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!

Last Day to Vote!

Today is the final day to vote in my STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Contest. I've been thrilled by the response and it's been such fun to watch the leading name change, sometimes several times a day. This one's going to be close!

In case you haven't heard about this contest, there's still time (just not much of it!). Every good hero needs a BFF (and trust me, Crispin Hawke, who looks remarkable like the fellow in this delicious Fortin & Sanders pic, is a very BAD hero in the very best way!) But I wanted my readers to help me name this important secondary character for STROKE OF GENIUS.

Back in June, readers sent in their suggestions for the name of Crispin's friend and manservant. Then at the beginning of July, I had a dickens of a time narrowing the field to the top ten names. Here they are in no particular order:

Phineas Rowan
Thaddeus Puck
Caleb Flynn
Gordon Rigsby
Bryce Wickham
Nash Rowley
Tuck Willet
Hoyt Pennington
Addison Quinn
Jasper Willoughby

So which name do you think best fits this quirky, supportive fellow who cuts a wide swath of his own through the ranks of the London ladies' maids? Make your pick and then click HERE to vote!

If you've already voted, you can't vote again, but you can still support your favorite. Please always encourage your family and friends to vote. (They must at least 18 and hopefully someone who'd be interested in reading the finished book!)

Everyone who votes is registered in the drawing for a WHOLE BOX OF BOOKS! It's a great way to stock up on beach reads and you'll know soon if you've won! Please check back here for the results!

Thanks again to everyone who submitted a name and all of you who've voted! I always feel that characters define the course of a book and a character's name is very important. You all have a stake in the story of STROKE OF GENIUS now. I'm working hard to make a good one for you.

If you have a strong opinion about the name you voted for, please leave a comment to share which one and why! Have a great weekend!

Look, Ma! No Oven Mitts!

Today is going to be a sort of "catching up" post, tying up loose threads from recent blogs. We'll start with one that relates to my OVER PROTECTIVE MOTHERS CLUB. Here's a picture my little scoot of a daughter sent me from her 4th of July celebration (Please note: Against all her early training, she elected NOT to wear oven mitts when she did her sparkler!) You know, you do what you can. You try to raise them right, but sometimes, kids are just determined to rebel.


WINNER ALERT! This next loose thread comes from Phyllis Campbell and her post about Love Comes Blindly. She's declaring EVERYONE who left a comment the day she was here a WINNER! So, Carol L, Heather D, Jane L, Ibeeeg, and Patricia B (along with moi!) have won a free ebook. Please send Phyllis an email at phylliscampbell84302(at)yahoo.com (Use the real @ symbol of course. I'm just trying to confuse the blog crawlers.) You see, it really pays to post a comment!


And lastly--an update on my STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Contest. I'm thrilled to report the voting has been fast and furious and the field is spread rather like a golf tournament--a couple names running neck and neck, another one stroke back and all the rest well within striking distance. I found this picture to use for more inspiration for my as-yet-unnamed character. You have to pretend he has red hair, but I love the frenetic energy and the onery expression on his face. He's up to something. Probably several somethings.

Or someones.

But what is his name? Here are the top ten finalists:

Phineas Rowan
Thaddeus Puck
Caleb Flynn
Gordon Rigsby
Bryce Wickham
Nash Rowley
Tuck Willet
Hoyt Pennington
Addison Quinn
Jasper Willoughby

Please cast your vote right now. Everyone who does is entered in a separate drawing for a big box of beachreads! Enjoy!

STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Finalists!

In case you aren't aware of my STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Contest, let me explain how it works. Readers are helping me choose a name for a character in my current WIP whom I've designated as XXX for now. (He's my hero's best friend and manservant and he looks suspiciously like the Brits' Prince Harry!)

For the past month my readers have sent in their entries. And now I've finally decided on the 10 names that will advance to the next round. Whew! (If you check out my Contest Entries page, you'll see what a tough job that was!)

Now I need YOUR help! Please pop over to my website and vote for YOUR favorite name. If you do, you'll be entered in a separate drawing for a WHOLE BOX OF BOOKS that I bagged at RT last April. One vote per person please and you must be at least 18 to vote.

If you'd like to leave a note here explaining why you think your choice is the best one, that'd be grand.

Name a Character Contest!

Just a quick note for all of you who submitted an entry into my STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Contest:

I'm having very spotty internet connections while visiting family in the Midwest, so I haven't posted all the entries yet. Please be patient with me. I will be posting them all by July 5th and announcing the 10 finalists by the 6th. Then the voting for the final Grand Prize winner will begin. Do plan on voting (one per person please!) because everyone who helps me choose the winner will be entered into a drawing to win a WHOLE BOX OF BOOKS I picked up at RT this year!

Thanks so much for your patience.

"Beary" Sweet Readers

I have the sweetest readers on the planet! This delightful little pic comes from Down Under and my Aussie friend TeddyRee. Aren't her bears cute? Be sure to pop by her terrific book blog THE ECLECTIC READER


Then from way up north in Canada, my buddy Bobbie couldn't use my "blidget" on her Wordpress blog (I freely confess that I don't understand all I know about Wordpress, which is why I use the more "designed for the techno-challenged" Blogger). But the clever and talented Bobbie of BookReviewsByBobbie suffers from no such debility. She put together this lovely badge on her own initiative to help me get the word out about my new STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Contest!

Thanks so much, ladies! I appreciate you and all my friends and readers who are sharing my books and news with their friends. I owe you big time!

And thank you to all who are entering my STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Contest. I'm getting some terrific entries, but I still want to see YOURS!

STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Contest~Enter Now!

Last year, I ran a 'just for fun' Pirate Name contest when PLEASURING THE PIRATE hit the shelves. Readers from all over the world sent in their funniest, scariest, sexiest pirate names and we had a ball!

Then I started thinking, why would a name contest have to be 'just for fun?' How about a contest where a reader can actually name an important character in my current WIP--STROKE OF GENIUS?

The yummy Fortin & Sanders pic above provides me with plenty of inspiration for my hero Crispin Hawke. Now I need your help in rounding out the character of his manservant and friend. And that starts with choosing the right name.

The reader who sends in the winning name will receive signed copies of all my backlist, including A CHRISTMAS BALL (which is coming out September 29th!)PLUS, they will receive a heartfelt "thank you" on the acknowledgment page of STROKE OF GENIUS.

Got your thinking cap on? Great! Click here for all the details and how to enter.

P.S. If you'd like to help me spread the word, you can grab the STROKE OF GENIUS widget code for your blog or myspace. Plus my inspiration for Crispin is highly decorative, don't you think? Thanks in advance!