Edited: Today, my editor and I came to an agreement on my title, which you can see in the sidebar. I wanted to wait for the blog, but alas, when a good idea hits, you must run with it. Yes, I titled the book myself. You can thank the TV show, Charmed, for my inspiration.
I didn’t want to rewrite my entire blog, so I’m posting it as if I didn’t have a title…but then I made some revisions, LOL! You’ll see where. There’s a contest in here…so keep reading!
As you can see from the little bar graph on the sidebar (down below the covers) I’m well into the second half of my next Blaze. I’ve sent my editor the first half, which she’s read and given me revisions on. My deadline is June 1, and if all goes well, I’m going to make it with time to spare (ha! Time to edit at the end, I mean!) Anyway, when I spoke to Brenda this week, she asked me to start coming up with titles.
Ugh.
I hate coming up with titles. You see, some books have titles before I write them. In fact, my third book, GOOD GIRLS DO! (and as far as I know, I was the first author to use that title, btw, though it’s been poached many times since) was sold on the title. I didn’t even have a story yet!
When I have a good title, it comes to me early on. Sometimes, they are tweaked (Exposed was actually Maximum Exposure–the hero’s name was Max and Private Lessons was Private Dancer) and other times, Brenda titles them herself. (Looking for Trouble and Up to No Good were entirely hers, though they were absolutely perfect for the books.) I rarely can title a book myself if I’m this far into the story and the title hasn’t come to me. The working title is “ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH” but Brenda doesn’t think it’s sexy enough and she’s probably right. It’s also kind of long.
My new Blaze is a sequel to STRIPPED (my title,) my August 2007 Blaze that won the Reviewer’s Choice for Best Blaze from Romantic Times magazine. I’d like a one-word title to go with its sister-book, but I’m not holding my breath. One-worders are the toughest titles to find. But I’m not going to be picky.
I need a title!
Well, I needed a title…SOMETHING WICKED will be the sequel to STRIPPED. But, since this will be fun anyway, let’s come up with some random Blaze titles! I’m asking the May Blaze authors (and possibly my editor if I can swing it) to come by and determine the winner…who will receive a copy of the May books!
Which are brilliantly titled:
# Indulge Me (Harlequin Blaze, 393) by Isabel Sharpe
# Nightcap (Harlequin Blaze, 394) by Kathleen O’Reilly
# Up Close and Personal (Harlequin Blaze, 395) by Joanne Rock
# A Sexy Time of It (Harlequin Blaze, 396) by Cara Summers
# Fire in the Blood (Harlequin Blaze, 397) by Kelley St. John
# Have Mercy (Harlequin Blaze, 398) by Jo Leigh
To get your creative juices flowing, click here to read all the Blaze titles in 2007 and 2008 (with props to the authors!) to give you an idea of what kind of titles make it in the line.
* Beyond Breathless by Kathleen O’Reilly
* Letting Loose by Mara Fox
* Untouched by Samantha Hunter
* Jack and Jilted by Cathy Yardley
* Release by Jo Leigh
* Her Book of Pleasure by Marie Donovan
* Jinxed by Jacquie D’Alessandro
* Hitting the Mark by Jill Monroe
* Don’t Look Back by Joanne Rock
* At Her Beck and Call by Dawn Atkins
* Hot Moves by Kristin Hardy
* Private Confessions by Lori Borrill
* Beyond Daring by Kathleen O’Reilly
* A Breath Away by Wendy Etherington
* Just One Look by Joanne Rock
* Slow Hand Luke by Debbi Rawlins
* Reckoning by Jo Leigh
* Take On Me by Sarah Mayberry
* Coming Undone by Stephanie Tyler
* Sex as a Second Language by Jamie Sobrato
* The Haunting by Hope Tarr
* At His Fingertips by Dawn Atkins
* Bad Behavior by Kristin Hardy
* All Over You by Sarah Mayberry
* Beyond Seduction by Kathleen O’Reilly
* Ex Girlfriends’ Club by Rhonda Nelson
* The Man Tamer by Cindi Myers
* Double Dare by Tawny Weber
* Kiss and Dwell by Kelley St. John
* Hot for Him by Sarah Mayberry
* Risking It All by Stephanie Tyler
* Call Me Wicked by Jamie Sobrato
* Shadow Hawk by Jill Shalvis
* The P.I. by Cara Summers
* No Rules by Shannon Hollis
