But I think I must have laughed back then, when I was starting, coming up with my own rules. I don’t smile or laugh as I work, when I write a line that might make a reader laugh. With a name like that, I’d have enough to keep me writing for months. The closed door – the plot – started to open in front of me. The nickname – The Lips – would be the reward for his prowess on the trumpet, but it already hinted at other rewards. I was thinking of Rico Rodriguez, the trombone player in the Specials, and Saxa, aka Lionel Augustus Martin, the middle-aged sax player in the Beat. He’d be the older man, the link to the musical past, the 60s, the route to black America. He was going to be Joey The Lips, never just Joey. I discovered that night that there’s nothing quite as exhilarating in the writer’s life as bringing a character to life with a good name. ‘There’s nothing quite as exhilarating as bringing a character to life with a good name’ … Roddy Doyle.
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