Plot Monkeys

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!

# 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

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Julie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.