Tanking and Taglines and Titles - OH MY!

** Author Note: Hey there, everyone. I'm sorry I've been MIA lately. I'll try to make up for it in the coming weeks here. Don't give up on me yet!  Oh, and you’ll want to make sure you read this one all the way to end. Trust me. **

Tanking

Well, first thing’s first. In regard to the ABNC (see previous post), I totally tanked the first round. But don’t cry for me, Argentina. I’m not surprised and I’m certainly not upset. The truth of the matter is, it was a last-minute decision, mainly just for (pardon my French) shits-n-giggles. As I mentioned before, I had very little time to whip up my entry, and even less knowledge on how to write the (evil, sucky, brain-draining) pitch, which is what the first round was based solely upon. Next year (unless of course I’m published and on a very prestigious book tour - lol) I’ll be all the wiser and give myself ample time to properly enter a finished piece. I wish all the best (and plenty of sedatives to calm their nerves over the coming weeks) to the entrants that made it through to the second round. Congratulations. You are better pitch writers than I.

Taglines

Taglines, also called signature lines, I believe, are things most of you are probably familiar with. They’re the witty one-liners of the web savvy and the promotional punch lines of every author. In just a few words it says, “This is what I’m about. Get interested.”

So, for me, this has to be something creative that says, “I write paranormal romance novels and you want to read them.” Only, it should probably be a little more eloquent than that. I told one of my non-writing friends about this and she gave me the following suggestions:

Gina Leigh Maxwell…barely in touch with reality.
Gina Leigh Maxwell...she's out there, but in a good way.

Although these are good suggestions in their own right (yeah, I laughed my butt off, too), I’ve decided not to use them since they attack my mental health only concentrate on the paranormal aspect of my writing. I’ve had a few ideas float through the fog of my brain, too, such as:

Paranormal in nature and primal in desire
Writing for the paranormally inclined and the romantically obsessed
Passions for the paranormal at heart
Romance for the paranormal at heart
Paranormal at heart, Passionate by nature
Passions of a paranormal nature

But I’m not sure how I feel about them. *sigh* Okay, moving on…

Titles

If I began the above with “first thing’s first” do I begin the next portion with “second thing’s second”? It’s kind of a silly introduction, when you think about it. You wouldn’t put “first thing’s last” or “third thing’s first” would you? Whoops. My tangent alarm is going off. Anyhoo, I've decided to change the title of my blog. Don’t worry, the URL will stay the same, so there shouldn’t be any complications with links, back links, forward links, sausage links or wild lynx. *listening to the collective sigh from readers* I know – what a relief, right?

When I originally began this journey, I wasn't sure where it would lead me or how far I would decide to go, hence the undecided nature of my current title, To Write or Not To Write: My Journey into the Literary World. I also didn't realize, being completely ignorant to the inner-workings of the blogging world, that my title would be listed on other blogs and profiles of the (wonderful and super fantastic!) people that follow me, hence the ungodly length of my current title. :)

However, that title no longer aptly describes my journey. Am I still telling you the “story of my attempts to publish my very first novel” as the tagline to my blog announces so boldly? Yes, of course. The content of my blog isn’t changing necessarily. I’ll still be posting my ever-changing beginning chapters and any other thoughts that cross my mind, invaluable lessons I’ve learned or experiences I’d like to share, relating to the literary world. And if I really feel like letting my hair down and getting crazy, I may even branch out to hosting guest bloggers and contests in the future!

My point in all of this babbling is, I feel I'm ready to make a change. So, out with the old "Am I crazy for even considering trying to write books for a living," and in with the new "I'm going to be a published author even if it kills me and it isn't until my untimely demise that people recognize me as the truly brilliant writer I am." (or will be someday) So, this begs the question…

What should my new and improved blog title be?

The answer? I have no clue. As I mentioned before in reference to the title of my book, I suck at choosing titles. Then again, I suck at anything that has to do with summarizing or just plain “getting to the point.” (See “first thing’s first” section regarding sucky pitch) Case in point: “Random Musings of a Paranormal Romance Writer” just flitted through my head. That’s more laughable than it is likeable, not to mention it doesn’t help with my “ungodly length” issue.

What are your ideas for my new blog title?

Let’s have a contest! (Holy shite, my hair is down!)

I will give away a brand-spankin’ new gift card to Barnes & Noble to the one who suggests the blog title I fall in love with. Why a gift card, you ask? Because I haven't quite figured out how to get free copies of books to use as giveaways yet, so I'll send you a $10 gift card so you can purchase the romance novel of your choice. (If any of you have any advice on how score freebies for contests, let me know.) Give me as many ideas as you want. We’ll let the contest run until March 15th to give you time to mull it over and give me lots of fan-tabulous suggestions! Just leave them in the comments section to this post. And make sure you’re not signed in as “Anonymous” or you won’t be able to win the prize. Although I have many talents, being psychic is not one of them.

Ready? Set…wait for iiiiiiiiiiit…GO!