Aurora Kelly

When I was writing my duology, the titles were the easy part. The headings of the outlines I largely never looked at again, it was part of the very first writing session I ever had. It’s true at that time is was going to be a trilogy (The Catalyst, Combustion, and Fallout), and the title for the second book changed (now The Commander), but I never had to dedicate any real time to sorting those out.

When I started my new project, the title was immediate, the very next thought after the idea came to me; The Lady and The List. And it gave me a convention, which made coming up with the next two books fairly easy (WIP- The Gossip and The Guest, horizon WIP- The Mentor and The Mouse). Easy peasy. Now I just have to write them. WRONG. I need a series title.

What? Well, that shouldn’t be too hard, I’ve done that before… Well, I guess I did just name it The Duology of Fortola (the country it takes place in). Can’t exactly do that. No one is going to want to pick up The Indeterminate Series of England. Not exactly punchy enough for Regency romances.

So, I’ll admit it; I’m stumped. I’ve read many series in this genre, such as The Daring Dukes, or The Rakish Rouges, The Dukes of Fortune, and other such clear, evocative names. But I’m not writing about rakes, at least not in every book. And there are going to be as many untitled matches as titled. Oh, and every book has queer characters. And disability representation. And characters of varied ethnicities. But how to sum that up into a little bite sized tag line? The Realistic Mixture of Peoples That Would Have Actually Existed at The Time in That Setting? Feels like I’d need wider books.

I’d be lying if i said that I didn’t let little things like that prevent me from writing. It has no impact on the actual book that I should be steadily chugging away on, and yet to the creative part of my brain it’s like a stick in my wheels. Until it’s dislodged, movement will prove difficult. All that to say, if you have suggestions, even just of elements to throw in, please give ’em to me. I’ll even promise to add you to my acknowledgements if I use it. That’s something, right?