A Sense of Entitlement: The Title Reveal of Book One of the "Lion & Steed" Series

A new bloom on the Chloe Stowe vine.

Choosing a title for your story can either be maddening or quite fun. Toss in a load of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) issues and the scale is pretty much tipping to freaking craziness.

So, I have to tread carefully when it comes time to title search. This means I probably do things a bit differently than most, but maybe you can pick out some good, helpful stuff from all the looney. (Perhaps there’s a device, along the lines of a metal detector, which could be used here? Hmm, that would sell damn well on the strait jacket market.)

First, I decide what kind of title I’m looking for. Am I wanting something that stresses the strong romance held within the pages? If so, I leave my search open to longer, multi-word titles. Even phrases are in the mix. Such as, Hard Wood, Soft Heart (a title my publisher came up with but one I wholeheartedly embraced) and Hard Candy, Soft Cream (this Valentine sequel’s name was all mine). Forever Bound, my first novel, is another example of romantic overtones (although the “Bound” part was a hint at the BDSM flavor within.)

Or, am I looking more for something extremely impactful? A title that will knock the potential buyer in the face with its overt heat (Torched), its sheer eroticism (Cock Fight), or its promised action (Peak and Thrust).

Or perhaps the story calls for something a little more subtle? Something that will make the reader think “I wonder why the heck Chloe Stowe called it that?” Examples of this include Stolen Asset or Barbarian.

If I’m searching for more of a gut reaction to the title, I go with a phrase or a specific word that brings a touch of angst to it. Taken and The Torch Forsaken both used words that thrum a certain emotion in the audience, getting them in the mood for what awaits them inside.

When you’re planning a series, you’ve also got to keep in mind how titles of all the books will link together (at least, I do; this may be a purely Chloe-thing). When I entitled Torched, I had no idea that a sequel and then a full series would follow. I was lucky I had picked something which was relatively easy to translate into new but similar names, i.e. Blow Torch, Shafts of Torchlight, The Torch Forsaken and A Torch Kept.

Knowing that I was beginning a series helped a lot in narrowing down what I was looking for in Book One of the “Lion & Steed” series…

Impactful.

Hot.

A little bit of the “WTF?” factor.

Something that would stand on its own but could also be linked cleverly to the following titles…

So, do you want to know what I came up with? Have I strung this out long enough for us all? Lol

Here it is, friends…

Writhe

By Chloe Stowe

Book One of “The Lion and the Steed” Series

 

Personally, and I am a bit biased here, I love it! The two following books will be similarly named with one word titles. Each book title signals a progression in the sex act.  Lovers writhe in the throes of intense, passionate foreplay.

Hope Writhe stirs something hot inside each of you.

Until tonight…

Chloe

P.S. For anyone interested, all the above titles are available through Amazon here.