mem - lamed - ayin - nun - yod.

I’m also asked a lot about the screen names on my contact form.

  • Forward Motion is from a Relient K song of the same name that describes me to a T.
  • LikeGravity is a snippet from another Relient K song, “The Only Thing Worse than Beating a Dead Horse is Betting on One.”
  • listen to Riley and rileyglasses are both derived from the character “Riley Poole” from National Treasure.
  • Autumn Riley or any variation thereof, is a nom de plume I’ve given myself.
  • caterpillar dreams or any variation thereof is a reference to a metaphor I share with Becky.
  • batshalom means daugher of peace in Hebrew
  • Chasing Life is simply a screen name that struck my fancy.
  • Durnt is a reference to The Strangerhood
  • Fabio is NOT a reference to a male model. It is from a line in Finding Nemo.
  • 1323 is my initials, translated into numbers.
  • Chartreuse is just a really cool color.