Writing Warrior Wednesday! ~ The Zombieland of Book Titles

So I was watching Zombieland, great movie, and I was inspired! If you have never seen the movie, zombies have taken over the country and four survivors meet and travel together, kicking serious zombie ass. The main character makes this list, the rules of how to survive Zombieland. So I thought why not make the ‘rules’ of picking a book title.

Okay here we go, in no particular order, feel free to add on…

Don’t be cliché but don’t be too abstract - One of my pet peeves is when a book has a title that says one thing and content that is another. You can always tell when someone is overly dramatic with the title…you know what I am talking about.

Google it before you choose it – perfect example, my first book is entitled Serenity Lost. Well there are several challenges here, apparently there is a rock band by that name. There is also the television show Serenity. So every time you type in Serenity Lost all of this other stuff comes up. Then there is the second book, Veiled Deception, yeah…there is another book with the exact same name and by a bigger author. Suck!

Hook ‘em – Your title is as important as the blurb or the cover itself. It needs to grab attention and work with the cover to make you want to pick up the book.

Don’t pull your hair out, it will come – picking a title can be one of the most frustrating parts of the process. Sometimes I have the title before the book, other times the book remains untitled until the very last moment. Either way, you will find it, and sometimes in the most unexpected ways. It is different for everyone.

Make sure you love it – It is your book, your name, your heart and soul. Do not skimp on the name. It is a representation of your work. (no pressure or anything…lol!)

Be prepared to change it – It will happen. You will have the PERFECT title and then someone says no. Or you have to take the one book and make it into three. This has happened to me twice now! Lol! Trust Me turned into Serenity Lost, Veiled Deception, & Jaded Promises. Dead Air turned into Shockwave, Backlash, & Fallout.

All of this is nothing you don’t already know. Writing a book is not an easy thing to create and build. It takes blood, sweat, tears, passion, and heart. Number one rule, above everything else, go with your gut it will never do you wrong.

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Teaser Tuesday ~ Shockwave by Amy Romine

Special Agent Kate Weiss is hiding from a kidnapping she doesn’t remember. 

Jack Tucker’s life as a morning radio host is uncomplicated, attachment free, and without regret.
Brought together by a mutual friend, the pair are at odds from the moment they meet. She finds his confident swagger arrogant and beyond reproach, while he in turn sees her as a self-righteous controlling dictator.

As Kate struggles with her confidence, Jack begins to realize his life without strings is missing something, or someone. Adversity quickly becomes attraction. Jack and Kate find themselves flirting with the flames of unexpected desire.

As emotions rise, scars are revealed and secrets are uncovered. Will the reality of their very different worlds bring them together or rip them apart?

Excerpt

She popped the trunk, lifted the carpet, and yanked on the trap door. She pulled, revealing a long flat plastic suitcase. Her five foot six inch muscular frame lifted it out and balanced it in her hand before she closed the trunk lid.

Suitcase in hand, she made a steady stride to the stairs. Her heels echoed off the concrete walls of the parking garage. Two flights later, she exited the stairs and picked her vantage point. Scanning the immediate area for civilians, she found few cars and no people.

Her Bluetooth beeped. She made her way across the upper level of the garage.

“Parker.”

“Are you in?”

“Almost.”

“You're going to miss your window.”

“Have I ever missed my window?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Gotta go. I’ll check back once I’m set.” She reached her destination.

She looked at her watch. It would take three minutes for her to set up, and she would have two and a half to spare.

Set and ready to go three minutes later, she scanned the area, twisting her mid-length chocolate hair into a pony tail. Laid out below, an overflowing fountain, concrete benches, and various idle suits walking around, oblivious to the world beyond their iPhone. Her Bluetooth beeped and she opened the line.

“Impatient much?”

“Usually,” the familiar voice replied. “Are we on target?”

“Probably,” she replied, her phone in hand. The GPS tracker she’d attached to her victim was beeping steadily

.

“Probably isn’t good enough, Kate.”

“Pipe down, Warren.” Pocketing her phone before checking the scope, she listened to Warren huffing on the end of the line. Her target came into view. 

“You’re getting to be a nag.”

“Can you give me a count?”

“Zero.”

“Parker.”

She disconnected the call. “Bye, bye.”

She used her scope to focus on the sidewalk below. She moved the scope to follow a well-dressed, manicured blonde. The woman stopped next to the fountain, and waited. Her target was in place.

Kate pushed the air from her lungs. Her hand moved behind her ear, and she heard a low tone in the bottom of her ear.

“Ember Rose, eight six five.”

“Copy eight six five.”

“Mark is set.”

“Copy.”

Her focus remained on the blonde just below.

Forty-five seconds.

Kate pushed out another breath. Her finger slid toward the trigger. She watched and waited. Without warning, the blonde turned, and fell into the fountain. A stain of blood leaked into the water, confirming Kate’s fear.

Shit…        

She lunged forward, searching the area. Above her came the scraping of concrete. She saw movement, and ran to the stairs. She leapt two at a time, and turned the corner to see a well-dressed man, black suitcase in hand.

He saw her, dropped the case, and ran. She took off after him. He led her down the first ramp. She gained some ground, but then he turned the corner. She rounded it a moment later. An arm swung. She ducked, responding with a spin kick to the lower back. He caught her leg and twisted. She turned into it. Her hands braced her torso. She hit concrete. Raising the opposite leg, she connected with his chin. He released her leg. She twisted her torso using the momentum to stand upright. He lunged. She turned her back into his chest rolling him over her shoulder. She moved with him, the heat of a second party at her back. She turned. Metal met with her temple and the explosion sent her reeling into blackness.

* * * 

Starting on April 18th I will be touring the virtual universe to talk about the Dead Air Chronicles. This is an Excerpt from Book 1 - Shockwave! Stay tuned for more details. 

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Weight of the Human Soul?

In my upcoming release, Finders, Demonologist Luke Melloy fights on behalf of the human soul. But is the soul a tangible part of the human anatomy? Some people think it is and has even determined its approximate weight. 
 
The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who lived in the sixth century BC, thought that the soul was composed of an unusually fine or rare kind of matter, such as air or fire.

In 1901 a doctor named Duncan MacDougall tried to prove the existence of the human soul. To do this he measured the weight of terminally ill patients before and at the moment of their death. He had 6 patients, who all experienced weight loss at the moment of death, with the average loss of weight being 21 grams.  

In 1988 ~From a Noetic Science experiment:

The human soul weighs 1/3,000th of an ounce!
That’s the astonishing claim of East German researchers who recently weighed more than 200 terminally ill patients just before, and immediately after, their deaths.

In each case the weight loss was exactly the same–1/3,000th of an ounce.
“The inescapable conclusion is that we have now confirmed the existence of the human soul and determined its weight,” Dr. Becker Mertens of Dresden said in a letter printed in the German science journal Horizon. Read More...

There has been no further valid experimentation since 1988 that I can find.

Various theories have been assembled to explain the change in weight from life to death.   Some try to say the margin for error in the calculations is larger than stated and therefore the results are questionable, while others have used the experiments to argue in support of the theory that  “dark matter” is part of the makeup of all living humans.

Hollywood decided to add their 2 cents with the release of 21 Grams in 2003 - A freak accident brings together a critically ill mathematician, a grieving mother, and a born-again ex-con.The film was critically acclaimed and won 30 awards with two Oscar nominations.

Whether it’s 21 grams, or 0.01 gram, the jury is still out on what it all means.

What do you think? Let me know your take on The Weight of a Human Soul.

Look for Finders Coming in 2019!


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