A Rose By Any Other Name…

For those of you keeping track, I’ve sold three books recently. What a crazy ride! I am still dizzy with glee over this whole turn of events, and so excited to experience the next part of the process. I’ve just begun editing the first book and expect my revisions on book #2 soon (unfortunately the day AFTER my kids are done with school for the summer!)

I’ve heard my covers are being developed. Eeeek! More joy. (And for the record, I did mention to my editor that Henry Cavill would make a lovely Highlander if he was available for a cover photo shoot.)

I also spoke with Dream-editor about titles. Turns out I need a new one for each of my books. I’m sure there are marketing wizards out there nodding their heads, and I’m not all that surprised or disappointed. But it was interesting trying to come up with alternate names for stories I’ve been so close to. My critique partners and I often give our WIP’s nicknames that are very organic to the story. TATAS is short for Alyssa Alexander’s TO TEMPT A SMUGGLER. Kimberly Kincaid writes about SNOW HO’s, (aka characters who fool around during a blizzard,) I write about HIGHLAND HO’S (pretty self-explanatory.)  And Jennifer McQuiston? Well, the nickname for her book, WHAT HAPPENS IN  SCOTLAND, may soon be BESTSELLER.

I won’t bore you with the details of how my editor and I went about choosing new names for my novels but I assure you it was all very glamorous and high-powered, and in no way included us emailing silly suggestions back and forth until I couldn’t tell one idea from the next.

In the end, we landed on new titles which I love, and which I hope readers will love too. Maybe the world would have felt differently about Romeo and Juliet if that romance had been called Ethel and Oscar, but my guess is, it’s the writing that matters most. Because a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.  So, with much ado about nothing (Please forgive me, Mr. Shakespeare!) Here are the new titles and release dates:

• Totally Dody is now CRAZY LITTLE THING (October 2012.)
• Highland Promise is now HIGHLAND SURRENDER (December 2012.)
• Missing You is now HOLD ON MY HEART (May 2013.)