Friday, January 06, 2012

New year...new baby...new works

ATTENTION KIMA! YOU'RE THE WINNER OF LESLIE LANGTRY'S $25 GIFT CARD. SHE'll CONTACT YOU WITH DETAILS. CONGRATS!!!!!



It's a new year! I'm home on maternity leave with my newborn. And I'm spoiled.

Admittedly I had a very, shall we say, challenging first baby. They always say "sleep when your baby sleeps." Well, that wasn't possible with her. She literally would only sleep every 30 minutes, morning noon or night.

But this one is a really good sleeper. He gives us a 5-hr stretch at night, followed by a 4-hr stretch. (And this is despite being exclusively breastfed, too!) And he even sleeps well during the day, too, so I can write.

Yes, that's right...I'm writing!!! I seriously doubted I would be able to, but I am, and it feels great.

I'm finishing up POINTE OF NO RETURN, which is the sequel to CODENAME: DANCER. I'm also working on a short story set in that same world that will be published in a multi-author ebook anthology this spring.

I'm pretty excited about the short story actually, but it doesn't have a title. So leave me a comment today with a suggestion for a title, and you'll be entered to win a $25 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble (your choice).

Here's the deal...the story takes place during spring break. My heroine and her friends are dance students at a performing arts boarding school and they solve mysteries in their spare time. They've gone to Sedona, Arizona (home of the famous gorgeous red rocks) for a class trip. My heroine is still flirting with her love interest, who is an inspiring actor. He's not there because he's in LA auditioning for a part in the brand new vampire movie based on the popular Midnight series (ahem, Twilight). My heroine and her friends are obsessed with vampires, btw.

I like punny titles and I make reference to the dance theme in some way, so I'd like to stick to that motif.

Any ideas?

CONTEST! SOMEONE WHO COMMENTS TODAY WILL WIN A $25 GIFT CARD TO EITHER AMAZON OR BN - YOUR CHOICE! AND...YOU WILL BE ENTERED TO WITH A KINDLE FIRE OR NOOK COLOR AT THE END OF THE CONTEST! CHECK IT OUT AND COMMENT!

Winner!! Barbara Elness you are the winner of a $25 B&N gift card from Christie Craig's Twitter contest. Please email her at Christie(at)christie-craig(dot)com with your snail mail address.

49 comments:

Pamela said...

How about Midnight Arabesque?

Glad to hear you are doing well with the little one. :)

Unknown said...

Midnight Mambo
Twilight Tango
Twilight Two-Step
Midnight Minuet
A Minuet Obsession

Cheryl said...

I'm so bad at this but I'll give it a try. Twilight Two-Step?

Congratulations on your new baby. Glad he's cooperating with your writing.

Zita said...

Barre Hopping at Midnight (or in Sedona)

mullymoon said...

Rumba at Red Rocks?
Dance Across the Dessert?

I'll keep thinking. Congrats on everything you have going on. Sounds like it's going to be a wonderful year!

krisgils33 said...

I love the dance theme!! My daughter is in a dance company, so our entire existence is things of dance. :-)

CrystalGB said...

Congratulations on your newborn. Your novella sounds good. Here are a few titles I came up with.
Samba in Sedona
Midnight Waltz
Sedona Shuffle

Alison said...

Congrats on the new baby!

I'm terrible at this, but what about Desert Ballet or Desert Tango? Hope you get some good title suggestions today :)

Rebekah E. said...

Wow! everyone is so good at this. I'm no good at this but I'll try.
A Waltz at Twilight
A Waltz in the Moonlight

Erin T said...

Congrats on your new baby.
I was thinking:

All Tangoed Up
or
Tangoed Up At Midnight

Sarah S. said...

Twilight Two-Step might be amusing.

Jen T. said...

How about Spring Break Dancing? Too corny?

traveler said...

tango for love.
Starlight Tango
Dancing for Love
Best wishes and much success.

petite said...

Sweet Salsa
Midnight minds
Dancing Delight
Desert Dancing

Kristi said...

How about:

Arizona Arabesque, Red Rock Royale, Mesa Methods, Sedona Sautée, Vortex Virtuoso.

Mellisa said...

Congrats on the new baby

Unknown said...

Congrats on the new baby! Sounds like he's going to be a good baby!

Dancing At Twilight
Twilight Dance.

Glittergirl said...

Congrats with the sleeping baby, lucky you, mine had colic for 9 months...

I'm terrible with names but here goes -- Red Rock Rumba

blackroze37 AT yahoo.com said...

Move to the beat
Twirl in the sand
Sunrise boogie
Midnight boogie
Arizona stroking
Tumbleweed waltz

Anonymous said...

Wow, there are some great titles here! Lots to think about.

Keep 'em coming! I'll pick a random commenter at midnight for the gift card and I'll be sure to thank whoever comes up with the title I choose in my acknowledgements.

Diane Gaston said...

How about
The Red Shoes......

Or has that been done??? :-)

Kerri said...

