Name That Character is back

Here’s the post for which you’ve been waiting, the next Name That Character event.

Would you like to earn a free autographed copy of my next book? In each of the four previous, I’ve opened up a competition to name someone in the book and assign some characteristics and/or background story to that person.

Each has been an overwhelming success. If you’ve read these books, you’ll recognize Virgil “Moose” MacDuff, the lineman from “Hurricane”; Sandra “Sunny” DelSol, the dispatcher in “Penguin”; Gene Teller, the contractor from “Rose”; and Matt “Matty” Davis, the former pro baseball player turned sports store owner in “Sloth.”

Ready? Here is all I know about this character. He or she is a new car salesperson. That’s it. Age, amount of experience in sales, gender … whatever … is up to you. This character needs to fulfill only a minor role in the book as I envision it now, but someone who’s really interesting can command more space. That was certainly true in some previous winners, two of which I expect to turn up again in this book.

Oh, of course, this person also needs a name. You may have noticed three of those listed above had nicknames and each was believable and true to the character. However, I tend to not want to establish trends. That is, if you use a nickname it needs to be useful in building the character or I might drop it. That said, it will not disqualify or diminish your submission.

Previous winners may enter, but they are all held to a higher standard.

Deadline: I plan to close it down on Monday, June 15. (This has been extended to 8 a.m. EDT, Thursday, June 18.) That gives you time to put together your thoughts, but it also gives you time to put it off and forget about it. Don’t do that. If you follow this blog, follow me on Twitter or follow my character JP Weiscarver on Facebook, I’ll see to it you get at least one more reminder before it ends. You’ll find all three listed in the right column and, yes, you may follow more than one.

How to enter: Find the tab at the top of this page where it says “Contact Steve.” Click it, enter your name, e-mail and include your entry under comment. Submit.

The winner, selected solely by me based on whatever tickles my fancy, will receive a personalized, autographed copy of the book when it comes out.

Oh, and someone asked about the title of the book. For the first time, I’m working on a story without knowing its title. It will come out eventually, but for now I’m referring to it in-house as “Yellowstone.”

If you have any questions, post in the comments below so everyone can see or send me a private message.

One more thing. Feel free to share this with your friends … if you can handle the competition.