HIS SIDE OF BEEF???

Please welcome the lovely and talented Inez Kelley to Killer Fiction! Take it away, Inez...



What is in a name? Would a rose by any other name not smell as sweet?

Good old Shakespeare, he never had an editor who wanted to change his title. My latest book, MYLA BY MOONLIGHT was accepted with a completely different title. It was a good title. I liked it. It fit, made sense, was different… but my editor felt it was too much, gave too much away.

So the hunt for a new name began.

Oh lord have mercy, that was a trip! There were some issues to naming this piece. The story involves a magic spell that literally rests inside a scar on Taric’s side. So yeah, lot of jokes there. My first release was a comedy and I kept wanting to slide into comedic names. But this is a fantasy romance, a shifter love story. Wait, back up, let me grab the blurb for you so we know what I am rambling about.

Magic bites…

Created at Prince Taric’s birth, Myla is a spell, an enchantment designed to appear and protect him when he needs it most. She has always been content to do her duty…until one night of forbidden passion leaves her longing to experience life—and love—as a mortal woman. Yet the risk is too great. Even if her blood runs as red as his, she can never give him the one thing he needs: a child.

Taric’s blessing—and his curse—is knowing the kingdom’s future depends on his producing an heir to continue the bloodline. His bond with Myla has always been that of protector and protected. When it suddenly becomes something much more, he unwittingly sentences his people to certain death.

An old enemy is plotting to destroy all he holds dear: his lands, his people, his father, and his lover. And this time, even if they fight tooth and blade, their shared magic may not be enough to save them…

Okay, there ya go. My editor and I tossed around several names. I took it to my writer friends at Romance Divas. The list stretched from the boring (Guardian) to the hysterical (His Side of Beef). Kim Knox came up with that stellar gem and refers to Myla by Moonlight as His Side of Beef to this day.

There were lots and lots of suggestions. Like lots. A whole plethora of names. I looked up the list and, generous author that I am, will share it with you, snark worthy ones and all.

To Touch a Star

The Broad’s Sword
The Magic Within

Smoking the Charm
Always a Guardian
Guardian Within

Scarbound

Booboo of the HooHoo

The Magically Reappearing Hymen

Cat Got Your Liver?
Blessed and Cursed
Forever Bound
Star-Crossed

Never Leave Home Without Her
Myla of the Mist

Is That a Guardian in Your Pocket(or Are You Glad to See Me?)
The Gift of Life

Feel Me Up

He’s Packing

Warrior Woman

Forbidden Bond
At His Side/Always at His Side
Guardian Heart
Bondmark
Spellbound

Beauty is the Beast

She Wears the Pants

Have Guardian, Will Travel

Bound by Magic

Freely Given

Myla's Gift

Taric’s Tale

Her Sword is Bigger than His

Myla at His Side

A Side of Magic

His Side of Magic

His Side of Beef

The Woman in Him

Virgin Warrior

PussyCat PussyCat

Cherry Jubilee

Magic at His Side

Born of Magic

All Love's Might

This Side of Magic

Star-Blessed

Once a Warrior
Love is a Battlefield
You are Never Alone

Peek-a-Boo

Jag Snag
Tainted Bond
Burnt by Magic
Stars in your Eyes

Litterbox Love
Guardian of Tears
Beyond my World
I Watch from Within


For weeks, we went back and forth trying to find a name for this story. I’d send a list of ten, she’d send a list of ten, so on and so forth. I decided on my children’s names with less hair-tearing. I mean, come on, I wrote the stupid thing. You’d think I could title it in a blink. Nightmares about this book with a flat white cover and a bar code with the name GENERIC started seeping into my brain. I started to call it THIS DAMN NAMELSS BOOK or better yet BUY ME!!

I save all my manuscripts under the hero name mostly, occasionally a working title. So this was ‘Taric’. But Myla is a name that is somewhat unusual so we latched on to that and FINALLY my editor and I agreed on Myla by Moonlight. Now I can’t think of it any other way. It fits. Perfectly, like a glove. And so much better than Booboo of the HooHoo.

Despite all the naming woes, this is a beautiful tale of love and sacrifice. Stop by my website and check out a few excerpts or watch the trailer. I promise, no Side of Beef involved!

~Inez

http://inezkelley.com/

JINXED - AVAILABLE NOW from Samhain Publishing
MYLA BY MOONLIGHT - coming in September from Samhain Publishing

Check out my free reads at http://inezkelley.com/funstuff/