As most of you know, I have been working feverishly on my new manuscript, Blue The Person - a story about the man who conquered life.
And now, I need your help.
What do I need your help with?
Naming a particular character in Blue The Person.
Whoever helps me will be rewarded with two free books.
Book 1: You get a free copy of The Great Lenore, inscribed with expressions of gratitude. If you already pre-ordered a copy of The Great Lenore, great! You will now have two copies - one you can keep for yourself, and one you can loan to others.
Book 2: Whatever you want. You let me know, and I will buy it on Amazon and have it shipped your way. (Well...I should clarify. Whatever new, readily available, regularly-priced book you want; let's not branch out into any $4,000 collector's items you have been coveting!)
How does the contest work?
You have probably figured it out already.
Post your suggestion for the character's name in the comments. Whichever name I choose wins the two free books. It's that simple.
Now, one additional factor in the contest is that I ask you to tweet (or facebook, or blog, or all-of-the-above) the link to this contest. That way, lots of people will know about it and will be able to enter. But you will not be disqualified if you fail to help spread the word. I might be bitter toward you - but you will not be disqualified.
I will announce the winner on the morning of June 15 - the day The Great Lenore hits stores. You have between now and then to enter your name suggestion(s).
What can you know about Blue The Person?
Not much, because I write my first drafts with the door closed. But I can crack the door open to let you know that he grew up in the Deep South (Southern Louisiana - on a quiet bayou, to be specific) in the 1920s and 1930s.
You can also know that the first three sentences of the novel are as follows:
Hello. My name is Blue, and this is the story about myself and a girl named Rosie. This is the story about how I conquered life.
Lastly, you can know that the character I need a name for lives on the bayou also. And is a boy just a couple years older than Blue. And is dirty, annoying, and always right. It is unlikely that he knows how to read or write. It is unlikely he knows what half the things he says mean. It is unlikely he has ever bathed.
He does not have a big part in the book, but he is a beautiful, grimy character - and he is a part of Blue's life if for no reason other than the fact that he grew up just a little ways up the bayou from Blue. Oh, and the fact that he was there with Blue and Rosie the first time they ever spoke.
His name is...
I don't know. You tell me.
And after you comment, remember to share the link to this page. Multiple times. In multiple venues.
Let's give everyone a chance to name this dude.
*
I'll see you June 15, with the announcement of the name I have chosen.
Or, I'll see you sooner if you wish, because every day (or nearly every day) between now and then I will be posting snippets from or information about The Great Lenore.
Keep writing.
Keep reading.
Keep sharing.
~JM
You can also enter to win a free copy of "The Great Lenore" on
Paul Joseph's latest post.
Play nice and share with others
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Posts
I vote for Ray Toussaint. I've already ordered my copy, but I'd be happy to spread the other one around. Good promotional idea. Can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, let me say, I love stuff like this! I spend days just naming my characters.
ReplyDeleteI found this on an Acadian genealogy site, and found it incredibly interesting.
"We could not write a column on French names without including the classic story about the lawyer checking courthouse records who came across the name "Regus Patoff LeBlanc." Puzzled by the oddity of the first names, he investigated and learned that its origin was the label on a can of food... an adaptation of the abbreviation "Reg. U.S. Pat. Off." - Registered with the U.S. Patent Office!"
http://www.acadian.org/comeaux3.html
Anyway, I think something like this would be fun for your character. If this guy was raised by parents who didn't read English, or who weren't all that literate, maybe they took your character's name from something random, and named him after it.
I pulled the last names from http://www.lacreole.org/Surnames.htm . The rest I'm making up as I go.
He could be Patpend Boudreaux
(Patent Pending)
I also found an old legal dictionary from 1856 (http://www.constitution.org/bouv/bouvier_m.htm). You could try:
Caveat Emptor Frick
Melius Est Goudeau
(From "Melius est recurrere quam malo currere." It is better to recede than to proceed in evil.)
Mesne Profits Hart
Last Resort Boudreaux (named after the court of last resort)
Lex Fori Coustant (Lex Fori=the law of the court).
