Doing yet ANOTHER rewrite of my fantasy novel (I've lost count of how many I've done now) I had an idea for a name of one of the supporting characters, based on a real surname of a customer I once dealt with. His name would be Mr Farquar--no prizes for guessing that that's supposed to sound like! The joke would be that the main character would laugh at it, but no one else would understand what was so funny (as it's based in a fantasy world).

Seeing as I'm intending this novel more for a teenage market, could I get away with this? I know it's not really a subtle, but when I heard this customers name I thought "I SO have to use that name in a book somewhere!"

Yes, I don't see why not. Wasn't the king in Shrek called Farquar?



- NaomiM

You know what, I think he might of been (it's been years since I last saw those films so I can't remember). I also remember Shrek making a joke about "Having to save his ass", referring to Donkey. That movie got away with it, because it was done in a subtle way, so I guess I should be ok... I hope.

<Added>

Actually, now I'm thinking about it, I think it was the villain that was called Farquer. Or Farquad or whatever his name was, I can't remember. But it wasn't the king I don't think.

You're right, it was Lord Farquad. He was trying to become king by marrying a princess and forces Shrek into taking his place to rescue her from the tower.

Yeah, that's right. Great film though. And like I said got away with a lot of adult humour. Just goes to show that if it's done subtle enough (the writers of Scary movie should take note of that!) anything can be done.

On another similar subject, do you think I could get away with using words like "bastard" or "bitch" in my novel if I'm aiming it at young adults? It's only a couple of parts of the novel (not the whole thing), but do you think I could get away with it if I make sure that it's justified?