* One Night Standards by Cathy Yardley
* Men at Work by Colleen Collins, Karen Kendall, Cindi Myers
* The Ultimate Bite by Crystal Green
* Taken by Tori Carrington
* The Cop by Cara Summers
* Ghosts and Roses by Kelley St. John
* She Did a Bad, Bad, Thing by Stephanie Bond
* Hard and Fast by Lisa Renee Jones
* Doing Ireland! by Kate Hoffmann
* Stripped by Julie Elizabeth Leto
* The Defender by Cara Summers
* Pick Me Up by Samantha Hunter
* Underneath It All by Lori Borrill
* Kidnapped! by Jo Leigh
* My Secret Life by Lori Wilde
* Overexposed by Leslie Kelly
* Swept Away by Dawn Atkins
* Shiver and Spice by Kelley St. John
* The Naked Truth by Shannon Hollis
* If He Only Knew… by Debbi Rawlins
* My Front Page Scandal by Carrie Alexander
* Flyboy by Karen Foley
* Shock Waves by Colleen Collins
* Cold Case, Hot Bodies by Jule McBride
* For Lust or Money by Kate Hoffmann
* Sex Bomb by Jamie Sobrato
* Dead Sexy by Kimberly Raye
* Dangerous… by Tori Carrington
* Wild Child by Cindi Myers
* Feeling the Heat by Rhonda Nelson
* Tall, Dark, and Filthy Rich by Jill Monroe
* A Blazing Little Christmas by Jacquie D’Alessandro, Kathleen O’Reilly, Joanne Rock
* Strokes of Midnight by Hope Tarr
* Talking in Your Sleep… by Samantha Hunter
* Baby, It’s Cold Outside by Cathy Yardley
* The Big Heat by Jennifer LaBrecque
* What She Really Wants for Christmas by Debbi Rawlins
* One Wild Wedding Night by Leslie Kelly
* My Guilty Pleasure by Jamie Denton
* Bare Necessities by Marie Donovan
* Does She Dare? by Tawny Weber
* At Your Command by Julie Miller
* The Tao of Sex by Jade Lee
* Tex Appeal by Alison Kent, Kimberly Raye, Cara Summers
* My Wildest Ride by Isabel Sharpe
* Shameless by Tori Carrington
* Primal Instincts by Jill Monroe
* Your Bed or Mine? by Kate Hoffmann
* Burning Up by Sarah Mayberry
* Getting Lucky by Joanne Rock
* Shaken and Stirred by Kathleen O’Reilly
* Off Limits by Jordan Summers
* Beyond His Control by Stephanie Tyler
* What Happened in Vegas… by Wendy Etherington
* Coming Soon by Jo Leigh
* No Stopping Now by Dawn Atkins
* Drop Dead Gorgeous by Kimberly Raye
* French Kissing by Nancy Warren
* One for the Road by Crystal Green
* Sex, Straight Up by Kathleen O’Reilly
* Putting it to the Test by Lori Borrill
* Indulge Me by Isabel Sharpe
* Nightcap by Kathleen O’Reilly
* Up Close and Personal by Joanne Rock
* A Sexy Time of It by Cara Summers
* Fire in the Blood by Kelley St. John
* Have Mercy by Jo Leigh
By all reports, Julie Leto was a sweet child once, somewhat shy, preferring to play quietly in her room making up stories. However, being raised with three brothers in a loud, primarily Italian household did have its influences and Julie discovered her inner tough girl. That’s probably why most of her heroines kick serious butt. Writing sassy heroines has worked out, as she’s sold over forty books to four publishers featuring strong, confident women. Julie lives in Florida with her daughter, a spoiled dachshund, a haughty lynx-point Siamese and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance.
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Hmmm…Do you have the premise for the book Julie?
Bared
Baring It All
Wicked Games
Enticed
Tempting (insert hero’s name here)
Going For It
Thrill Me Tonight
I’ll try to think of more…
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Well that’s one contest I would have no luck with. I can’t decide what to pack for vacation or make for dinner much less try and come up with a title for a book.
Good luck???
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Okay, here’s a few titles:
Night Moves
Sin-Tillating
Feel Me
Deep Encounter
Play Naughty for Me
Cher
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Julie, this is too fun! I like seeing all the titles together over the last two years… definitely inspires new ideas! But I’ll anxious to see what everyone else thinks. Love Wicked Game BTW, Stacy. Brings to mind the Helena Christianssen video from way back…
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My brain is jetlagged and not cooperating, but just wanted to say congrats on your title!! Can’t wait for the book! Woohoo!!
