NAME THAT DOG & NAME THAT CAT! VOTE Your Pet Name for New Thriller

by Amy Shojai | Jun 24, 2015 | Writing Advice & More | 22 comments

VOTING IS CLOSED!

WINNERS ANNOUNCED HERE!

I am blown away by the response to the call for pet name nominations to star in my next thriller SHOW AND TELL. After sending out the request in my Pet Peeves newsletter, I also posted here on the blog and shared via social media and various email lists.

There were a total of 46 dog names suggested, and (wait for it…) 81 cat names suggested. Wow! Some of y’all nominated a name for a specific dog or cat character, while others simply suggested names without a preference.

For simplicity’s sake, though, I’ve had to limit each character/poll to no more than 15 names (sorry!). I tried to include at least one name from each person (some of y’all offered several nominations), and avoid those too similar/already used for human characters. Stay tuned–because I have saved all the suggestions and have planned a special tie-in to include even more pet names. Because after all, EVERY pet is a star!

So without further delay, here are the lists. Feel free to vote for up to 3 in each category, and share this post to encourage your friends to campaign for your dog or cat name. I’ll leave the polls open until July 1st, and announce the winners on July 4th.

So feel free to share this everywhere and campaign for your top picks. The winning names not only will be included in the book, but your name and real pet’s description will be added to the “fact or fiction” acknowledgements in the book, and I’ll send you a paw-tographed copy of the book as soon as it comes out.

I’ve only included the suggested names and brief description (if offered) but if you want to review more details check out the comments on this blog post. Sorry, some came to me privately so can’t share beyond what’s on the poll for those…

But to THANK YOU for voting, scroll on down to the end for links to a couple of free E-books available June 24-26. Ready–set–VOTE!

couple of juvenile American Staffordshire terrier in front of a white background

Images courtesy of DepositPhotos.com

NAME THAT DOG!

Two “hog hunting” dogs that belong to BeeBo (from the HIDE AND SEEK book). They are adult Pit Bull (or pit mix). These dogs (one girl, one boy) adore each other.

The third dog is a 200-pound Mastiff, lovely docile but powerful dog (and a drooler).

Dog that belongs to Willie Combs, the young son of Detective Jeff Combs. The dog loves to dig and is a fence escape artist addicted to chasing rabbits and squirrels, and of a size that September can carry him/her for a short time.

NAME THAT CAT!

A young rescue kitten, found with a murder victim. It has typical kitten antics and can be any breed or look, and will be the key to catching the bad guy.

One of the stolen pets, small enough to fit inside Willie’s jacket and be carried—so could be a small adult or an older kitten, any look/breed.

The third is an adult stolen pet cat, a shoulder perching, Tarzan-leaping, rope climbing maniac cat and can be any age, any breed/look. This kitty will help September and Shadow escape a trap.

FREE FOR THREE DAYS ONLY

JUNE 24-26!

My Cat Hates My Date

My Dog Hates My Date

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 give aways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE!

22 Comments

Cathy Armato on June 30, 2015 at 11:23 am

This was fun!
Reply
- Amy Shojai on June 30, 2015 at 11:25 am
  
  Thanks for visiting and voting! The numbers are heating up, LOL!
  Reply
Karyl on June 24, 2015 at 4:19 pm

Hahaha oops. Got a bit overzealous voting for my baby. Apparently after a certain point, it cuts you off.
Reply
- Amy Shojai on June 24, 2015 at 4:22 pm
  
  LOL! Well…I think you can repeat vote but may have to wait again for a few hours or the next day or something. I didn’t create any limitations on it. Why not get your facebook friends to visit and vote instead? *s*
  Reply
  - Karyl on June 24, 2015 at 4:25 pm
    
    Yeah it’s probably built into polldaddy’s site to make you have a “cool down” period. But I have posted it up on Twitter and Facebook and such as well. 🙂
    Reply
Cathy Keisha on June 24, 2015 at 3:23 pm

Whoa! I’ve never had a character in a book named after me. Thank you for including me in the voting. I’d definitely review and talk up a book a CK character was in. Of course, I’d still share it if I didn’t win which looks likely.
Reply
- Amy Shojai on June 24, 2015 at 3:28 pm
  
