A Rose By Any Other Name?

January 22nd, 2012 celine chatillon

I suffer from a horrible affliction that haunts many writers… No, I don’t mean low to non-existent sales, although my bank account would say that is indeed a horrible affliction. What plagues my writing is coming up with good, catchy titles for my works.

And by “catchy” what I really mean is “short”.

This isn’t always the case. My upcoming eXtasy release is entitled Blood Betrayal. That’s a pretty short and fairly accurate title since it deals with vampires. My contemporary erotic-romances A Middle Class Existence and Gifts Well-Timed have short titles that I feel are strong and descriptive, but I’m not always certain readers realize how truly hot these stories are, so perhaps they could be better. But some of my personal favorite titles are my—and my publishers’— longest.

Long isn’t necessarily better, it seems. Long means more words for a potential reader to type into a search engine to find your book online. Long doesn’t help you promote your work online, since you can get a cramp from just typing the title, let alone the synopsis and purchase link.

But, somehow, I can’t help myself.

I mean… how more descriptive can Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures (with Robin Manhood and His Totally Sexed-Out Space Pirates) be? Could it be catchier—uh, shorter? Hmm… I don’t know. That’s where my “writing affliction” comes into play.

I just can’t make up my mind about it—should I shorten Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures? Would it help sales if I did? Would a shorter title attract new readers? What other title would tell readers that this is a humorous, science fiction, erotic-romance series starring a young and vivacious heroine named Brandi?

I need help—and I need it soon, because selling books is my sole income at the moment.

Since I’m afflicted with indecision (as well as “title-itis”) I’ve decided to let you, the readers, make up my mind. I’ve set up a poll (located on my Celine’s Dream blog at http://celinesdreams.blogspot.com ) where you can vote on what you think is the best course of action. The poll is located to the top right side of the page and will be open until the end of February. I want to give everyone a chance to vote and get a wide variety of folks to give me input. Thanks for helping me get my writing career on track!

Here’s the “log line” for the series for inspiration:

What do you get when Star Wars meets Sherwood Forest? Mix in a little Pirates of the Caribbean, Fanny Hill, Futurama and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and you get Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures (with Robin Manhood and His Totally Sexed-Out Space Pirates). With a series title that long, you know it‘s going to be filled with loads of laughs, tons of sci-fi fun and plenty of hot sex!

Poll Question: Should I change the title of my series Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures?

Voting choices:

1. Keep the series title the way it is—it’s absolutely perfect.

2. I’d come up with a shorter title if I were you.
(Please post your title suggestions in the comments section below. If you’re terribly shy, feel free to email them to me at celinechatillon@hotmail.com)

3. You’re absolutely bonkers! (But in a nice way.)

4. I might have to report you to somebody. (If I only knew who!)

If you’d like to read some excerpts from Brandi Whyne… please check them out at Brandi’s very own blog: http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com Thanks again.

Celine
http://www.celinechatillon.com

Hello Everyone

January 21st, 2012 Marc Jarrod

First I would like to apologize for not posting in the December blog when my date arrived. December as you know is a hectic month and in my case 4 days before Christmas I simply forgot.

Anyhoo, I want to tell everyone that I have switched gears in genres. Everyone knows that my past genres were usually Christmas related and it either dealt with vampires or contemporary romance, but usually with a holiday theme. More than one author said I should deviate from that and just write stories with no holiday theme. This way it doesn’t restrict me on what I can write.

Soooooo, I decided to take a page out of our most prolific authors, Stehpani Hecht and start writing gay stories. As you know, Stephani’s claim to fame was/is writing about angels and archangels, hence her nick name, Archangel. She then started writing gay themes and genres, and know has shifted to gay shifter stories.

Realizing this and also realizing that a majority of readership at both eXtasy and Devine Destinies love and buy gay novels, I decided to take a stab at the topic myself.

The story I wrote is titled, Jester Stole His Crown. It is about a coming of age story about a mid twenty year old male Billy Crown who realizes he is gay and is helped along by his roommate Steve Jester on if his feelings are real.

Here is a short blurb to whet your appetite on this story.

 

Blurb

They say that everyone has gay feelings deep inside, but for most people it never surfaces. Billy Crown, amateur stage actor is about to put this theory to the supreme test with the help of his friend and roommate, Steve Jester, also a stage actor, and who harbors a dark secret—he is in love with Billy Crown.

Whether it was timing or just an inevitable turn of events, Billy and Steve expose and act on their dark secrets knowing their lives will never be the same. Will Billy embrace his new-found sexual orientation or find it repulsive, especially when he finds out his roommate is in love with him?

 

I want to thank my dear friends Annie Alvarez and Jude Mason who gave their thoughts and input in this story. And I would be remiss if I didn’t include my wife who contributed a number of passages in the story.

I am very excited about this endeavor and asking you to wish me luck. If this genre is successful, look for more stories about Billy Crown and Steve Jester or other gay novels.

 

Taming the Dragon #29

January 20th, 2012 Valerie J Long

The strand of licorice from last week is gone, just as five more strands that I willed into edible matter over the next days. The otherworldly people seem to have given up for now, very much to Svangur’s disapproval.
But the idea of demons on my heels isn’t to my taste either, and I don’t think they care much for my approval.
“Svangur?”
“Yes? More licorice?”
“Not this time. Svangur, if I want to learn to fight without demons watching, wouldn’t it be a good idea to start as soon as possible?”
“Sure. But you said you don’t want to become a Dragon.”
“That implies I can only fight in Dragon shape?”
He watches me for a while. Then he smiles — thus baring his fangs — and flexes his sharp claws. “You can fight in any shape you want, I assume. If you like, you can fight a street gang with bare hands. Are you experienced in martial arts?”
“No. I can hit keys on the keyboard.”
“That’s a good prerequisite to fight demons.”
“Thanks. You’re encouraging.”
“No. I’m hungry.”
“Svangur! I’m serious.”
“No, you are not. If you want to learn fighting, do it and don’t talk your way around it. If you’re serious about fighting demons, become a Dragon.”
Isn’t there a saying, truth hurts?
If you don’t hear from me next week, I’m busy. But I’ll come back and report, promised!

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