Titling your book. It’s important

What’s in a Name? By Leeann Betts

You’ve heard the old saying, “a rose by any other name is still a rose”. And I guess when we’re talking flowers, that would be true.

But what about when we’re talking titles? Would you rather read Tote the Weary Load or Gone with the Wind? The first was a working title for Margaret Mitchell.

The truth is, whether we like it or not, a catchy title will make our work stand out from the rest of the pack. Here are some questions to ask in coming up with a good handle for your book:

1. What is the book about? The plot, the conclusion, or the setting can make for a good title. For example, War of the Worlds, The Last of the Mohicans.
2. Choose a main character, and change how the reader sees him. For example, would you read Holden Caulfield or Catcher in the Rye?
3. Change the meaning of a word. For example, a book where the heroine finds herself in the middle of a battlefield could be called Grace in the Midst of War, if the character’s name is Grace. And if it isn’t, you might like the title and so change the character’s name.
4. Choose groupings of three: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, for example. A book in my forensic accountant mystery series is titled Broke, Busted, and Disgusted.
5. Choose the theme of the book. I wrote a novel about a crooked cop who desperately wants to go straight, and all the while, everybody thinks he’s a good guy: Counterfeit Honor.
6. Consider your genre and pump up the title accordingly. The first book in my forensic accountant mystery series was originally titled Just the Fax, Ma’am because some threatening faxes are at the core of the story. However, a beta reader said she wouldn’t pick up the book because there was no connection to a mystery. Now the book is titled No Accounting for Murder.

No matter what title ideas you come up with, pass them by some people you trust, including your beta readers, critique group, and writing groups you may belong to. Sometimes taking a word from one, a word or two from another, and recombining them gives you a whole new idea. Whatever the title is, you want to draw readers in with the title, but the writing will be what keeps them reading.

About Leeann:

Leeann Betts writes contemporary suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical suspense. No Accounting for Murder and There Was a Crooked Man, books 1 and 2 in her By the Numbers series, recently released. Book 3, Unbalanced, releases January 31st, with plans for Book 4, Five and Twenty Blackbirds, due in April, with more planned for later dates. Leeann and Donna have penned a book on writing, Nuggets of Writing Gold, and Donna has published a book of short stories, Second Chances and Second Cups. You can follow Leeann at www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com and Donna at www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com . All books are available at Amazon.com in digital and print, and at Smashwords.com in digital.

Vannetta’s ‘Mission’ ♦ With Giveaway

Joshua Kline travels from his farm in Oklahoma to offer aid to an Englisch town on the gulf coast of Texas after a category 4 hurricane has ravaged the area.

What will Joshua find when he arrives in Texas? A budding romance? A call from God? A possible healing of his relationship with his brother? Joshua’s Mission is a story of love, forgiveness, and the grace of God that carries us through even the worst situations.

Please welcome author Vannetta Chapman to Whispers in Purple. I asked her to give us a “story behind the story” post, and I present it below.

Vannetta is offering one free copy of Joshua’s Mission to one reader of this blog. See giveaway details below.

♦ ♦ ♦

Joshua’s Mission - The story behind the story

Thank you for allowing me to visit your blog today. I’m very excited about the release of Joshua’s Mission (2-1-16), which is book 2 in my Plain & Simple Miracles series. I’d like to share with you the “story behind the story” – or what inspired me to write this book.

Cornerstones of our faith. My husband is probably my biggest critic—which is a good thing. He keeps me on my toes, professionally speaking. He’s also very supportive in every way. One night we were talking about an upcoming proposal that was due to my publisher, and he challenged me to think of a deeper plot line—something that would touch on the cornerstones of our faith. Wow! That sent me back to the drawing board. I started wondering what makes us, as Christians, different from everyone else? Certainly our faith in Christ. But how do we show that? The answer I came up with was …

1. We believe in miracles. I did a poll on my Facebook page. We had an outstanding response and the vast majority (close to 98%) said they do believe in miracles—not that they always happen when we pray for one, but that God does still intercede in the lives of believers. That idea gave birth to Anna’s Healing, book 1 in this series.

2. We participate in missions. As believers, sometimes we send donations, sometimes we pray, and sometimes we actually go and participate in missions. We don’t do this for an award or because our photo might end up in the paper. We do it because God told us “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” He told us that when we do this to the least of those around us, we do this to Him. This commandment to care for others, led me to write Joshua’s Mission, book 2 in this series.

3. We care for orphans. We’re also commanded to “look after orphans and widows in their distress.” In our society, it’s sometimes easy to overlook those in need and to assume that some governmental agency will take care of them. Sarah’s Orphans, book 3 in this series, addresses the plight of the orphans in our day and age, and how we can make a difference in their lives. This book releases in December of this year.

