It’s Time to Play Name that Novella

All right, Nineteenteen readers. It’s time to help an Authoress in distress.

This summer, I plan to self-publish a novella for all the readers of Bewitching Season who’ve asked for a story for Charles, a.k.a. Chuckles, Persy and Pen’s younger brother. I am delighted to finally oblige you, and am working on having the story edited and proof-read and a cover designed and all the things that must be done to ensure a quality product. But one thing is holding me back, and that’s where you come in.

I need a title.

I’ll confess here and now that I’m terrible at book titles—simply terrible. And you have been so good at coming up with wonderful ones when Regina and I have asked for your help…so I’m here today to ask you to help find a name for Charles’s story.

Here’s a blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Charles Leland is not looking forward to his summer holidays from Eton—not when he has to spend them studying history to make up for a less-than-stellar grade last term. Not even the thought of spending them with Persy and Lochinvar while his parents are in Ireland visiting Pen can cheer him up.

But as it turns out, cramming history takes a back seat to finding out what has happened to Persy, who disappears from home the day he arrives. All signs indicate that she’s been abducted by gypsies…but a gypsy boy named Nando convinces Charles that her disappearance has a much more otherworldly explanation.

Now Charles must brave the perils and sheer strangeness of the fairy lands to try to rescue his sister from being forcibly married to a powerful fairy lord, with the help of the fairy lord’s own younger and very insistent sister, a copy of History and Policy of the Norman and Angevin Kings that he must read before September, and Queen Victoria. But will he also be able to rescue himself?

There you have it, dear Nineteenteen readers. Can you help me come up with a title for Charles’s story? You’ve done it before…can you do it again?

Let's Play Name Those Books

We once again interrupt our regularly scheduled programming with a request for assistance. (I will get to the marriage of Princess Mary next week—promise!) You see, I am absolutely delighted to report that Love Inspired Historical will be publishing three more books from me! My editor loves the characters and stories as much as I do, and she’s so excited she hopes to get all three books out in 2012, which means I have three books to write in about 11 months. And I need titles yesterday.

I did not inherit the title gene. Either titles come to me, or they don’t. So far, these don’t. But you all have been so helpful with Marissa’s and my books, offering outstanding suggestions, that I asked my editor if I could appeal to you yet again. She is eagerly awaiting your thoughts.

So, here’s the situation: The books are a miniseries tentatively tagged with the phrase “The Everard Legacy.” They are set in 1805 in England, which technically is the Georgian period, but they still have the feel of the Regency. Three roguish cousins learn that their scandalous late uncle left a secret daughter, a feisty teenager ready to embark on her first London Season, and they may only claim their much anticipated inheritances if they bring her out properly. In the first book, the hero Jerome Everard is certain the girl must be a fraud. (Picture Matthew Bomer with that charming smile.) Used to protecting the estates from his mercurial uncle, he is determined to protect them now from a cozening female. But his new cousin Samantha is not the scheming girl he expected, and neither is her lovely governess, Adele Walcott. Jerome must choose between protecting his inheritance and protecting the women he is coming to love.

In the second book, the hero Richard Everard is a world-weary widower, a former sea captain. (Picture a Jonathan Frakes in the early days of Star Trek: The Next Generation only with redder hair and beard.) Despite his best efforts, Samantha has wiggled her way into his heart, and he wants to help her, so he appeals to the widow of a man who was in his debt to act as sponsor for Samantha’s Season. Lady Claire Winthrop has also given up on love, but accepting Richard’s offer will help her keep her standing in Society. Richard must learn to open his heart even further and take a chance on love.

In the third book, the hero Vaughn Everard is a poet, as fast with his wit as he is with his sword. (Picture Orlando Bloom looking like Legolas but with a more devilish character.) Vaughn is fiercely loyal to Samantha, so when her future is threatened by someone who knows the secret of her birth, he sets out to protect her, even if that means wooing her rival, Lady Imogene Devary. Vaughn must choose between vengeance and mercy.

