It’s time for another installment of Countdown to Captives! We are only two weeks away from the release day. Some reviews are starting to come in, which is exciting. Here are a few quotes I’ve gotten so far.
“Expert worldbuilding and fascinating characters collide in an adventure that begs the question: What would you do if you were torn from your home and forced to adopt another culture as your own? Williamson’s characters surprised me and I can’t wait to see what they do next!”
–Shannon Dittemore, author of the Angel Eyes trilogy
“Intriguing and slightly unsettling, Captives is a phenomenal addition to the world of dystopian literature. Jill Williamson has done it again.”
–Christian Miles, teen author
“Jill Williamson’s compelling young characters shine in Captives as they face a dark world beset by a lethal plague and a devastating betrayal that threatens their lives.”
–R. J. Larson, author of Prophet
“Any time I pick up a book by Jill Williamson, I know to expect an adventure that’s both creative and captivating. And Captives was no exception. From the first page, Captives held me enthralled with an original plot, flesh and blood characters, heart-racing action and plenty of peril. A high-stakes dystopian novel, Captives is sure to leave readers with paper cuts from turning the pages, and begging for more when they reach the end.”
–Gillian Adams, author of Out of Darkness Rising
“Captives is a compelling adventure about the bonds of family and love despite all obstacles, grievous mistakes, and a haunting future. Portrayed in only the way Jill Williamson can, Captives is a gut-wrenching story. I winced, I cringed, I groaned and I cheered!” –Ronie Kendig, Christy award winning and bestselling author
I’ve got two more ARC copies to give away today. But before I get carried away, here are last week’s winners:
Hannah P.
Congrats! Today’s freebie is the story of how I came up with Captives. Check it out:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/-5pSmy_Ri8o[/youtube]
And to enter to win one of the two advanced reader copies of Captives this week, all you have to do is help me brainstorm some names for my next fantasy novel. Anything you think that sounds cool. Here’s the name I’m thinking of calling my hero: Hezukariah. Maybe it’s too weird. Naturally, though, he hates his name and goes by Hez. 😆
Hezukariah is an interesting name; if he goes by Hez I think it could work. I like the name Cade too, though, and Leland.
For girl names, what about Miranna? Or Aileen?
BTW, how do you usually come up with names for your books, especially the fantasy ones? Do you use real names that are fairly unusual? Or do you make them up? (And also, where did you get the dress you’re wearing in the video?)
Yeah… maybe I won’t go with Hezukariah after all. I don’t have any rules about how I come up with names. I used Hebrew for some of the names in Blood of Kings, then types of apples and constellations and things having to do with wine… I’m trying to come up with some new names by messing around with the letters and creating uniquish ones. (My sister gave me that shirt.) 🙂
Elryon. Pronounced “L-rI-un.” It’d be good for a male side-character, in my opinion.
Hmmmmmm.
Torenin, Jazel, Beren… (Yeah, I need help with fantasy names.)
I also like some Greek or Hebrew names for fantasy stories.
Hee hee, me too!
After falling head over heels in love with Martyr in Replication, I’m absolutely ready to dive into the pages of Captives! I love how you got the idea for this book too, Jill! 😉
Thanks, Sarah! 🙂
Ooh, I didn’t see the part where I was supposed to give you a name. Duh! Um, right now I’m kinda loving Scottish/Gaelic names, since I’m writing a novel with that kind of setting. One of my favorite names is Cillian.
Ooh, Cillian is fun. Is it an S sound or a K sound?
How about “Jinan” for a female character? It’s Arabic for paradise or garden.
Cool one, Tracy! I like it.
The name that popped to my mind first was Achan, and I thought it was really cool! But then I realized I fell in love with that name from By Darkness Hid, which was written by…you! So never mind about that. So, I love Tasrak, which could be for a minor character or a close friend of the hero’s. Or even a brother or something!
😉 Hoping to get the ARC of Captives!!!
Achan! An excellent name. Perhaps he can star in all my books! 🙂
Tasrak is pretty, cool, Marisa.
Sounds Fun!
Whoo! Can’t wait till it comes out!
