Saturday, August 1, 2009

And the Winner is ....

BRYCE WICKHAM!

All the finalists were fabulous. Thank you to all the readers who submitted them. You all won your choice from my backlist. The voting was fast and furious and Mr. Wickham only beat his nearest competitor by a mere 5 votes. Bryce Wickham was submitted by Jane Lange. Congratulations, Jane! You'll be receiving my entire signed backlist and a special "thank you" on the Acknowledgment page of STROKE OF GENIUS (Coming June 2010).

I'd have been happy to use any of the names, but let me share why I think Bryce Wickham is a good choice for Crispin Hawke's manservant.

First of all, Bryce may sound like a modern name, but its actually an old Celtic one. I'll have to get Jane's ok on this, but I'd like to change it back to the old spelling "Brice." There was a 5th century saint by that name and I like the contrarian nature of naming an ornery character after a saint. Plus Crispin is also a saint name, so they go together well. Add to that the fact that I think they were both born to mothers who worked in the same house of ill-repute and I can fix their birthdays according to their saint days.

Wickham sounds like "wicked" of course, so that also works well for a fellow who goes through ladies' maids like tissue. (Don't worry! He'll meet his own match during the course of the story.) And since we're thinking about changing the 'y' in Bryce to 'i' I might just flip them and make the name Brice Wyckham. I think that gives it a more Regency feel.

Now there is another prize to be given as today as well. I appreciate all of you for taking the time to vote. Everyone who voted was entered into my drawing to win a WHOLE BOX OF BOOKS! Here's my 2nd winner for today: Kirsten B. of Hopkinsville, KY. Congrats, Kirsten!

Thanks for playing, everyone! I'll be posting a new contest on my website soon, so please be sure to check back often. And thank you all for helping me with my current WIP STROKE OF GENIUS!

17 comments:

Jane L said...

Emily, I am thrilled to have my name voted as the winning choice! You can be sure I am humbled and excited to be a part of your story! PLEASE! YES! Change the spelling to suit your story for sure! I agree most certainly!!! Again thanks to all who voted for Bryce and happy reading!!

Booklover1335 said...

You know now that you've explained why you think Brice is the perfect name I could not agree more. Can't wait to read it, and congrats to Jane and Kirsten!!!!

EmilyBryan said...

Actually, Booklover, I didn't choose Brice Wyckham. All the hundreds (yep, there were that many!) of folks who voted in this contest determined which name came out on top. I could make a case for every one of the finalists being a great name for me to use. And there were lots of really good names that didn't quite make the cut.

I have the most creative readers on the planet!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to both of the winners! :)

I'm a little sad about not winning the box of books...was hoping to review some of them...but what can you do. ;)

Great contest Em!

-Bobbie
From: Book Reviews By Bobbie

EmilyBryan said...

Sorry, Bobbie. Luck of the draw and all that.

But I have another contest that just started today! Please visit www.emilybryan.com and click on the contest link on the left hand side navigation bar. The winner for August gets to pick one of my backlist. Bet there's something I've written that you haven't read yet!

Judith said...

That is a great name. I knew a boy named Brice (spelled that way) who lived on my street in high school and he was a hottie.

Maureen said...

So, when will Jane's book be out? ;)

Heather D said...

Congrats to the winners!! A great name was chosen.

EmilyBryan said...

I got a call from my editor just on Friday and STROKE OF GENIUS (or as Chance likes to call it, "Jane's Book") will be a June 2010 release from Leisure Books. They are hard at work on the cover art now and I can't what to see what the art dept. at Dorchester comes up with!

Teddyree said...

Congrats to Jane and Kirsten. Awesome contest Em and I can't wait to read Crispin & Brice's story

EmilyBryan said...

Thanks for helping me spread the word about the contest on your excellent blogs, Teddy.

Jude said...

This was such a fun contest.

EmilyBryan said...

Thanks, Jude. Your THADDEUS PUCK was a great entry.

Maureen said...

So, Emily...can Jane claim she's in print once this book comes out? ;-)

I'm looking forward to it, sounds like a fun book. As all your books are!

EmilyBryan said...

Sure she can--two whole words worth!

Suzette said...

Congrats Jane! Wish the name I chose had won but your name is also quite excellent. Kristen congrats on the books. You lucky girl!

EmilyBryan said...

Suzette, your CALEB FLYNN did very well in the voting. It was a close race. Thanks so much for playing! Isn't it fun to make things up?