Well, here we have it. I want to thank everyone who participated. I was given more names than I expected, and so many fantastic ones it almost makes me want to breed just so I can use ‘em.
Here are some of the ways I whittled it down:
Some of the names were unpalatable to the western eye. Not that they were good names, or meaningful ones. But you generally don’t want your reader pulled out of the story to figure out how to pronounce the name every time they stumble across it.
There were some great names I loved but couldn’t use because they brought to mind other authors’ characters. Jase/Jace for ex. (Rachel Vincent). Dolan and Asher (Hamilton). Xander (Buffy.) Hawk (Parker). Draco (Rowlings). Grey (me - similar to a name I’m using for a new series - sorry Vamps!).
And then there were Xavier, Drake, Marcus, Micah - love them, but …um. Kinda already used them.
Zeke is fantastic and I may use it yet (props to Theresa!) but it didn’t fit this particular character. Ditto Anders (Swedish connection, yanno) and Jaymes. (Not real out there, but I like the unique spelling on the page.)
Abraxus (DL!), Braxton (dtraeger), Ezra (patchy), Milo (Grom) and Axe (fun for a Shadow, Mik!) are little marbles in my mind. I’m rolling them around, trying to see if and where they’d fit. Two votes for Ryker, which is strong and apropos, but I’m afraid it’s too close to Stryker (as was Stryder), and I have to be aware of the names I’ve already used. How confusing (if improbable) would it be to have Ryker and Stryker end up on the same page?
I love Vaughn and Cole, but they’re a bit to normal for this character.
So, top three: Egan, Hendrix and Caine.
I have to be honest, Hendrix was my frontrunner when I first saw it on the page. (Could it be because I’ve been drinking Hendrick’s? Nah…
) But speaking it aloud, and hearing it in the text, it didn’t quite work. Something about the ‘x’ at the end felt like punctuation, as if every sentence should end with his name.
Egan…too beautiful for this man. The soft syllables would work for someone kinder and/or less intense. I’d like to spend time with someone named Egan. This man? Not so much.
Now, Caine. There’s a single syllable punch you can wrap your mind around. The biblical equivalent is a nice subliminal as well, subversive without being exact. Funny, I passed over this a couple times before I really _saw_ it. I inserted it in text and it looks great on the page too. So Caine it is. And it’s from…
Nathalie!
I still have your snailmail addy, so the first signed ARC is already winging your way. Your mission, if you choose to open that ARC, is to keep your trap silent around these parts for almost three months! Bwah-ha-haa! (See, even when I’m being nice, my evil author side is lurking. ;D)
Congrats to Nat, and I thank the rest of you for the time and effort you’ve put into this. More soon…including a ‘build your own superhero’ contest. Whee!