Here’s where it gets a little trickier. We want the three titles to be of similar construction (so if the first was something like Marrying the Marquis, then the second could be Eloping with the Earl and the third might be Kissing the Count, though of course none of my gentleman are titled—Samantha is). The titles also need to focus on the men—their goals, their characteristics, their archetypes. In addition, I have been asked to stay away from the term “rogue” (although that certainly describes them!) because upcoming titles from Love Inspired Historical will be using it. And the titles can’t be generic (I tried His to Claim, His to Court, and His to Love—no dice). Finally, they need to have “hook,” and if you can figure out what that term means and apply it well, you have a great career ahead of you in publishing.

You can make a suggestion for one book, or all three. Post suggestions in the comments section until midnight this Sunday, April 17. I will collect them and send them to my editor. If she picks one of yours, I will send you an advance signed copy of The Irresistible Earl as soon as I get my author copies (expected in early May). If, as she did last time, she doesn’t pick any of them, I’ll put your names in a hat and draw a winner for the advance copy.

Looking forward to seeing what you make of all this! And thank you so much!

Once Again, it’s Time to Play Name that Book!

We're pretty lucky, Regina and I, to have such fabulous readers. You've done such a good job helping us come up with lists of possible names for our upcoming books (even if most recently Regina's editor ending up moving in a different direction for hers) that I'm back for your help again…because I’m darned if I can think of a good title for my upcoming YA book, due out in early 2012.

Are you ready?

Book 3 is a companion to Bewitching Season and Betraying Season but set years earlier, in 1815, at the very end of the Napoleonic Wars. Readers of my first books might notice that one of the main characters is Lady Parthenope Hardcastle, whom they have already met as the mother of Persy and Pen Leland…but who is a teen herself in this book. It's about magic and political intrigue and love, but it’s also about a handicapped person coming to terms with how the world sees her and how she sees herself, in a time and place much less accepting than ours. Here’s a brief “jacket copy” type description of the story:

Two years ago, illness left Lady Sophie Rosier unable to walk except with a cane…and also took both her mother and her magical powers. Now it’s 1815 and time for her first London season, and a girl who once loved to dance is forced to watch while others waltz on strong, untwisted legs and flirt with boys who don't even seem to see her.

On the night of her first party Sophie’s father is nearly crushed by a falling statue, and only she knows that a magic spell was behind the “accident”. When other members of government suffer similar magical attacks, Sophie and her new best friend Parthenope decide to investigate. It’s not an easy task when she can’t rely on her slowly-returning magic to help—or keep her thoughts off Parthenope’s handsome cousin, the Earl of Woodbridge…except that the safety of England may very well be at stake.

In the glittering ballrooms of Regency London and Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo you’ll meet a sketchy fortune hunter, a magic-sensing parakeet, a long-lost love, a plant-obsessed aunt, and the Duke of Wellington…and a courageous young girl trying to find her balance in a difficult world.

Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind: my editor thinks that the title should focus on the magical and romantic elements of the story; it won’t be necessary to include anything historical since the cover illustration will make that obvious. And no, “season” should not be part of the title since it more or less stands alone. I’ve used "The Waterloo Plot" and "Magic in Season" as working titles, but neither of those is quite right.

And so, Dear Readers…let’s brainstorm some titles! As Regina did, I’m happy to offer an advanced reading copy (not available till late next summer, probably) if one of you comes up with the title that gets chosen by my publisher…but in the meanwhile, just for fun, I’ll also have a drawing for a copy of either Bewitching Season or Betraying Season (your choice) from among anyone who comments with a possible title.

Questions or clarifications? Ask away…and thank you!!

Title, Title, Who Has a Title?

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming with a request for assistance. You see, my editor on my second book for Love Inspired Historical would like additional suggestions on a title for the book. In the past, you all have been very helpful to Marissa; this group helped come up with the name Betraying Season for her award-winning YA novel. So, will you put on your thinking caps for me?

