I’m excited to finally be able to involve all of you loyal readers in an important part of the book creation process! Two of my books need new titles and I’m looking to you for help and suggestions. If your title is picked or your word suggestion is key in coming up with the final title, you will be mentioned by name (unless you tell me otherwise) in the acknowledgements included in the book, and you will receive a free digital advanced copy of the book as soon as it becomes available. I’ll report back on the final decision here once I’ve made it.
Here’s what I need from you: What titles do you think fit the descriptions of the books below? If you don’t want to think of a full title, what words or phrases would make you want to pick up the book? Short titles tend to stick in people’s minds better, so I’m aiming for no more than four words. (I’ll do the research later as to whether or not a title is already taken; you don’t have to worry about that unless you want to.)
Re-title #1: Guinevere of Northgallis
This was always a working title and I’ve never been happy with it. This is the story of Guinevere’s life before King Arthur. I want something that says Arthurian legend (but not literally) when you read it. I want you to know right away that this book is connected to the story of Camelot, but is Guinevere’s story. The two other books in the series are titled Camelot’s Queen (book 2 – someone else already took Queen of Camelot, darn it!) and Mistress of Legend (book 3) – these are final titles that I love. I want something that fits with these. The trilogy will collectively be called Guinevere’s Tale.
Book description (This may well end up being the back cover copy):
Before queenship and Camelot, Guinevere was a priestess of Avalon. She loved another before Arthur, a warrior who would one day betray her.
In the war-torn world of late fifth century Britain, young Guinevere faces a choice: stay with her family to defend her home at Northgallis from the Irish, or go to Avalon to seek help for the horrific visions that haunt her. The Sight calls her to Avalon, where she meets Morgan, a woman of questionable parentage who is destined to become her rival. As Guinevere matures to womanhood, she gains the powers of a priestess, and falls in love with a man who will be both her deepest love and her greatest mistake.
Just when Guinevere is able to envision a future in Avalon, tragedy forces her back home, into a world she barely recognizes, one in which her pagan faith, outspokenness, and proficiency in the magical and military arts are liabilities. When a chance reunion with her lover leads to disaster, she is cast out of Northgallis and into an uncertain future. As a new High King comes to power, Guinevere must navigate a world of political intrigue where unmarried women are valuable commodities and seemingly innocent actions can have life-altering consequences.
You may think you know the story of Guinevere, but you’ve never heard it like this: in her own words. Listen and you will hear the true story of Camelot and its queen.
What are your thoughts? Please let me know in the comments below.
Re-title #2: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
I LOVE this title, but unfortunately, someone else recently released a book with the same title. There is no rule or law that two books can’t have the same title, but it causes confusion when readers search for the book and I’d like to avoid that.
This book is a light, beach-read love story. I consider it a romantic comedy. Beyond the love story, it’s about maturing and learning to trust, as well as the power of literature and education to change lives. It’s not a steamy book, but that was done on purpose (in fact, my historicals are way more graphic), though it is made clear who is having sex. There’s plenty of snark and adult language to distinguish it from the inspirational side of sweet.
I’m looking for something that says fun, entertaining love story. One thing that may help you in thinking of a title is that the book takes place in Chicago, and the location is very important to the story.
Book description (not finalized):
Annabeth is a hopeless romantic who believes in soul mates. In fact, she’s been writing to hers each year on her birthday since she was 16. Now, at 34, she’s still holding out hope of finding Mr. Right even though he’d be fighting an uphill battle to gain her trust, thanks to a traumatic experience years before with her childhood friend/college boyfriend, Nick.
When Annabeth meets a handsome literature professor named Alex on her 34th birthday, she thinks her quest may be at an end. But things don’t quite go as planned, so Annabeth resolves to do everything she can over the next year to get over her issues and find the unknown recipient of her letters. This leads to many awkward and humorous dating incidents, culminating in the unexpected reappearance of Alex, her handsome birthday boy, as a work client. Just when Annabeth thinks her life can’t get any more confusing, Nick comes crashing back into her life, turning her world on its head and forcing her to face all of her old insecurities and unresolved feelings.
Written in the tradition of Bridget Jones’ Diary, Kim Gruenfelder’s A Total Waste of Makeup, and Melissa Pimental’s Love By The Book, this novel shows love on the sweet side and would be right at home on the Hallmark Channel or Lifetime.
Thoughts? Ideas? Please leave them in the comments.
I really appreciate all of you and I hope you have fun with this. I really want to involve my readers in the book process as I can and I hope you enjoy this first opportunity to help shape the books you’ll soon be reading.
As anyone who knows me will attest, I am a lifelong learner. If I had known when I was in school that being a scholar was a valid career choice, I totally would have done it (history or religion). But as things are, I have two jobs, a day job for which I’ve gotten a master’s and professional accreditation (that’s as far as I can go as a PhD would make me overqualified) and my job as an author. I really, really want to advance my knowledge in the craft of writing, but I really have no desire (nor the time or money) to get a traditional MFA.
Hi everyone! I emerged from the writing cave yesterday with a first draft of my next book weighing in at 107,000 words. It’ll get smaller as I edit it, but that’s two weeks away.
