what's in a name, anyway?

So I’m a reader. We all are, right? We love the written word, love to have piles of books taking up space in our homes (just me? Oh.), and we love getting lost inside a well-written story. We as writers also tend to flash-grab everything written within our respective genres so we can be well-versed on who’s out there and what’s already been done.

But sometimes we don’t find everything. And it’s bad when we miss something really good. And it’s really bad when we miss something really good that is eerily similar to something you’ve been slaving over for months – or longer.

Well, that’s the state of being in my life right now. Sorta.

I must admit that during my in-depth reading of all things Paranormal YA, I have sadly missed out on The Immortals series by Allyson Noel. I only found out yesterday – via a surprising email from a beta reader – that this series even existed. I know, I’m shameful.

But that isn’t the only utterly depressing thing about this story. Oh no, it gets worse. You see, Noel’s main character in this series, Ever, has the same name as my main character.

Did you hear me? I’ve stolen someone’s name! Oh, the horror!

So now I’m really in a pickle. I have just completed the first draft of my YA paranormal and my main character has the same name as a successful series already on the shelves.

So I ask you, faithful members of the blogosphere…what do I do? Do I keep going forward with my mc, or do I change her name to something no one has used yet? Or do I leave it as is and if by some miracle I’m accepted for publication one day we can worry about it then?