Tidbit: Names

Unless a publisher throws me a contract bone that leads in a different direction, I've finally settled down near my water dish with a new story. Well, not exactly new. I started toying around with the idea last year, and actually wrote the first 3 chapters last summer.

Remember all those story choices I gave you last month to pick from in the post Now What? Choice #4 was the overwhelming winner. Here's a brain refresher:

Is independence worth the price of slavery? 
It is if your life depends upon it.

On the run from a cruel employer, British governess ELEANOR MORGAN escapes to America, the land of the free. But liberty is hard to come by as an indentured servant, and impossible if she agrees to an even harsher contract—marriage.

SAMUEL HEATH wants a wife, not a governess. The lifestyle of a trapper in the wild is no life for an infant, but neither is abandonment into the arms of strangers. For the sake of his daughter, he decides to marry again, an impossible task because there’s a stigma attached to his name—murderer.

Both Eleanor and Samuel are survivors, accustomed to overcoming trials and hardships, but this time they must face their biggest challenge ever . . .

Love.

So, now that I've started working in earnest on this puppy, I need to come up with a few names. Want to help?

Here are some era appropriate names for the sweet little 14 month old baby who will be the darling of the story. Which one do you like best?

Hannah

Grace

Lucy

Suzannah

I also need to decide on a Cherokee name for my hero. He's a white dude, but he's got a native blood-brother and is beholden to the tribe for saving his life. Here is a picture of Samuel Heath and a list of the names you can choose from for him...

Waya [WAH-ya] (wa-ya): Wolf

Golanv [KO-la-na or GO-la-na] (go-la-nv): Raven

Yunega [yoo-NEH-ga] (Intended for u-ne-ga): White [Yonega is "white man" or "English"]

Yona [YO-na] (yo-na): Bear;

Yanequa [yah-NEH-kwa] (yo-ne-qua, from yo-na e-qua): Big Bear

Here is your assignment, little buddies. . . In the comment section, put down your top pick for the little girl and for Samuel's native name.

Let the voting begin!