Why Is Getting Rid of Kids Easier than Getting Rid of Characters?

Yesterday I sent the kiddos off to school. 

I was terribly sad to watch them go. You see, I am one of those mothers who would spend all her time with her kids if I could. And having them home with me – all the time – just completes me in a way I never thought possible.

Is anybody but me rolling around on the floor laughing yet?

Holy cow. I love my kids, but THEY HAD TO GO!!! Here in Virginia we have a late school year start (the day after Labor Day) and I thought I would kill them the last couple of weeks.

But now they’re gone.

This was them, heading on off to school:

As soon as the last one was out the door, this was me:

(Or even better, see this dancing orangutan. That was really me: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153151189783228&set=vb.135376688227&type=2&theater) 

Interestingly, the day I said goodbye to my kids was the day I also said goodbye to Omega Sector Series characters I was writing for my next Harlequin Intrigue books. Book 4 was due to my editor on September 2, the day after Labor Day. 

Kicking the Omega Series guys out the door was a little more difficult than kicking my kids out. Maybe because the characters in my books rarely ask me to make them a sandwich or demand an iPhone for their birthday. 

But these characters have consumed me for the last ten months. Together, we’ve been in plane crashes and on yachts and in dangerous situations we were both sure there was no way out. I’ve spent hours every day figuring out what drives them and scares them and makes them more than they thought they could be. I’ve gotten to know each character as if he or she was a real person. Because to me they were each a real person.

Deadline reminder that has sat on my desk for 10 months

And although pitching, writing and editing four novels in ten months was CRAZY, I was sad when I wrote The End on book 4. 

Because that meant these characters were gone.

I guess they’ll be back somewhat in the form of copyedits, cover reveals, and, of course, the books themselves. That makes me happy and I truly hope readers will fall in love with these characters like I did. But for all intents and purposes, they’re gone for me. I have to move on to the next project with its own set of characters that need my attention. But hopefully not any sandwiches.

So I send off my Omega characters – the Branson siblings and those special people who come to love them in their stories– but without a happy orangutan dance. Because I know these guys won’t be getting back off the bus at 3pm.

I’ll miss them. I really will. They've been my buddies. 

But now I’m ready for the next set of stories and whatever crazy adventures we’ll take together.

Drum Roll please... My Harlequin Intrigue Debut Title

I found out this week that the title of my Harlequin Intrigue April 2014 release will be…  

Primal Instinct.   

Sorry to my smart aleck-y friends who voted for Murder Radar of Love as what they thought would be the title, or the even more pals who messaged me and told me they thought Throw Mama From the Train of Love was an awesome title. I’ll try to remember that for upcoming books.

Harlequin display at my local B&N - Intrigues are in the top right -sold out!

Of the other titles I mentioned last post, Dangerous Intent was never really under consideration by either my editors or myself. We liked it okay as a title, but it didn’t really work for this story.

Shielded, I must admit, was a favorite of mine. But the editors felt it gave off the wrong vibe for my book. It’s pretty vague and somewhat noncommittal to a plot. For an established author who already has a following of readers, that’s not a problem. But for a new author, it could scare away readers. (I tried to convince my editor that I DO have a following of readers, but evidently my mom and Cousin Sophie don’t count as a following.)

The last reason Shielded wouldn’t work is because there are evidently already a couple of one-word titles coming out the same month as mine.  As I stated last post, when editors are choosing titles, there’s much more coming into play than just any one book.

So Primal Instinct it is! I always thought the word Instinct was excellent for the title. My book is about an FBI profiler, after all.  

But I had concerns about the word Primal. I was afraid that it suggested savage in people’s mind – which really isn’t the tone of my book at all.  But my editor explained that when she thought of primal, she thought of:

 First. Original. Most important.

When I thought of it that way it all clicked for me. Everything about the heroine in my story is tied to her instincts – she can’t get away from them even when she wants to.  She has no choice but to go with her original instincts – when tracking a killer and when falling in love. Even though it almost gets her heart broken AND almost gets her killed.

Her instincts are the most important – primal – part of who she is.  Primal Instinct.

Explained that way, it seemed perfect.

Now I’ll admit, the title is a little bit, as a friend put it: saucy. And, because I’m such a movie buff and am

Primal Fear circa 1996  - what do you mean you don't remember it?

surrounded by movie geeks on every side, I did have a concern about a Basic Instinct/Primal Fear possible tie-in to my title. Both are movies that came out in the mid-90s with a "is this person psycho or not?" theme and mucho gratuitous sex and cigarette smoking. Not the image I wanted for my book either.

My editor basically, in the very nicest way possible, just scoffed at me and said no one but me and my movie-geek friends would make that connection. I have no doubt she’s right.

One very successful Intrigue author who has befriended me, told me not to worry about a Basic Instinct connection at all. If anything, she told me, I might gain some readers from that connection, but definitely wouldn’t lose any. You know what? I’ll take readers anyway I can get them.

All and all, choosing the title – finding one that works for everyone: me, the editors, the art department, the Intrigue Brand in general – has been an interesting next step in the publishing process. It was a learning experience, but definitely not an unpleasant one. Every step of the way I’m learning something new, and I’m loving all of it, even when it's a bit painful.

So now I can officially announce:  Primal Instinct, a Harlequin Intrigue novel by Janie Crouch, will be available in bookstores and online everywhere in April 2014.

And someday, someone (and by someone, I mean my mother or cousin) is going to ask me to sign their copy of Primal Instinct. And I’ll be able to write:

Always follow your instinct.

And it will tie-in perfectly to the title. Isn’t it great how that just works out?

What's in a Name? Titling a Romantic Suspense Novel

So, for the past week my Harlequin Intrigue editor and I have been going back and forth on titles for my April 2014 book release. I initially submitted the title as See No Evil, mostly because I planned to have two more books as a follow-up, not surprisingly entitled: Hear No Evil and Speak No Evil.

I still plan to write both the follow-up stories, but they won't be released as a back-to-back series. They may not even end up being connected at all, except for in my own mind. Which is nothing new.

My manuscript, See No Evil, was tentatively named that because the heroine of the story is an ex-FBI profiler with special abilities: she can hear the thoughts of killers when she's around them or around things they've touched. It makes her a pretty powerful tool in fighting bad guys. But unfortunately the ability also leaves her incapacitated and physically helpless when she's around baddies.

But See No Evil wasn't going to work as a title for Harlequin Intrigue. They told me that from the beginning and I had no problem with it. Titles are terribly difficult for me, so I hold on to them very loosely. Plus the editors have much more to consider than just my one book when selecting a title: overall branding of Intrigue, the other five books that will be released that month, how everything will fit on the cover together.

Here are some of the titles my editor and I were throwing back and forth.

Dangerous Intent
Murder Radar of Love
Primal Instinct
Shielded

In case one of the titles looks a little out of place, a couple writer buddies and I decided that if you tack "of love" on the end of any title, you've come up with an instant Romance Novel title. For instance: Aliens of Love, Dirty Dancing of Love, Throw Momma From the Train of Love. All obviously instant best-sellers.

The title has already been chosen by my editors. Anybody want to guess on what you think it will be?

What is your guess for the title of Janie's new booK?
	Dangerous Intent
	Murder Radar of Love
	Primal Instinct
	Shielded
pollcode.com free polls

The official title will be announced soon!