title contest

Regular readers know I recently wrapped up a fun erotic space opera (we could call it a space operotic... eh. maybe not). Anyway Whiskey Creek Press/Torrid  just picked it up. Hopefully it'll come out this year, in the fall. Here's the blurbage.
Aleric and Katriel couldn’t have come from more different lives if they tried.

Katriel found glory and fortune piloting a fighter ship for Central Coalition Command. But when her husband was killed in battle over the planet Calixte, she deserted her combat unit to take up a pauper’s existence on the Salt Road. She seeks only to keep a low profile and pay off her massive ship-debt to her boss, Haydn, a man with a past as mysterious as his Salt Fleet is profitable.
The only thing that’s kept Alaric, the so-called Lost Prince of Calixte, from giving into his grief over his beloved homeworld is the thought of revenge against the man who betrayed his people. But he’s wrong about Haydn, who actually saved two thousand Calixten soldiers from certain death and secreted them on an inhospitable planet. There, they’ve launched a fledgling rebellion against the Coalition. Alaric needs a pilot to take him to his soldiers, someone too desperate to betray him. Katriel,  enslaved to Haydn by debt, is perfect for the job. But Katriel and Alaric fail to realize the devastating battle over Calixte binds them closer than blood, and when they find out, their collision will send shock waves through the universe.
The story lends itself to a series (they're already asking me about it) and I've got ideas for more stories but no series title. I could call it the LOST series and do a couple of them: LOST PRINCE, LOST PLANET, LOST...

Eh. Or not.

So, dude. Help me come up with a cool series name and you win a free copy of DEADLY BY THE DOZEN, a new anthology featuring lots of your favorite authors like Mark Terry, Erica Orloff, Jude Hardin and moi. It's available in most formats, like NOOK, too.* I'll also use your first name for a secondary or bit character in the next book of the unnamed series** and you'll own my undying gratitude.***

Some catchwords from LOST PRINCE to work with:
  • Coalition (the oppressive overlord government that spans 6 galaxies, formally called Central Coalition Command.)
  • Calixte (Alaric's planet, destroyed by the horrible Coalition weapon called Acid Wind)
  • Lost (ya. no.)
  • rebellion, as in the one Alaric and Katriel launch in this book (or any cool thesaurus variation thereof) 
  • Salt Road (a trading route that is the mainstay of economic power for the Coalition. It will figure prominently in subsequent books.)
  • heliotrope - the color of Alaric's eyes, a mark of his royal heritage reputed to be inherited from a "lost" god.
  • Prince - Alaric's rank; he refused to raise his rank to king until his people are safe and free

To qualify your suggestion for the contest, leave suggestions in the comment thread of this post. No facebook, no twitter, no emails. There's not really a due date; we'll play until we get sick of it, yeah? Or until we have a winner! :)

*it'll also be available in print, which I'm happy to send as a prize. No word on a date yet.
**no guarantees that you'll die a horrific, bloody death but I will put you on the force of good rather than evil. Unless you beg me in a unseemly fashion to be put on the force of evil, mwahahaha.
***and a beer if we ever meet in RL



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15 comments:

David Boop said...

The Calixtean Cycle

1. The Calixtean Redemption
2. The Calixtean Rebellion
3. The Calixtean Prophecy

or something like that.

ssas said...

Hmm, redemption. Nice.

Tonya said...

Salt Road Salat
Royal Rebellion
Helitrope Memories

B. Nagel said...

If the Salt Road remains a touchstone, that could be good. If the Acid Wind gets consistent callbacks, that could be fun too. An MC could also lend his or her name to the series, a la the Honor Harrington books. Of course, I'm trying to think of series names, and you might be looking at individual titles.

Series:
On the Salt Road
Sailors Behind the Wind
The God's Eye
A Katriel Calixte Novel
Children of a Forgotten God

or, my personal favorite (as it's almost two am):
The Wind Blew Salt in God's Purple Eye.

ssas said...

THE WIND BLEW SALT IN GOD'S PURPLE EYE!!!

hahaha, awesome!

Stephen Parrish said...

I like The Lost Prince of Calixte as the title for the first book. As for the series title, you want it short and catchy, and I'm going to go along (apparently) with the others and suggest Salt Road Trilogy.

Anonymous said...

Insurgent Prince

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the acceptance by WP. Is this another Ainsley book? Or are you using another name?

ssas said...

It's another Ainsley book. Tre naughty.

Actually, that's not true. It's not nearly as naughty as the last two. But still fun and I love me the storyline and characters.

You guys are brilliant. I'm going to have a tough time choosing.

Kieron Heath said...

The Salt Road Saga
The Chronicles of a Godly Prince

There's my suggestion. If I were to win. Id love for my bit character to be called Kiz'ran. It's a slight alteration of a nickname given to me years ago.

I imagine Kiz'ran as the king of a very small castle. Perhaps he could be killed off by the Coalition as they betray some agreement he has with them for his own selfish means.

McKoala said...

The Prince and the Pauper...hang on a minute...sounds familiar...

Victims of the Salt Road
Rebel Passion heh heh
Command of Calixte

oh, I'm no good at this. But I do have a pretty name...

ssas said...

Kieron, I very much like Kiz'ron. You might end up a character just out of coolness. Good plot idea, too. :) Deserves a bloody, horrible death I think.

Anonymous said...

I've been trying to think of more suggestions for your title. I don't have any more yet.

"Salt Road Rebels" would be a good name for a band though.

Nighfala said...

Hi Betsy... I've got something for you at my blog. The Writer's Hole .

Kieron Heath said...

The bloodier the better.