Taking a bit of a tangent from “Conversations about Characters” today to give you another glimpse into the book publishing process, and invite you to participate!
I am currently writing my fourth Love Inspired Suspense, which has a working title of Finding Home.
I love this title, because it perfectly suits both the external plot and the spiritual theme of the story.
Unfortunately, a Love Inspired book came out in August with that exact title.
So… although my editor hasn’t asked me yet, I know that it’s only a matter of time before I need to provide alternative title suggestions.
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| Image courtesy of Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
My editor will want a title that gives a sense of the suspense, but avoids words such as death, murder, homicide, killer, deadly, lethal etc. since they’ve found that titles with those words don’t seem to sell well in Love Inspired Suspense.
And I trust my editor’s judgement implicitly. If it had been up to me, my debut novel would have been called Shades of Gray, and most of you probably know where that title has gone!
So what do you say? Interested in brainstorming with me?
In a nutshell the book is about: In the face of mounting threats, a grieving granddaughter fights to hold fast to the family farmhouse she’s inherited, but can her childhood-crush-turned-cop neighbor help her find her way home?
You can see from that description where I got the Finding Home title. The heroine used to visit her grandparents’ farm in the summer as a child, before her parents split and she moved too far away. The house is the only place she’s ever felt truly at home and loved. But someone wants her out. She’s not sure who, and she’s not sure why.
Your Turn: Any ideas? If you can’t think of any, please share book titles that immediately hooked you. Sometimes the setup of a title helps me springboard into new ideas.
P.S. The Goodreads Giveaway for Critical Condition ends tonight.
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HOw about…
An Unwelcome Homecoming
Ooh, thanks Jennifer, that has definite possibility!
“Home Away From Home”
“Legacy Remembered”
“Coming Back”
“Will Denied”
Thanks, Pat. I like the word “denied” that sounds suspenseful.
Well, I’m horrible with titles! My editors didn’t like any of the ones I came up with for my book. LOL
Hmmmmm….Maybe just Homecoming? Or Homesearch? Ack!
LOL Hope you get some great ideas!
Seems to be universal!
I’ll put my thinking cap on and come back a bit later. Right now I’m reading Robin Carroll’s To Write a Wrong. Just love the clever play on words and it totally fits the the story. It’s about a journalist who wants to right an injustice and she uses her articles to stir things up. Clever, eh? Do you want home in the title?
That is a cool title. I saw it on your blog yesterday and it made me wonder. 🙂 Home doesn’t have to be in the title. I just really liked how it tied in to both her external goal and what she learns.
A Hostile Homecoming, Undesirable, or Of Hearth and Heartache? 🙂
Ooh, I like the alliteration! And hostile is a good jeopardy word. 🙂
I like Family in the title. Has Finding Family been done? The Fires of Family. Or, something with Homestead. Hostile Homestead?
I love this!
Okay — brainstorming results so far:
Homebound Redemption
Looking Homeward
Inheritance of Peril
Hostile Inheritance
Ah,I like the idea of using inheritance, too. Inheritance of Peril or perhaps Perilous Inheritance sounds like a good romantic suspense title. Thanks for giving this so much thought.
Or Homebound Deception?
What a cool idea to ask readers to help with the title, Sandra! Oh man, I’m not feeling very creative tonight, but I vote the inheritance of Peril.
Thanks Melanie!
Hidden Secrets
Here’s my suggestion! 🙂
jennydtipton[at]gmail[dot]com
Forebidden Inheritance
It’s hard to think of a good title.
jennydtipton[at]gmail[dot]com
Oooh, I like the sound of “forbidden” sounds foreboding