Character Name Favorites

It’s always so much fun seeing the contest names! Readers submit such a wide variety of names, and they’re so much more creative and adventurous than what I would have come up with on my own. Skia Mulvaney, Heidi Lapeer, Hubie Spikes, Joy Worldly, and Saburo were some of the most original. Others were just plain fun—Ray Sweets, Dottie Crocker, Bonnie Bleacher, Jim Zucker, and M.O. Perkins to name a few.

Without these naming contests, I would likely stick to the Eugene yellow pages as a source and end up with all “safe” names. Although my hometown is very accepting of all kinds of cultures and lifestyles, it’s not much of a melting pot. So it’s great to get a variety of names/characters and plug them into the story.

Thanks, everyone, for participating. I’ll use as many of your suggestions as I can! Overall, though, my favorite name was Daniel Talbot, submitted by Alexandra Lundgren, whose last name I’ll also use in the story. A second favorite name was Jordan Rivers.

I’m sill undecided about the female FBI agent, but some of my favorite suggestions were Nadia Hart, Grace Kizina, and Jordan Rivers. I may mix, match, and modify. Do you like Jordan Kinzia? Or Nadia Lundgren?

I’ll try to contact everyone about their free ebook, but if you don’t hear from me it’s because I couldn’t find you, so email me.

Thanks again for participating.

New Story, Names Needed

Believe or not, I’m already writing a new Jackson story, and I’m very excited about this one. I even have a working title, but it’s is too early too share. I have an interview set up with an FBI agent, and I’m considering add a new character…who my spin off into her own series someday. (We’ll see how I feel in May.)

But what I need right now from my faithful readers is your participation again. I need names and lots of them. In my past two novels, I included dozens of the names you suggested, so I hope you’ve had a chance to pick up the books and see your contributions. One reader contacted me with so much excitement (!!!!) about her name being in Liars, Cheaters & Thieves, I could hear her squealing across the county.

Many of the names I need will be witnesses, neighbors, and victim’s family members, so they don’t need any special connotations. Just reader friendly.

But one suspect in particular is a white, upperclass male who lost a lot of money in the recession and is very angry about it. Another suspect is a young Hispanic gang member with a lot to prove to his peers.

And of course, I need a name for my female FBI agent…who may be with me for a while. (So this is important, and I reserve the right to change at the last minute.)

Everyone who participates gets a free ebook of their choice, and I’ll also pick one or two favorites, who will receive a print book of their choice, or of my latest Jackson book: Liars, Cheaters & Thieves.

It’s fun for everyone if you leave your suggestions in the comments, but please also email me with your choice of ebook and file type (mobi or epub).

Thanks again for you help in the past, now let’s see what you’ve got!

New Contest Winners

This contest had the most names ever submitted, making it harder than ever to pick a single favorite. I’m so glad I decided upfront to use as many of the names as I could and to send everyone an ebook.

Before I tell you the winner, I’d like to point out some of my favorites first. Prescott Sutton for the homeless guy. Priceless! I will use it, but I may also let him keep the “street” name I gave him. Read more

Name Those Characters Contest

I spent an hour looking through the phone book for names, then realized I hadn’t held my usual “Name That Character” contest for this book. I’m writing a new Jackson story with the working title Liars, Cheaters, & Thieves, and I need lots of names. Suspects, victims, and witnesses.

I don’t want to give too much away, but the story involves three men, friends since high school. I’ve settled on the main character’s name, Read more

Winning Name for a Corpse

So many great names were entered! Interestingly, I’ve already used several of the names in the story, such as the first name Jason and the last name Morton. And I liked the Melinda Becker suggestion, but I used Bekker as a major character in my last Jackson story. I almost picked Jodi Hansen because it’s a great name, but I know two lovely women named Jodie, one of whom is my editor, so I just couldn’t kill someone named Jodi. Read more

Kill or Be Killed: Book & Name Giveaway

We’ve all thought about killing someone…at least for a second or two, and crime fiction novelists like myself get to act that out in novels. Now it’s your turn. I’m giving away the opportunity to name the murder victim in the futuristic thriller I’m writing. (You expected someone  to die, didn’t you?)

Read more

Character Name Winners

Thanks everyone for suggesting such intriguing characters names for my futuristic thriller. My husband now has a crush on one of the winners because her suggestions are so creatively awesome! After much consideration, the winning selections are:
Male, bureaucrat: Sherman Dogg, submitted by Rose
Female paramedic: DeTerra Celeste Stibbins submitted by C. Lyncia Wright-Harris. Ms. Harris also submitted Adulan Dominic Masters, but Read more

Character Naming Contest

secretstodiefor_small2I’ve had so much great feedback on SECRETS TO DIE FOR I’ve decided to give away a few more copies. This time you have to earn it by coming up with a great name for one of the characters in my next novel, which I’ve just started outlining. Here’s what I know about the characters so far: Read more

Book Giveaway Winner

And the winner is…Carol M who “loves mysteries.” Congratulations! E-mail me with your address. Thank you, everyone, for participating and for the supportive comments. If you’re curious how authors randomly pick a name from a bunch of blog comments and e-mails, here’s how I do it: I copy and past all the comments into a Word document, then print it, then cut the comments into equal-size strips and fold them into squares. I put all the entrants into a bowl and let my husband draw one. Read more