Becoming the ‘Real’ Perryn

One of my favorite things about writing The Chase was choosing the characters’ names. Nearly all of the names in the book communicate something about that character. I hope to write on each over time, but my clear favorite is Perryn.

From what I was able to find, her name has two meanings. In some cases, it can mean ‘wanderer.’ In others, it is the feminine form of Peter, which means ‘rock.’ I LOVE this about her because hers is a story of discovering which of the two she will become.

If you’ve read the book, you know it opens with a hopeless outlook for Perryn. She has only one goal…to survive. She is lost, doomed to wander through life hoping to avoid the worst while expecting it drop at any moment.

If you’ve finished the book (SPOILER ALERT), you know her transformation has begun. She has started to learn that she is capable of far more than she ever assumed, a theme in her story I hope to keep exploring in the next book. At one point, Jaden is adamant in spite of her disagreement that she is the glue, the foundational rock if you will, that holds the Blue Team together.

I think we can learn a lot from Perryn. Are we going to settle for simply muddling through life, scraping out a living and ‘getting through’ each day in hopes of a moment’s peace in some unknown future? Or are we going to come to the realization that we are special creations of God, designed to make a difference for His purposes here on earth?

Friend, we are made for more than survival.