Thank you, everyone, for participating! I love your enthusiasm for this. After 15 novels that require about 50 names each—if you throw in all the witnesses, family members, and casual mentions—I really appreciate your help with this. On my own, I end up thumbing through the phone book, the only reason I keep one around, but getting your input is definitely more fun.

But choosing winners is always a tough call. Debra, I love the name Octavious, and I will use it in this story. Probably not for a name that appears over and over, because it’s three syllables, but I’ll find just the minor character for it.

The suggestions for the twins were all good, but in the end I liked Stephanie’s suggestion of Henry and Jacob Lowe. My only concern is that some readers may think I’ve taken the name association too far by calling homeless men Lowe (low), so I may keep Harvick, but I’ll use Henry and Jacob. And in case you’re wondering, the characters are based on real people here in Eugene.

Such great name suggestions for the young activist. Jane, I loved the name Kara Walsh, but Jackson’s girlfriend is Kera, so it’s too close. Darn! Otherwise, Eden, Sydney, and Caprice were my favorites, and I finally had to ask my husband to pick one because I couldn’t make up my mind. He liked Sydney Willow, so congratulations to Susan!

The police officer is most important, so it was the hardest decision. Especially since most of his fellow officers refer to him by his last name, but Detective Schakowski (who’s his cousin) refers to him by his first name. So both names have to be just right. I liked Chet Harris (from John), and Pete McCaughey (from Risa), and Brent Scully (from Ann).

But after much consideration, I went with Daniel Thompson. It’s strong, yet friendly, and Schak, who grew up with him, calls him Danny. Congratulations to Steve, who submitted by email.

I’ll try to contact everyone about their free ebook, but if you don’t hear from me, please send me an email so I can get a copy of The Target to you. If you’ve already read it and liked it, please leave me a review on  Amazon. And if you’ve read it, I can put on a list for a free ebook of my next Dallas thriller instead.

Thanks again for playing!