Here’s the situation: My hero, Trevor Fitzwilliam, is a bit of a bad boy. (I picture him as looking a bit like Brandon Routh--tall, dark, and brooding.) A commoner by birth, he’s managed to use his considerable talents to help a few lords clear up embarrassing matters like blackmail and gambling debts. One was so thankful, and powerful, he petitioned the King for a baronetcy for Trevor. So, at the beginning of the story, Sir Trevor is on his way to the Lakes District to see the estate someone kindly donated to his title (the below picture shows my vision of the place, sans the cars, of course). Trevor quickly learns why someone wanted to get rid of the place. Any income from the estate came from a graphite mine that is now closed, and Blackcliff Hall is in dire need of repairs. He’d just as soon ride back to London and pretend he never saw the place, but the daughter of the former steward, Gwen Allbridge, is determined that he live up to his new title of Lord of the Manor. In the resulting struggle of wills, secrets come to light that will change Sir Trevor and Gwen’s lives forever.

My editor would like the title of the book to play on Sir Trevor’s title. Officially, he’s Sir Trevor Fitzwilliam of Blackcliff. And, of course, he’s a baronet. I had originally titled it The Bold Baronet, but she’s not keen on it. And yes, he has to stay a baronet. He’s a secondary character in my first book for them, The Irresistible Earl, and changing all those Sir Trevors to something else isn’t in the cards.

So, ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

If you happen to offer the title my editor picks, you may have your pick: a copy of La Petite Four now or an unbound advanced reading copy of The Irresistible Earl in January or February when I get my copies. I have to have suggestions back to my editor by Tuesday, so I will take any suggestions until midnight on November 8.

Thanks! Oh, and by the way, happy Guy Fawkes Day! Today would have been a great day for fireworks in the nineteenth century. Learn more from Marissa’s original post on the subject.

Help Me Name My Next Book!

We're doing something a little different from our usual exploration of history today...instead of talking about bad boys and 19th century slang, we're going to talk about book titles. More specifically, we're going to talk about what to name my next book, due out next spring from Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.

Book titles are important. They can make people browsing in bookstores stop and pick up a book, or make them ignore it completely. They have to stand for the story and give an idea of what goes on in the book without giving everything away. And you know what else? They can be dreadfully difficult to come up with.

So I'm going to give you a brief "jacket copy" type description of my next book, and then a list of possible titles. Does one of them seem perfect to you? Or can you think of something completely different that isn't on the list? Let me know in the comments section...all commenters will be entered in a drawing to receive an advance reading copy of the new book some time late this fall (don't worry, I won't forget!)...and of course I'll post here as soon as the final name is decided on.

And so...

THE STORY:

Penelope Leland has come to Ireland to study magic and prove to herself that she's as good a witch as her twin sister Persy. But when Niall Keating begins to pay her court, she can’t help being distracted from her studies. Especially when she learns that the handsome young nobleman is reputedly an illegitimate cousin of the new young Queen Victoria, her friend and idol, whom her sister saved from an ambitious wizard’s control spell the year before.

Niall Keating has strict orders from his sorceress mother Lady Keating: to make young Miss Leland fall in love with him so that she can be convinced to use her magical powers to help reconcile him to his true father, the Duke of Cumberland, Queen Victoria’s uncle. Niall is delighted to comply until he discovers his mother’s true aim: to assassinate Queen Victoria by magic and put Niall’s father on the throne of England.

Penelope is thrilled when Lady Keating reveals her powers and offers to tutor her in magic. But Niall has fallen deeply in love with the lovely young woman. Even if he halts his mother’s evil plans, will Penelope be able to forgive him for trying to seduce her into a plot against her beloved queen? And what will Pen discover about Irish magic and the mysterious Triple Goddess whom Lady Keating serves?

THE (Possible) TITLES, in alphabetical order:

Betraying Season

Encircled

Maiden Voyage

Spellbound

The Queen's Maiden

Twice Bewitched


Good luck! I'll take comments through next Monday night (July 28). And have fun!