I’m
feeling lazy. Let’s have a contest!
You
guys might remember Rae has a bit of a thing about coyotes—if by “thing” I can
mean “massive childhood trauma.” Rae lost her childhood friend, Sam, when her
abusive family put her in a car and drove off with her, and Rae was unable to
stop the car because she ran into a menacing coyote in the woods that blocked
her from cutting off the car’s path. Rae has been creeped out by coyotes ever
since, and really doesn’t like them. Late in the first volume of Masks, however, she had to face her fear
in the form of her own memories—a spectral coyote that forced her to answer a
question in order to rescue Trevor.
Now,
I’m not dropping too many spoilers
here, but the adorable little coyote at the top of this blog entry will play a
small but important role in Volume 2, helping Rae deal with some of that trauma
(and providing much-needed cuteness). But I’m having a devil of a time naming
him! So whoever can come up with the right name—the one that clicks in my brain
and helps me figure him out—will win a signed copy of Masks Volume 1, in either paper or in finished-soon-I-promise ebook
form. (Yes, I can sign an ebook. Win the contest and find out how.) The winner
will also receive a limited-edition (because I don’t have them made very often)
Masks button or two, including the
design above—and a handmade Pocket Coyote of your very own, to be named
whatever you like. You’ll also be mentioned, by name, in the acknowledgments of
Volume 2.
Now,
here’s how to enter! Simply leave your suggested coyote pup name in a comment on
this blog entry. You may enter as many times as you like, but each name counts
as only one entry; if ten people enter the name “Spot” and I choose that name,
the first one to suggest it gets the prize. Except I’ve just suggested “Spot,”
so that one’s taken now.
Ground
rules (also known as “things I won’t even consider, so don’t bother
suggesting”):
1. No
naughty words. This is a PG-13 site, so the pup won’t be named anything you
can’t say twice in a PG-13 movie. Naughty-word suggestions will not make it past
the comment moderator to be entered in the contest, so you’d basically be
wasting your time.
2. No
Wile E. Coyote references. So no Wiley, no Whylee, none of that. In the
unlikely event Masks gets famous
enough to attract the attention of lawyers, I don’t need Warner Bros. suing me
for copyright infringement.
3. No
Cervantes jokes (unless they’re really unusually clever). There’s already been
a Don Coyote cartoon, so this pup will not be named Don or Dawn or anything of
the kind.
4. The
pup cannot be named Kirby, or any variation thereof. Sorry, but Amadeus Cho’s
coyote pup was named Kerberos, shortened to Kirby, and because I enjoyed the
adventures of Kirby and Amadeus, I consider the name permanently taken.
Other
than that, the sky’s the limit! I can tell you so far that the coyote is male,
and basically orphaned as a pup; Rae will name him, somewhat unwillingly; he
will really like eating black licorice; and he will, of course, be more than he
appears, including just a bit magical (in the manner of the Masked Rider …
whatever manner that is). He’ll also be a bit bitey when he first shows up,
with a habit of gnawing on people’s fingers, as young canines tend to do.
I will
announce the winner … ehh, pretty much when I’ve got one. But the sooner you
suggest your name, the sooner you can win all that lovely loot!
