Holy WOW, so many votes for the nominations for HIT AND RUN contest winner for dog and cat characters. This has been the most popular one of all. You can see the voting page here.

Those who have followed the September & Shadow pet-centric thriller series know that with each book I’ve held a contest to NAME THAT DOG and NAME THAT CAT character in the stories. In fact, the winning canine or feline not only gets named but often the pet’s foibles are incorporated in the story.

HIT AND RUN had 158 cat and 172 dog names nominated!

Here was the prompt–just a bit about the story:

A dog trainer with hidden secrets. A dead body with the keys to the past. Sniffing out the truth could get them all killed.

IA message from the grave propels September on a mission to answer shocking questions about her past. But one by one, her sources die before she can reach them. Now death stalks September to silence her as well. Can Shadow thwart the killer? Will Macy-Cat sniff out the key to unmask a decades-old horror?

For those who have NOT read my thrillers, rest assured that I hate stories where animals are killed for shock value. While my books are suspenseful and thrilling, that is a line I don’t ever cross.

I had planned to feature ONE cat and ONE dog character. But after so many nominations came in, I decided to make that TWO cats and TWO dog characters. However, once all the votes came in, the top three favorites rows heads, paws, and tails above the competition so there will be THREE cat and THREE dog characters in the newest book!

Some of the winning nominees also sent pictures, many provided descriptions, and others offered only the names.

WINNING CAT NAMES: Total Votes: 7,369

SHERLOCK won the contest!

SHERLOCK nominated by Lisa Mahoney won with 44.84%  (3,304 votes).

Sherlock, a rescued feral kitten, proved too savvy for the live trap (hence his name). “He was filthy dirty and quite wild, and wouldn’t let me touch him at first.  But little by little I was able to gain his trust. When I was able to wash him for the first time, I was shocked to discover that this dirty little “grey” kitten was actually pure white. And he had beautiful green eyes.

Over time Sherlock revealed himself to be a wonderfully gentle soul, and was one of the sweetest cats I’ve ever met.  He loved his adoptive mom (me) and liked to hang over my shoulder when I picked him up, and he would always have a paw touching me when I sat on the couch. He also liked to snuggle into my wet hair after I took a shower. He also adored his  wonderful feline big brother Pie, who did a tremendous job helping socialize him.

His “teenage” period was a bit challenging, as he chewed multiple phone cords and shredded my drapes, and was an all-around wild child but I wouldn’t have traded him for anything. Once he outgrew his wild-child stage he became a gentle, loving old soul of a cat whom I’ll never forget and will always be grateful to have had in my life for 15 years.

Sherlock, bonded closely with a young girl “helper” at the Maine Coon cattery, will have an exciting adventure that helps solve the mystery.”

MERIWETHER came in second in the cat voting!

MERIWETHER nominated by Kate Holly-Clark came in second with 28.58%  (2,106 votes).

“Meriwether is a character all right. He’s very Maine-Coon looking (pretty common here in New England) and was a free kitten. He was named after the explorer Meriwether Lewis because he’s INTO EVERYTHING….he’s also a bit of an idiot and a real klutz. He falls backward off couch arms, into boxes, and is constantly trying to climb things and scrabbling hopelessly and sans dignity to make it.  He’s also survived a bacterial infection (twice) that destroyed his red blood cells– once he was down to 10% left– and the outpouring of support we received when he was sick has inspired a pet prayer group for ailing pets called Team Meriwether on Facebook. A cat who is constantly In Trouble would certainly inspire a young girl to heroic attempts to save him.”

Meriwether, a great explorer fellow, protects his breeder from both human and canine threats. He ends up with Theodore “Teddy” Williams (from previous books).

KAHLUA nominated by Darla Taylor came in third with 15.04%  (1,108 votes).

“Kahlua was a cat I adopted after a car accident in 1994 that left me in bad condition. …I adopted Kahlua who was a female black and white Norwegian Forest Cat and she became my unofficial therapy cat. She was three years old when I got her and I lost her when she was thirteen. Kahlua was beautiful and always knew when I was anxious or feeling down. She would climb in my lap and interact with me bringing me out of my mood. Kahlua was definitely my cat and pretty much ignored the rest of the family.”

Kahlua saves a woman from being injured in a fire.

BISHOP, a black and white Akita,  came in first place in the NAME THAT DOG contest!

WINNING DOG NAMES: Total Votes: 35,931

BISHOP a black and white Akita nominated by Cyn Clarke won with 54.72%  (19,660 votes).

“He’s a very large black and white Akita that I rescued about 8 years ago. He loves children and became attached to my granddaughter within an hour of meeting her. She’s now 13 and whenever she visits, he won’t leave her side; he even wants to sleep in bed with her. He loves cold weather and snow, and is still a very active dog even though he’s now 10.  Akitas, a Japanese national treasure, are known for their loyalty and bravery.  Bred to hunt bear, boar, and elk,  they are fearless and protective especially of those they deem family. With his thick coat, he would have no problem keeping that young girl warm and toasty.”

BISHOP is a mysterious dog that appears out of a snowstorm. Bishop climbs through the broken car window to keep the young girl driver warm, and later, blocks a police car passing on the road to alert to the accident.

KISMET the Great Dane came in second in the dog voting!

KISMET the Great Dane, nominated by Robert Browning, came in second with 31.24%  (11,224 votes).

Kismet is our beautiful girl a Great Dane we rescued and we named her “KISMET” because it was kismet we got her. She is a real cute girl, placid, calm but bright and she loves nothing more than lying up on the sofa with you and just wants to be your best partner. We got her when she was only eighteen months old and is now 8 in June but still has a very young heart! She also loves all people and animals be it cats or rabbits, sheep or cattle, as I said a real softie at heart with a laid back nature and yet intelligent to boot.

Kismet saves Teddy Williams from the killer.

OREO the black and white Border Collie, nominated by Sylvia Finch, came in third with 6.74%  (2,420 votes).  

Our border collie was an extreme people lover. Not being the normal high energy collie, she was calm and wanted to meet every person she met. She even asked in her way to meet new people by looking at me and then looking at them and back at me. Her name was Oreo because she had one black half and one white half of her face and more white than black all over. Our granddaughter (4 years old) was the one to name her.

Oreo belongs to a Chicago cop and saves the man’s life.

HIT AND RUN Coming Later This Fall…OCT. 4, 2020

Thank you SO much to all of my newsletter subscribers and Facebook fans. The six “Name That Pet” winners above will each get both an Ebook version and a paw-tographed physical copy of the book when released.

My newsletter subscribers (~~~waving at my Sweet Peeps!) always get first notice of new books, including any special deals. I’ll let everyone know when the book HIT AND RUN goes up for pre-order, and if you want to be the first to know, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter. (Bribe: you get a free book, too, when you subscribe!).

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book giveaways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE!

Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!