  Voting lasts through June 1st at midnight so there’s still time….go campaign for CK! LOL!
  Reply
  - Karyl on July 1, 2015 at 7:27 am
    
    Is it the upcoming midnight or the one we just passed? Need to figure out if I gotta keep watching the votes. LOL
    Reply
    - Amy Shojai on July 1, 2015 at 7:30 am
      
      Midnight TONIGHT, July 1st, the polls will close. 🙂
      Reply
Pam Mitschke on June 24, 2015 at 11:40 am

The name I gave wasn’t real popular, but that’s ok. I had a crazy cat named Ozzie, and now a Boston Terrier/Chi named Ozzzie. My dog actually helps our other dog, Suki learn toplay and helps us help her learn to trust people again!:) She’s a Chi x, and was found on the streets. Was on the euthanasia list when I found her & used tears to talk my husband into a 2nd dog! They are both from shelters, he just faired better than her. She’s the most loving dog you’d know, andhelps my husband when he’s down. (He’s disabled, so both dogs cheer him up, but Suki bugs him till he smiles and pets her!:)
Reply
- Amy Shojai on June 30, 2015 at 11:27 am
  
  So glad that you tear-talked your husband into the 2nd dog. Win-win for everyone, right? 🙂
  Reply
kittiesblue on June 24, 2015 at 10:50 am

You really got some great names, and we have selected our favorites. We didn’t know we could select a specific breed to go with our name. Maybe if one of our names is chosen we can give you the breed as well. So fun to have this opportunity.
Reply
- Amy Shojai on June 24, 2015 at 11:02 am
  
  Well, some folks nominated their own pets and described the look/breed. So yes, if you didn’t designate a breed/look/description and your name wins, I’ll come back to you for details.
  Reply
Kitty Cat Chronicles on June 24, 2015 at 9:04 am

How exciting! Our Caster cat made it onto the poll for Tarzan cat — he would be a purrfect Tarzan cat indeed! Can’t wait to find out if he makes it into the book!!
Reply
- Amy Shojai on June 24, 2015 at 10:29 am
  
  Good luck, Caster! (Hint: you can vote over and over again…tell your friends!)
  Reply
Sweet Purrfections on June 24, 2015 at 9:03 am

This is fun. Can’t wait to see who wins.
Reply
- Amy Shojai on June 24, 2015 at 10:30 am
  
  Me too. It’s exciting. In some of the previous contests, there’ve been 3000 or more votes on some favorite names, wow!
  Reply
Karyl on June 24, 2015 at 8:21 am

Just a note Crookshanks was the name of Hermione’s ginger cat in Harry Potter. Not sure how you want to handle (unless character will mention the cat was named after the character, to play it safe since similarity is so strong).

Also… I don’t think Prissy was one of my names was it? Which is funny because that was my Gram’s old cat’s name. LOL
Reply
- Amy Shojai on June 24, 2015 at 10:32 am
  
  Nope, one of my newspaper column readers suggested Prissy. *s* And I don’t really care that Crookshanks has been used to name other cats (real or fictional). Whatever name wins, the character will be unique in his/her own furry right.
  Reply
  - Karyl on June 24, 2015 at 11:23 am
    
    I just wanted to make sure I said something since I don’t know how far copyright/trademark issues go on characters like that.
    Reply
    - Amy Shojai on June 24, 2015 at 12:11 pm
      
      Thanks Karyl. You can’t copyright names and as far as I’m aware, Crookshanks isn’t trademarked, either. There are a LOT of humans with that name, actually.
      Reply
      - Karyl on June 24, 2015 at 12:21 pm
        
        Crookshanks as a name probably isn’t, I wasn’t sure if Crookshanks the character who is specifically a longhaired ginger cat would be, though. Some of the big name companies can go after people over the silliest stuff, and I’m not sure if WB (who still has at least some of the rights last I knew) would get in a tizzy over any similarity. Since they’re one of the companies that sometimes gets fussy over things they really shouldn’t be fussing over… (Not trying to push the issue, mind you, just trying to explain why I thought I should bring it up so I hopefully sound a little less crazy. Probably making myself sound more so instead, that’s usually the way it goes. LOL)
        
        Though I was not aware there were humans with that name too. Learned something new!

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