There are certainly other ways that we live out our faith. Miracles, missions, and orphans are three that stood out to me, and they certainly inspired me to write the three books in the Plain & Simple Miracles series. I hope that you will pick up a copy of Joshua’s Mission and learn about the wonderful work that churches are doing across our nation and abroad to help those in need.

Now it’s your turn. What do you consider to be a cornerstone of our faith? And would you like to see a book written about it? Or would you like to write one yourself? I’d love to hear from you.

Vannetta Chapman

About the Author:

Vannetta Chapman writes inspirational fiction full of grace. She discovered her love for the Amish while researching her grandfather’s birthplace of Albion, Pennsylvania. Her novel, Falling to Pieces, was a 2012 ACFW Carol Award winner for best mystery. Chapman was a teacher for 15 years and currently writes full time. She lives in the Texas hill country with her husband.

Buy the Book: http://www.amazon.com/Joshuas-Mission-Plain-Simple-Miracles-ebook/dp/B018676F02/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Where to find Vannetta “out there”

• http://vannettachapman.com
• https://twitter.com/VannettaChapman
• https://www.facebook.com/VannettaChapmanBooks
• http://pinterest.com/vannettachapman/
• https://instagram.com/vannettachapman/

About the Giveaway:

Vannetta is offering one free copy of Joshua’s Mission to one of the readers of this blog post. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below and your name will be added to a random drawing via random.org. If you have some answers to her question above, feel free to add that to your comment.

Drawing ends one week from today, February 1st, at Midnight Central Time. Winner will be drawn and notified on Tuesday, the 2nd. Go for it!

Hanging Up My Keys

This post is personal. Read it, or not. I just needed to get this out of my system and let the issue go, finally, to rest in peace.

My car keys, that is . . . my last link to independence.

Sigh.

Surrendering that independence is hard. Very hard. But my eyes are letting me down, little by little.

When I left Nevada in November 2012, I still had a valid driver’s license, but it was due for renewal in January.

So, after settling down back in Wisconsin, I applied for a WI driver’s license . . . and failed the vision test. Of course, it would have happened in Vegas, as well.

My home is situated outside the city limits, on a dirt road. There’s a supermarket about seven blocks away which is accessible from a back road without having to go out on the highway, so I’ve been taking myself shopping . . . unlicensed and uninsured . . . until just recently.

Over these past three years, my eyesight has been getting progressively worse. Even when riding as a passenger, I can no longer read highway and street signs until I’m right up on them.

I can no longer gauge the speed of an oncoming car, nor can I tell how far away they are.

At a stop sign or street light, cars crossing in front of me appear truncated, as if they’ve been cut in half.

My depth perception is totally shot. I am no longer sure where the front of the car is, nor its width when I try to park.

I have autoimmune issues, and my eyes are paying the price. So it’s time to hang up my keys. It irks me, even angers me, to have to depend on someone else to take me where I need to go. But I will not put myself—or anyone else—at risk.

Will I be able to keep writing? For now, yes, thanks to a 23” desktop computer—which is now over four years old—and God’s plan’s for me as a writer from this point forward.

If you’ve stuck with me through this, thanks for your kind attention. Understand…this is not a ‘pity party.’  It’s just facing reality. It is what it is, and God is in control.

is Smashing Selections Brighten the New Year in This January Clash

What an exciting 2016 kick-off for Clash of the Titles. Readers can choose from a teen novel, mystery, suspense/ thriller, love trilogy and an Amish novella collection of sweet romances. One of each sounds good. Peruse the selections, decide which to put at the top of this year's to-be-read list, scroll down, and vote for it on the form below. Voting starts today, January 20th, and goes through midnight PST on January 26th.

An orphaned Siberian teen faces murder charges and an escaped pack of pet wolves.

 

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What Stormi doesn't expect is the final, life-altering gift from Matt's ex-girlfriend. Nor does she expect her bachelorette party to lead to murder.

 

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Jake escapes from the remote Appalachian cabin—the only home he has ever known. And Father hunts him down with the very rifle he used to kill Sam and Mama.

 

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In the novella, An Apple a Day, Dr. Brian Coridan needs a break so he vacations in quiet Blossom Lake, Wisconsin where he never expects to be distracted by Talia Fountain, the town's "health food nut." In September Sonata, Krissy and Blaine's marriage is in its autumn season...or is it just over?—and in Let it Snow, they were once a couple, engaged to be married, until Shari Kretlow ran off with another guy, but decades later, Shari is a widow who finds herself stranded in a Wisconsin blizzard on Christmas Eve, and it's her former fiancé, Brenan Sheppard, who comes to her rescue.