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Oh I hate coming up with titles! :scratch3:
Congrats on the new one
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heads up on your contest, Julie. Terrific idea!
Kelley
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Let’s see: Out Of A Dream, Midnight Lover, My Fantasy, Too Hot For Me, Johnny Come Lately, After Hours, My Sexy Secret, Paid In Full, Delicious Dreams, Behind The Mask, Out Of Uniform, & Naughty Nights.
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I’ve seen some really great titles! My brain isn’t really working well right now, so I can’t think of any titles. I’ll keep thinking and check back in later.
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One Night Only
Moonlight Calling
The Skinny
Love Me, If You Can
Sinfully Sweet
Tehehe. This is fun. Best of luck.
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This is so not my forte!!!!
If I think of any think I’ll be back!
I happen to be reading one of the Blaze books listed above! Whew!!
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What about: Teach Me Tonight? or
Teachers Pet
Thrilled
I guess that is all the possibilities my brain has for now!!
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Sudden Silence
Sudden Strengths
Serenissima
Selfless Submission
Suddenly Suitable
Suddenly Susceptible
Always and Soon
Midnight Music
Love Songs
Midnight Mission
Marriage By Mistake
I think this is my alliteration day! LOL!
Pat Cochran
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I leave the titles and writing to you guys..
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those are great titles. love stripped
wickedly hot
forbidden lust
lust in time
hot to the touch
touch me
sexyback
risk it all
all or nothing
take it off
wicked seduction
tempted seduction
forbidden secdution
make me come
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Am no good at this sort of thing. Whatever it will be called I will be waiting to read it.
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Private Contact
Private Desires
Naked Nights
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Hm… I’m on finals brain [which means I have none] – but these are my suggestions thus far
Naughty and Nice
Pure Pleasure
Wild and Wicked Ways
The Sex Bet
Luck and Leisure
Daring Maneuvers
Hot For It
Fast and Loose
The List
Checkmate
Bump in the Night
Daring
Work and Play
The/Her Protector
Dangerous Games
Congratulations on the new title, Julie!
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:yikes: this is tough! But here goes:
The Illusion of Love
Unlawfully Wed
Love is a battlefield
Torrid Love
Love around the clock
You have the right to remain silent
Spellbound
Prisoner of love
Island of Rapture
Oh man are these corny
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Hey everybody…I feel like I haven’t been around much…
Jules, I love this idea…I am going to have to come back to this…still at work…I have read some of the books that are listed in the big list as well as the MAY list…I already have Kelley’s book…looking for the BL for those too…here are some that just jumped out on the screen…
Scintillating
Exposed
Tactile Sensation
Unveiled
Uncovered?
Under cover?
Veiled
Will try again later…
i hope that everyone is having a wonderful week so far…don’t enter me in this contest though…just want to play the word games…lol…
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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Ok so after all these bright ideas, I went to Amazon and found that most of my titles are already titles…lol
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Wicked and Willing
Wanted: Wild & Wicked
that’s all I’ve got…
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This was much harder than I thought it would be.
Between The Sheets
Hot Nights
Wicked Ways
Fantasy Hotel
Secret Fantasies
Night Seduction
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how about Witchly or Witchly wicked….really wicked….wickedly witchy….wicked?….Obviously, I am not a writer….
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Wow, it is really hard to come up something creative as a title. Here goes a few:
Up All Night
Feel the Heat
Same Time Next Year
Dutch Treat
Rules of Engagement
My brain is exhausted from trying to be creative. :wink:
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I’m not that great in coming up with titles, so here goes mine.
Night Moves
Slender
Wild Ride
Slow and Burn
Wild Times
Cool Moves
Rising High
Hot and Wild
Wild Sensations
Hope they help. :giggle:
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Ok…I’ll give it a try…
Passion’s Fire
Do It Again
Undercovers
Well…at least I tried :)
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One Night Stand
Racing With Love
Blue Skies
For Now and Always
Reserved Pleasures
Romantic Ties
Blushing Babes
Twisted Love
Bound to Wed
The Test of Time
Shadows of Love
Lonesome Blue
Song for a Widow
Treasures
Spindle of Fire
Firecracker
Fanning the Flames
Taming the Heart
Gone Wild
Flamed
Sizzling
Pure Quality
Doing It
O.k. that’s all my tired brain can think of.