Inspired by a post earlier this week at the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood, I sat down to have a chat with my hero and heroine yesterday.

No, I’m not crazy. I went to Starbucks (my favorite place to get things done) and pulled out the laptop. Several hours later, I’d learned quite a bit about Drew and Lainy โ€” including the fact that they’re both smart-aleks. I guess that’s not surprising, considering I’m one myself.

I actually got in a fight with Lainy, who says she wants to have an easy, trouble-free romance. Yeah, right. Like that ever happens. Drew, on the other hand, challenged me to (and I quote) “Bring it on.”

They meet on an airplane, and when she embarrasses herself by falling asleep on his shoulder and drooling on his coat, she comforts herself by telling herself that she’ll never see him again. Well, guess who turns out to be the newย teacher in her department. Hilarity ensues.

On another note, I need to be thinking about finding my finished stories a home … or at least someone to give them a read-through. It’s time to send them out into the world.

And I will, just as soon as I come up with better titles. ๐Ÿ˜‰

As I was printing out the completed draft of Bree & Mike’s story, I realized something: I HATE the title.

The working title has been “To Catch a Wife” … but that’d be coming totally from Mike’s perspective โ€” and only AFTER he realizes he wants one, about 1/3 of the way into the book.

I could call it “To Catch a Spouse,” since they’re both after one of those (Bree at the start and Mike later on) โ€” but that’s kind of generic. I might just need a completely new title. Maybe “The Virgin and the Playboy’? (Except Mike’s not really a playboy, he just pretends to be one … and Bree doesn’t stay a virgin for long. She and Mike get together in Chapter 3 … or maybe it’s 4. I’d have to check.)

Speaking of titles, I’m not wild about Cassie & Dustin’s, either. (That one’s been dubbed “Daring to Love.”) That’s probably why I continue to call those stories “Bree & Mike” and “Cassie & Dustin.”

Brad and Erin (“Operation Snag Mike Brad”) and Kari and Damien (“Blind Date Bride”) are different. Those titles sprang, fully formed, from the depths of my imagination, and I often use them when referring to their stories.

Ugh. Titles are nearly as bad as queries and synopses. They have to convey so much in so few words โ€” tone, substance โ€” and they have to be interesting enough to jump off the shelf and into readers’ hands (or at least out of the inbox into editor’s hands).

Any tips on coming up with a good one? I’m all ears!

The hits just keep on coming!

That’s right. About 30 minutes ago, I put the finishing touches on the expanded draft of Bree & Mike’s story. It’s 56,000 words (on the shorter side of category romance, but still within the bounds) and will probably grow as I edit.

Of course, with Bree and Mike somewhat settled, I’m back to being at loose ends. What shall I do next?

The task that looms large is synopsis writing … but I think I’ll hold off on that until after our next NARWA meeting on May 15. That’s the topic our guest speaker, Cathy McDavid, will be covering.

Maybe I should go back to editing Kari & Damien’s story, “Blind Date Bride.” It’s my only single-title novel, and my writer friend Pat (who has read both it and Brad & Erin’s story) thinks it’s by far and away the better one.

Since Brad & Erin has been getting agent rejections left and right, I’m starting to think Pat may be right.

Query letter, here I come! Ugh. That sucks nearly as much as a synopsis.

May 2, 2010

Synopses

3 comments

I find that hard to believe.

Since it’s about time for me to write another one (or two or three) of these buggers, I found this post over at the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood particularly useful.

I wish I were one of those people who writes synopsis first and novel later. But I always find myself, at the end of my novel, going back to write a synopsis that includes all the major turning points.

Perhaps with my next novel โ€” the one I start after I finish revising, expanding and writing synopses/queries for my “Women of Willow’s Grove” stories โ€” I’ll try doing the synopsis BEFORE I start to write.

It certainly can’t hurt, right? ๐Ÿ˜‰