Last night after writing until 2:30 in the morning, I lay in bed and started thinking about titles. Why? Because my writer’s brain never seems to turn off. I thought you might find it interesting to know what goes into deciding titles. Here goes.
When I wrote my first book, Love ’em or Leave ’em, the title was Reality Bites. Not after the movie, which I’ve sadly never seen, but because it’s about a girl who is stuck on a reality dating show and doesn’t want to be there. I thought it was the perfect, sassy title, but when it was picked up by Avalon Books, they changed the title to Love ’em or Leave ’em after the name I gave my fake reality dating show in the book. I instantly wished I’d thought of a catchier name for my fake dating show, but there it is.
Rock and a Hard Place was my next book and the title from almost the beginning. I always thought I’d change it, but I could never think of anything I liked better. Rock stands for Peter Jamieson and his rock music. And if you’ve read the book, you know that Hard Place is Libby’s life. She’s gone through so much and continues to throughout the book. I think this is probably my favorite title so far.
Snapshot is book two in the Jamieson Collection and features Adam Jamieson, the goofy younger brother who loves photography. Half the book is set at a photography camp and I thought Snapshot had some fun duel meanings.
Dream Chaser also has duel meanings. It’s about a girl, Willow, who is cast in a musical titled Dream Chaser along side a boy, Eli. It also represents the fact that Willow and Eli are both chasing their dreams. This is my favorite cover so far.
Snowed Over is a holiday novella. I really wanted to title it Snowed In because the two college students get stranded in a vacant cabin over Christmas, but that title has been used numerous times. So Snowed Over it is. Also a great cover!
Royally Lost is a fun one. I love the title and that the publisher didn’t want to change it. The girl in the story, Becca, tends to get lost. All the time. The guy, Nikolai, just happens to be a prince on the run. I felt Royally Lost was a fun play on words and their situation. And now that I think of it, this is probably my favorite cover.
My next book, which releases in May, 2015, is titled Under the Spotlight. It’s the third book in the Jamieson Collection and about the oldest brother Garrett. He’s a real piece of work and writing this book has been a blast. I found a great girl for him with the challenging Riley Parks. Originally I gave this book a working title of Sound Check, because Garrett and Riley meet at a recording studio, but over time, I felt that Under the Spotlight was a better fit because of her being forced to take the stage. The publisher was resistant to the change at first, but once they read the book, heartily agreed.
I’m currently working on two projects, one of which is a time travel. I think I’ve come up with the perfect title, but until the book is finished and finds a home, I’ll have to keep it under wraps. I hope you enjoyed my title trivia.
