This has come up a bit lately so I'll address it here. Names.
When naming a Character the cardinal rule is: MAKE IT PRONOUNCEABLE!
Look I don't mind made up names - heck Verall. . . Eloy (Okay I've found out that 2nd one is a real name) Anyway. The point is that your readers need to quickly know what your main character's name is and should be able to pronounce it.
One example comes to mind. Lackey's Herald Mage books has a main character named Tylindal. Ta-lynn-del . . .everyone on the project from the editors to the cover artist called him Tylenol.
Another good example of a bad choice is Hermione. Yes, some people do know how to pronounce it, but MANY people I knew, especially kids, had no clue and made up an alternative name to designate her.
Now the only exception to this rule is if your character will have a nick name. In my current project one character has a purposefully long and unpronounceable name...and because of this the other main character calls him Sunny and it sticks.
Villains are a different ball of wax. They benefit from odd names because they are, well, the bad buy. I would say, however, that you really should make these names obvious in HOW they are pronounced. Liereth, or Vlad, or Waldo, or Barney. You get the idea - odd is fine, but keep it readable.
Steer clear of that little apostrophe in names. It looks like you are trying too hard to be exotic and it just confuses readers. That little ' is used to denote possession so it causes the reader to jar out of the flow of your story - bad, very bad!
You should also avoid names that end in s for the same reason as above. "Chris's sword connected down on the troll's head" OR "Carter's sword connected with the troll's head". Here's a good example as well - Jesus's tomb...er Jesus' tome? err umm. Enough said on that.
basic rule: if your story is about an ordinary person in an extraordinary plot - use very recognizable names. If your story is an extraordinary person in an ordinary world, then gussy up the name, but be prepared for a nickname or shortened version. The name is not important. THE PLOT IS.