Pass Book Maveaux
Anyway, I think this could be a lot of fun.
Or, maybe you just think I'm nuts.
Thanks for the chance to do this! I had a lot of fun with it!
Despite it's lack of Cajun flair, the name that comes to me is "Samuel Jackson Wilson", who everyone calls "Sammy J".
ReplyDeleteI know, I know... That's the name of a movie star.
So... If you want to get "south Louisiana" historical about it... change it to Andrew Jackson LeBlanc. For short it would be Andy J.
I'd been saving this name, hoping one day to invent a character that would suit it. But I think you might have found the character for it...
ReplyDeleteJerontius "Runt" Crawford
The first name has Greek origins but I changed the spelling to look more southern (this was always a southern character to me anyway). Feel free to change it up however you want.
I do miss you since I've abandoned Twitter... Let's see if I can win a book....
ReplyDeleteHmmm.
He's dirty, annoying, and a know-it-all. I expect he wouldn't bother with more than one name. He would most likely just give his surname and leave it that: Thibodeaux.
Or if he's in a mood to share his full name, Henry William La Bauve, he's likely tell you to just call him Hank.
He might have inherited the name Clovis and feel that it just isn't manly enough so he tells others he has no name. He has no need for such things.
I miss you!
love,
WotV
His name is Bath Freed.
ReplyDeleteHi, JM!! Someone in the my crit group linked to your query post and I’ve been visiting regularly since. I’m really looking forward to The Great Lenore.
ReplyDeleteMy name suggestion is Remy Sebastion Guilbeau.
Good luck with Lenore and Blue, and congratulations!
K.E. Bergdoll (@rookberg on Twitter)
Or how about Cadillac Jackson Dupree? He was named after the car his daddy would have bought if the boy had never been born. And, of course, Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I linked to this contest at Small Press Reviews... Hope you get a ton of submissions!
I met a man while I was in Louisiana, who signed his name Tony Dee. Tony Dee could barely read, and didn't own a telephone at all, but he was a belligerent, wonderfully dirty man. Dee, the surname he used, was actually just "D.", and he never told anybody his full last name. I want to see this grimy, belligerent character named something like that. My vote is:
ReplyDeleteBuford Dee. Of course, nobody knows what his real last name is, in keeping with the spirit of his namesake.
I was researching names for a story I was working on, and came across a few that might work for BLUE:
ReplyDeleteErnest Arsenault
Growing up in Georgia I knew a good many people like the kind of person you described. One of the most unique, and fun people I befriended was L.B. Pruitt. In honor of him how about: L.B. Babineux
Vernon Dubois
Cecil Roy
Finally, Horace Boudreaux
How about Cormac Lestrange?
ReplyDeleteI tweeted the link to the contest.
Thanks! This was fun.
I don't want to clutter this post with thoughts of my own, but I just wanted to say: I love the suggestions so far! Keep 'em coming, keep sharing the link, and come back on the 15th to find out which one we are going with!
ReplyDeleteJust in case, I'm hedging my bets with a few more thoughts.
ReplyDeleteVirgil Champagne had to deal with a lot of teasing growing up with that name...
Baby Boy Bertrand goes by B3. His parents never could agree on a name.
Dempsey thinks he if denies his last name is Guillot, people will forget his family's legacy of shame. Who needs a last name, anyway?
Ophe Mouton will never outrun the fact that his parents wanted a girl named Ophelia.
Cornelius Bartheleme Eloi Millet would prefer you call him Jim.
Still miss you.
WotV
I am partial to Roy Lee and O'Dell , but I think the most apropos name would be Oscar. That name says a LOT without needing to be very descriptive of the boy :)
ReplyDelete(P.S. I'm excited about The Great Lenore!)
Carroll Fouquet.
ReplyDeleteJust because.
His name is... Rutherford Poats.
ReplyDeleteI vote for his name to be Bison Grey.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm how about David Doucet- It rolls off the tongue.
ReplyDeleteBlanton Wheeler.
ReplyDelete