Title Me This…
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
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.
