Blog Anniversary Author Post + Giveaway: Barbara Elsborg
It’s fantastic to have Barbara Elsborg back on the blog again, and celebrating our 8th blog anniversary too. Barbara has some incredible depth to her writing and if you’ve never checked her books out before and you read “MM” or gay romance – maybe you’re about to dabble – then definitely check her out. She even has het romance and bi ménage. There are plenty of reviews on this blog and Goodreads to help you out.
My Problem With Titles.
Not titels as I first typed it. I struggle with them. I feel I can’t start writing until I’ve fixed on one and I can’t make the story work until I’ve fixed on the right one. I suspect a lot of authors are the same. Recently, I’ve HAD to write without one and then been desperate to find one by the time the story is coming to an end.
It’s a good idea to choose a title no one else has used, but not that easy with romance books. Mackerchar’s ‘The Romance of Leprosy’ lacks that something – probably because it dropped off. Oops. Sorry.
Pick a title with zing! Not like Rossi’s ‘The Sex Life of the Foot and Shoe.’ Which I suspect is not sexy at all.
Choose something that appeals. Unlike Joseph’s ‘A Letter to the Man who Killed my Dog.’ That doesn’t sound like it has a happy ending.
I found one I like the sound of – Simpson’s ‘Cannibalism and the Common Law: A Victorian Yachting Tragedy.’
I don’t know how other authors come up with their titles but I find listening to lyrics helps. Quite a few of mine are based around songs.
The title – The Making of Jonty Bloom just came to me part way through writing the story and my latest book – out today – A Long Way Back – jumped into my head as I was writing Jonty’s story. A miracle! On the other hand – my next book has the working title of – Cato’s Story – sitting alongside Ru’s Story in my documents. I foresee agony ahead.
**GIVEAWAY**
This giveaway is now over. Congratulations to Jennifer.
For a chance to win a copy of my latest book, A Long Way Back, released today – or any other from my backlist – tell me which titles of mine or anyone else’s that appeal to you!
To enter this giveaway you can use the Rafflecopter but also leave a funny book title in the comments section below. The giveaway closes 10 days after initial post date.
A Long Way Back:
A serious accident may have left Tay’s body broken, but he’s determined to live an independent life at any cost. Except he’s barely coping. Alone and isolated in London, his only solace comes from the pain numbing drugs he’s become addicted to.
Ink’s on the run. He keeps his head low, but London streets don’t feel safe. The only way to stay under the radar is to keep moving and not let anyone or anything get close. But the stray mutt that’s latched onto Ink has other ideas.
A chance encounter and Ink’s bungled attempt to free himself from his four-legged companion leads to the offer of a job as a live-in helper. Tay’s moody and difficult, but he’s also scared and vulnerable, and Ink finds himself saying yes when he should be saying no.
Can Tay and Ink find a clear path on the road towards true love, or will their broken lives prove to be one roadblock too many?
Author’s Bio and Links
Barbara Elsborg lives in Kent in the south of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.
After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.
She writes stories about two guys, two guys and one woman, or one guy and one woman in most genres—contemporary, paranormal, sci fi and suspense. Her books feature bad, damaged men and quirky heroines, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they are to write.
Say hi to Barbara:
She loves hearing from readers and can be contacted at bjelsborg@gmail.com If you’d like to hear about future releases please ask to be put on her mailing list.
I like a good sci-fi book but they don’t come with funny names. It’s not the genre for obscure but there is Time Snake and Superclown which I haven’t read but I’ve heard of in my many travels through the sci-fi genre.
I’ve enjoyed the post and will check back in to see what titles people know of.
John.
You’re right about sci fi titles – though I do think some end up being unintentionally funny – or maybe it’s my sense of humour! LOL
I love this post and the book titles are mind boggling. Well, I’m no expert but my son used to love My Sister’s a Yo-yo and The Day My Bum Went Psycho, so there are those book titles 😀
Thanks for the great post, Barbara, and for joining us for our 8th anniversary. I hope readers have some interesting titles for the post
ha ha! I seem to remember my grandkids being obsessed with Bear’s Big Bottom! The book I own with the best title and when I saw it in the shop I had to buy it – was – How to Shit in the Woods. I mean, because you never know!
First, the cover of A Long Way Back is gorgeous. I would seriously buy the book based on the cover alone.
Sometimes I’ll see books with super funny titles on Amazon and send the links to Kazza in messenger. I’m amazed over some that I’ve come across that have had us both giggling.
Thanks to Barbara Elsborg for helping us celebrate our 8th year and for the great giveaway!
My cover lover card might be revoked because I didn’t mention the cover, It is gorgeous
LOL – yep! And with Northumbria again on the cover – I just love it!
Thank you, Cindi. Yep, my cover artist – B4Jay – is fab! She just seems to see inside my head and know what I’ll like. The only sticking point is finding the right guy – always tricky!
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Jonty Bloom, so I’ve put it on my TBR.
It’s one of my most popular books to date!
I absolutely love your books. You know how to reach your readers’ hearts and write wonderful characters that stay impressed for ever.
Thank you so much, Ana!
Oh yes, Simpson on R v Dudley and Stephens! The alternative title could very well be: “Necessity is the Mother of Invention…but not Murder” (but why mess up a perfectly good title, I guess?)
My nomination is a simple one (and quite related to above, actually): How To Avoid Huge Ships. It bears no relevance to my life and is definitely left field, but has a certain je ne sais quoi that makes me want to read it (despite being an operations guide book).
Thank you for this post, and for making me search for some unusual titles – I’m off to research some more!
Wow. I had to look that up, Elizabeth. The cannibalism book Barbara mentions is a criminal case studied in law even now it seems. Thank you for your knowledgeable input. We learn something new everyday, I know I just did 🙂
Oh, the joys of finding the perfect title (she says with LOTS of sarcasm). It seems like I spend more time trying to find the perfect title than I do writing the book. 🙂
I’m going to agree with everyone who mentioned the cover for A Long Way Back. SO pretty!
I mean this in the most respectful way. I’m going to add Willy the Kinky Elf & his Badass Reindeer to the book list above because when I first saw that title it cracked me up. I mean, it fits the book perfectly but it is as funny as hell 😀
Haha! Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer was totally meant to be silly. You’ve read the series so you know how goofy the actual character Willy is. 🙂
This giveaway is now over. Congratulations to Jennifer S