I love Sedona!!!

How about ... Ready, Set, Pirouette

Vivi Andrews said...

Hmmm.... spring break... THE BREAKAWAY HIT (don't suppose there's a hitman in this mystery?)

MIDNIGHT MAMBA

PAS DE DON'T or PAS DE DO-OVER

JETS & JETES (if they fly on their break)

Louisa Cornell said...

Glad the Little Prince is sleeping better than the Little Princess did, Ruby AND Pixie Sister!

How about :

Danse Macabre

Pas de Midnight

Red Rock Releve

Na said...

Congratulations on the new baby! I'm glad he's a get sleeper so you can put in some writing time. Hmm, how about...

Dancing in the Dark
Night Moves
Toe the Line
A Lively Jitterbug
Mambo and Mayhem
Heart in Limbo

I see some wonderful ideas also voiced. I hope you have fun reading them or even finding one!
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/FieryNa/status/155400246409703424

Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com

Bessamy said...

How about Midnight Moonlight, Red Midnight, Moonlight @ Midnight, or Sedona Midnight?

Congrats on the quiet baby! Funny how siblings can be so different!

Thanks for the chance!

Jess said...

Congrats on the new baby!


jcross719 at yahoo dot com

Jane said...

I suck at these things, but how about Dead in the Desert.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on getting a sleeper this time around. :)

I suck at titles. But what about Break a Leg? Because it's spring break and...never mind.

Barre None? Raising the Barre? I don't know if I'm helping or not, but I am laughing at myself! Good luck with the title!

aboysmommy said...

I was thinking Break Dancing, but I am pretty bad at this!

Karna Bodman said...

If there is a place in your new short story where the action takes a turn (there usually is) -- how about: "Pivot Pointe"

Can't believe you're writing with a newborn in your midst - good for you!

Karna

Anonymous said...

I such at this, but how about Trouble on Tap?

Cynthia Justlin said...

I'm really bad at titles. LOL.

Waltz This Way
Waltz Like An Egyptian (okay, maybe not. *snort*)
Pas De Death

*sigh* That's all I got...

Cricket said...

I'm terrible with titles, but congratulations on the new little one....and the sleep! :)

rouge1477 said...

Congratulations on your new baby and hrs of sleep he gives you :)

How about:
Red Rock Waltz
Sedona Waltz
Dancing Under the Sedona Eclipse
Dancing at Twilight
Red Rock Sway
Loves Waltz Under a New Moon
Dancing to a Twilight Tune

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the baby! Hmmm how about Tango Temptation.

geishasmom73 AT yahoo DOT com

Theresa N. said...

Slow Dance at Red Rock

Lots of good choices here.
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com

C.J. Redwine said...

I am really bad with titles, but I'll give it a shot:

Tango for Two
Allegro Arizona
Spring Swing

heldcaptive said...

Beware, the Dancer
Last Plie'
For Chasse only
Chasse in Stone
Ballerina of Stone
Night of the Living Dancer
Curse of the Dancer
Chasse or Die

Lisa Follett said...

How about...
Pointe to Midnight
Midnight Dance
Love Dance
Dancing Shoes Mysteries (series?)

LOL! This is hard! Congrats on the baby!

J.K. Harper said...

Wow, I love All Tangoed Up.

My suggestions (which are making me giggle):

Choreograph of Death
Choreograph to Die For
Deadly Choreography
Deadly Dance Moves
Jitterbugged to Death
Shake, Rattle, and Die
Jiving at Midnight

Hope your new little one lets you keep writing, Amanda!

Elisa Beatty said...

Wow!! Writing with a newborn! That's a true blessing!

I'm a terrible titler....but I just smiled when I came to PAS DE DON'T and PAS DE DO-OVER.

And of course those turned out to be Vivi's...best titler in the world!

Good luck!

Lyric James said...

So glad the baby is sleeping for you!! Congrats!!

Sedona Salsa
Spring Break Shim Sham
Sedona Calpyso
Sedona Samba
Sedona Cabriole
Spring Break Cha Cha
Sedona Cha Cha

Sondra said...

Congrats on the new baby!

I'm not good at this either, but here's a couple.

Red Rock to Black Bottom (dance popular in the '20s)

Basque at Midnight

Anonymous said...

These are great!

I LOL'ed at PAS DE DON'T and while it doesn't really work for this story, I'm definitely going to use it for the next book...even if I have to make the story work to fit it!

Merry said...

I do not envy you, Amanda! You've got too many great titles to work with here. I'll add a few more --
Sedona Swirl
Twilight in Texas
Texas on Toe
Trouble on Toe
Congrats on a sleeping baby!

Erin T said...

Ooh. I thought of another one.

Tangoed Up In Trouble

Margay Leah Justice said...

Wow, lots of great suggestions here! Titles usually just come to me (for my books), it's harder when I try to force them, but how about something like Red Desert Salsa?

Congratulations on the baby!

Sandy said...

How about Tangoed Up?