Aster? Not sure if that’s a real name or not.
Aster is a great name. I think people have been named Aster too, around the turn of the century, maybe.
In reference to the last question in my previous question (about your outfit in the video), feel free to ignore it, sorry. It looked like you were wearing the brown dress from the banner at the top of the page. Sorry. *facepalm* I sometimes type before I think.
LOL! No problem, Sarah! 🙂
“Japheth” nick-name “Jay”
Cool one, Dawn!
I like a lot of the names that kids in the urban part of my community have. They’re usually pretty creative or unique – Yeah “Unique” is truly the name of a girl. LeShyra, MarQuan, Aracelia, TayDrione, ReJaun. I’m using some of these in the story I’m working on writing. 🙂
Those are pretty cool names, Jamie!
Ooooo this book sounds really interesting and got some great reviews! Would love to read this!
Hmm a fantasy novel name…Loaded? (I’m not really good at this!)
Loaded stars in either an urban fantasy or a cyberpunk, I think. 🙂
Well, I have always liked the boy’s name “Dhane”
(pronounced “dayne”)
And for a girl I LOVE the name “Stazia”
(pronounced staz-ie-ya)
Those are fun ones.
Some name ideas:
Lillian
Forest
Brooke
Anything from nature always makes a good name.
Or just combine random names. When I come up with names I always use baby name websites and type in the most prominent characteristic of a character and see which names mean that.
Cool idea, Brianna! I like combining names too.
Above Adept…
Here’s a few that I like: Kellan, Quinn, Matthias, Selah, Odell
Cool! I used both Quinn and Matthias in my stories. Matthias was the little boy in To Darkness Fled and From Darkness Won. And Quinn was a character in a book I wrote about fairies.
Now I DO like the name Hez (though Hezukariah is just a tad full-on! :P) When I’m reading I love the one or two syllable names (so I don’t forget them). How about Cade or Elihu…
Yeah… Maybe no Hezukariah. But it was meant to be long and horrible, so that might still be okay. I like Cade! Is Elihu pronounced EE-lee-hoo?
Camaleal
Nice! 🙂
Tzipiyah – Hebrew for “Expectation”
Savlanut (Sahv-lah-nute) – Hebrew for “Patience”. While I was visiting Israel, an Arab in Bethany told me it is also Arabic for “Be quiet.” 🙂
Alfred John “AJ” Sterling – This is for a classy bad guy 🙂
Nice, Pattie! Good ones.
Thank you for answering my questions!
🙂
The C in Cillian (like the Irish actor Cillian Murphy – http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0614165/?ref_=sr_1) is said with an “S” sound. 😉
Taking a few ideas from the Swedish language since that is part of my heritage…
Karesta means darling, as in paramour
Fromma means devout
Gyllene means golden
Best wishes with the new release!
I’m cheating and putting a few favorites instead of one. How can I pick one favorite name!?
Boys: Bane, Leo, Maxim, Legend
Girls: Midnight, Amber, Arcana, Valentine
Um, I need to caution against using one of my suggestions that was from the Swedish language. Momma saw my post about it on your Facebook page and let me know that to her generation, “karesta” has a connotation of mistress. Oops! And I liked that one the best, too!
Sheepishly,
Crystal
Ha ha. Thanks for letting me know, Crystal. Karesta could always change her ways. LOL
I found these biblical names that sounded really good:
Abiel
Azal
Petra
Hope that helps, thanks for the giveaway Jill!
Thanks, Kara. Those do sound good. 🙂
I love Karesta! Prompts some interesting character ideas, too. 😉 Here are a few names I found and liked researching for my WIP:
Lorcan (Irish for the small, fierce one)
Meara (Gaelic for one who is filled with happiness)
Ara/Aira (Arabic for an opinionated woman)
Also, I was reading the OT the other day and found out Huz and Buz are brothers in the Bible. ;D It might be silly, but I love to think of people like Tebah and Thahash having an Uncle Buz.
LOL! Uncle Buz. That’s fun. I love the name Lorcan, C. Nice ones. Thanks!