 

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Spend a year in Amish country with four sweet romances.

Follow this link to vote!

Featuring Contemporary Novel, "After"

After, an inspirational novel by contemporary Christian fiction author, Joy Ohagwu, is poised to spotlight the strength in transformation, courage in love, and hope in times of despair.

PURCHASE

Amazon

About the book:

One step will transform her life.

Sixty thousand people watched as Candace Rodriguez literally fell off the stage while performing the national anthem, wrecking more than her self-esteem. Is her music career over? Now, weighing 350 pounds and jilted by her fiancé after the shame of her public fall, can she find another chance at true love? Will her new Christian faith anchor her future hopes?

Former highbrow stock trader, "JB" Patrickson has had enough of life making mockery of his best laid-out future plans. His father insisted he'd never make it more than selling " chickn" stock in Kentucky. Proving him wrong, JB succeeded at the NY Stock Exchange, becoming one of the best US traders...until the market crashed in 2008. Seven years later and mired in debt, he can't shake the urge that God is leading him down a different path. The path of accepting his grandmother's request to come help manage her farm, couple hundred miles away, despite his little to nothing knowledge about farming. Has he fallen low enough to toil with his hands to eke out a single meal? What future could God plan for him on a farm?Twenty years after returning to the US from a fulfilling medical mission in Asia, Dr. and Dr. Mrs. Cantwell gratefully send off two sons to college, purchase a flourishing twenty-acre farm, and prepare to settle into their empty nest stage. But what will they do if God leads one more life into their path, one needing stitches of the soul not of the body? Can they answer His call to service, or will overlooked pain from the past threaten the fragile peace they'd so desperately coaxed into existence to survive together?

What our voters had to say:

--I love the book, AFTER! The cover is catchy, and the contents, inspiring!
--Congratulations, Joy! A lovely book inside and out.~~~Deirdre Lockhart
--I personally saw the love poured into writing "After" and I hope it blesses everyone who reads it! It's Awesome!!!
--CANNOT WAIT TO READ THIS BOOK, JOY!!!! COVER IS ALSO FANTABULOUS!!!!
--Thumbs up, Joy!

Q: Joy, what was writing After like?

A: Thank you for asking. First, I’d like to appreciate everyone that voted for After during the COTT contest. Thank you all very much. I started writing After during NaNoWriMo 2013. Then earlier in summer 2015, after I wrote Candace in as a character for Blossom and Josh's story(which is now After 2), her personality and voice got so strong that she took over the story! It was amazing. I trusted my gut, went with the flow, and ended up publishing Candace's and JB's story as the first in the AFTER series. The AFTER series is about transformation and positively changing one’s lifestyle through fitness. But more importantly, After shows us that we should allow God to assist us in every area of our lives, especially those places where everyone expects us to fail. You can read the story here. Although I enjoyed writing about Candace and JB, I'm glad that I finally completed Blossom and Josh's story as well and it released as After 2 in November 2015.

Q: Can you share with us about your next book?

A: Sure. I'd love to. I'm presently writing Uncommon Ground, the first book in a romantic suspense series, and I’ll share what the story is about. Stella is a widow who's juggling a career and raising an older teen that doesn't believe in God. A disaster occurs that separates them and turns their world upside down. Stella's concerns multiply in the ensuing chaos after she meets Michael, a Christian man with a mysterious past and she wonders how many more unseen twists God trusts her to handle. Like Psalm 68 verse 5 says, God is a defender of the widows. Uncommon Ground is a story where we can identify with each of the characters’ struggles, and if we let it, it can potentially kick our faith higher into greater dimensions. After reading Uncommon Ground, we get to appreciate some of the things we usually take for granted as Christians. Uncommon Ground becomes available for preorder Jan 1, 2016, and I pray everyone gets their copy.

Thank you very much for having me here. God bless you!

About Bestselling Author Joy Ohagwu:

Joy Ohagwu is the bestselling author of The New Rulebook suspense series. Her novels are romantic suspense and inspirational stories geared to engage, inspire and entertain readers. She earned a Masters' Degree in International Affairs from American University, Washington DC; and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Professionally, she’s been honored with multiple awards for pioneer academic research, student leadership and overall excellence. Joy is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers(ACFW) organization. She pens stories during evenings, weekends, and whenever the food takes too long to cook. Despite the many hurdles she has faced, she counts God as being faithful in her life. Joy lives in the beautiful State of Maryland.

You can connect with Joy on her website, and follow her Author page.