Title Contest

Yes, folks, you heard it right. I'm having another contest, and it has to do with titles. Now, I know most title contests you read about on the blogosphere are held when the book is already in the publisher's hands and close to being a real book. (That statement makes me think of Pinocchio.)

In my case, I'm just not jazzed about my working title on Manhunter. Sure, it fits the work, but it just isn't zippy enough. And if I don't think it's zippy, no agent worth his/her salt is going to get grabbed by it either. So...

I'm giving you all the chance to pick a title, or to suggest your own. And since I'm not getting reams of blog traffic lately, the chances of winning should be pretty good - unless you're all peaches and point some people in my direction. The more the merrier on this one.

First, the book... Here's the blurb (subject to change):

***Blurb deleted because it sucked eggs.

12:30pm - Trying again...

Jace Douglas is afraid of fire, but as an agent with the Serial Crimes Unit, she doesn’t get to pick her cases. When a series of seemingly disconnected men turn up dead, but the method of their deaths is very connected, she has no choice but to follow this string of fiery murders. With the help of the best back-up crew a woman could ask for, as well as one pushy but altogether too attractive local cop, she sets off on a cross-country journey to catch a killer before another man dies.

Emma Sweet looks more like a trophy wife than a murderer, but as she watches her husband burn alive in his Mercedes, she knows her trophy life is over. So many more men deserve to share the same fate, and although the specifics may be different, the pain they caused remains the same. As she meanders from state to state, crossing the names off her list while she ends their lives, she knows she’s only one step ahead of Agent Douglas. She doesn’t care if she gets caught really, as long as the last name on her list—the first one to break her heart—gets the justice he’s earned before justice catches up with her.

Here's the logline and hook instead:

After infidelity drives a trophy wife to take ‘carrying a torch’ one step too far, Agent JD must follow a string of fiery murders across country to catch a killer before the past engulfs them both.

Dwelling on the past can be murder.

(Not the best blurb in the world, I know. I'm working on it. Did I mention how much I hate blurbing?)

Now the possible titles:

Serving Justice
Sweet Revenge
Sweet Fire
Revenge is Sweet; Justice is Sweeter
Fiery Vengeance
Car-B-Que
Vehicular Man Slaughter
Jace’s Justice
Fire In Her Eyes
Deadly Revenge
A Woman Scorned
Predators
Predator and Prey
The Fairer Sex
Gender Bias
Past Mistakes
Sweet Killer
The Weaker Sex
Old Flames

As for the contest, pick a title you think works for you, or offer one of your own. If I use the title you pick, you win. (Or if more than one person picks the best title, I'll just throw all the names in and draw from a hat.)

What do you win? Well, I don't rightly know at this point. I have a boatload of books I could give away. (In fact, I have a store's worth.) So, by the time I announce the winner on Friday 8/8/08, I'll have a list of potential bookish prizes for the winner to choose from. And if you know what you might like from my store, put it in the comments along with your title choice.

Let the games begin.

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