Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Title Talk with Guest Blogger: Tiffany Allee




Welcome Entangled author Tiffany Allee
to the Book Boost today!



She's here to discuss book titles and here's what she had to say...


A Title Here. A Title There.


I'll admit, before I started writing I didn't think about book titles a whole lot. Sure, when I shopped in a book store, one might catch my eye enough to get me to pick the book up and read the blurb, but I couldn't have told you the title to all of my favorites. There are a few reasons behind this, I'm sure. But the biggest one is probably because I'm a big series reader. I identify books by the series title, or even the main character's name—the Rachel Morgan books, the Kate Daniels stories, the Edge series.


So once I started taking my writing seriously and had to actually create interesting titles, I found myself at a bit of a loss. Something that will attract attention, have actual bearing on the book, and that hasn't been used before (not recently or at least not in the same genre)? A title that has meaning without revealing too much? Gah! That was a tall order for me.


And don't even get me started on series titles and taglines and such. Really, don't. We could be here all day.


Luckily, with my first release, Banshee Charmer, the title came easily to me. The title character is a banshee. A charming man, who may or may not have her best interest at heart, heavily influences her throughout the story. There aren't a ton of banshee stories out there, so the title was unique. It had bearing on the book but didn't reveal too much. Done and done.


But then I had to title my second release. Once Prey, Twice Forsaken is a story I actually wrote before Banshee Charmer, but won't be released until June. The title did not come easily to me. All of my ideas were either too generic, or just didn't fit properly. Finally, after batting dozens of ideas back and forth with my editor, we settled on the ending title. It was painful, and not at all the almost easy, organic process I went through with Banshee Charmer.


My third release's title came to me quite easily. It is the sequel to Banshee Charmer, titled Succubus Lost.


I'm just sure the next one will be a struggle. It's a bit maddening.


Do you struggle with titles? Do some come easily while others evade you?


A Note from the Book Boost: Thanks for joining us today, Tiffany. I have to say that titles come very easily to me and they are really "my thing". I believe a title can make or break a book. In fact, one of the biggest romance publishers out there (who shall remain nameless) has the worst titles ever, in my opinion. And although I know they produce quality work, I cannot stand the titles. Please tell us more about your latest!


Blurb:

When she’s sent to a crime scene and finds her second dead woman in as many weeks, half-banshee detective Kiera “Mac” McLoughlin is convinced a serial killer is on the loose. Incubi are extinct, her boss insists. But what else can kill a woman in the throes of pleasure?

When her partner is murdered after using witchcraft to locate the killer and Mac is thrown off the case, her frustration turns to desperation.

Certain the killer is an incubus, Mac works behind her department’s back to chase down slim, sometimes perilous leads. While the killer eludes her, she does discover handsome Aidan Byrne, an investigative counterpart from the enigmatic Otherworlder Enforcement Agency.

Mac typically runs her investigations fast and hard, but with Aidan at her side, she’s running this one “hot” as well. But Aidan knows more than he’s letting on—something that could shatter their blazing romance and add Mac to the killer’s growing body count…


Want More Tiffany?


Visit her on the web here: http://tiffanyallee.com/

Follow her on Twitter here:
http://twitter.com/#!/TiffanyAllee


Pick up a copy of her book today! Click here.

2 comments:

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

I think titles are so important and so incredibly difficult. I tend—very unfairly, I'm sure—to assume a cool title was the author's and a bad title was one the publisher came up with, or forced the author to come up with.

I hate titles that don't tell anything about the story. Into the Fire, On the Edge, Edge of Darkness, stuff like that is meaningless and overused.

Luckily, once I love an author, titles don't matter. :)

Banshee Charmer is a fantastic title, though, very memorable!

Roxanne Rhoads said...

Sometimes titles just come to me other times they are a struggle. I have a couple page sin my writer's notebook of possible titles that I've brainstormed, who knows if I'll ever use them but I have them on hand in case of emergency title block LOL