Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A New Series Has Begun Along with Concerns

On Monday, after pulling an all-nighter ( I am much too old for that--and paid for it), I turned in my manuscript to my Harlequin editor, which is the first book in my brand new series The Lawsons of Louisiana.  This first book, I entitled FOR YOU I WILL.  Because that's what I wanted it to say. It is what the book meant to me.

However, in a back room somewhere, folks sat around and figured they knew my story better than I did and of course they knew what the public wanted. (of course). Alas, they changed my title to Spend My Life With You--which to me sounds weak and ordinary, not a clear, no nonsense declaration--like my original title.

Anyway, that's the new, damn title. But by the time I finished having a professional hissy, fit, I was assured that would not happen again.

The point of my story is, behind the title is a kicking story about a wealthly, black, political family based in Louisiana, complete with sexy characters, political drama, love triangles, scandals and did I mention hot sex?

This is the first of what we hope will be a continuing series that readers with latch onto and love.  So far the series is slated for four books.

For those who read or will read very soon my current summer release HEART'S REWARD, (available wherever books are sold)you will get to meet the edible Rafe Lawson, oldest son and heir apparant to Branford Lawson the patriarch of the Lawson clan.

I really enjoyed putting the first book together and look forward to writing the rest of the series.

In the meantime, check out the short reading excerpt from Heart's Reward. I'm sure you will love it.

I'll be posting little excerpts from my summer releases ( Private Lessons--coming soon, Scandalous and A Scandalous Affair (re-issues) throughout the summer. So come back often.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the change of title.  What do you think?  How much do titles matter?

2 comments:

nbd said...

I like your title better; it sounds like a "no matter what" kind of love story. I'm curious about the rationale behind the change; did they drop some titles in a hat and like a rabbit, pull one out?Oor something more? I had a conversation with a friend who said to me "you can't tell me that an author has to go to war oer title, cover, etc... What you described is a prime example that yes, often they do. Looking forward to reading (I LOVE Louisiana)

Donna Hill said...

Yes and no matter how high up the pole we climb as authors there is always some battle or the other. There are very few author that don't run into some wall or the other. All part of the job.