It tells the reader the story will be about cowboys and it will be a coming out story. I’m pretty sure I thought of the name Cowboys Don’t Come Out before I wrote the first book. That brings us to the Cowboys Don’t Series. The whole series follows the idea of a medieval title – Knight, Knave, Prince, Lord and coming up, Fool - associated with some aspect of the story – mostly actual geographic places. Then one hero called the other his knight and lights went on in my brain. Knight of Ocean Avenue started out with a different title that I never liked. Winter’s Wolf is a fairly ordinary title – until you read the book and realize the apostrophe was a clue to the book’s secret. Volley Balls not only became the title, it set the naming convention for an entire series – Fire Balls, Beach Balls, FAST Balls, Snow Balls and two new books to be added – High Balls and Bleu Balls! Each title suggests something about the story as well as adding that bite of erotic, gay romance.Įven my titles that seem just your regular have a lot of thought behind them. I mulled on it and – bingo! The two words separated and became Volley Balls, which suggested a whole world of erotic possibilities. As I wrote, I got more into the volleyball aspect of the story but Volleyballs would be an odd title for a gay romance.

The first book originally had a different title but I wasn’t happy with it. That’s what I try to do with my books covers – central idea, few words, twist.Īs an example, look at the titles for my Balls to the Wall series. I remember a really old ad from IBM that said, “A Computer Isn’t Smart Enough to Make a Mistake.” I was a kid when I heard that and I never forgot it. Creating a headline is a process of focusing on the central message of an ad, finding a few words that capture that message, and then adding a twist if possible to make the headline more memorable.

It was (and still is) my job to create headlines for ads.

I think one reason I take so easily to title writing is my background in advertising as a creative director. I usually create the title before I start writing and only occasionally change them. I find titles to be one of the most important drivers for my books. For many authors, creating titles is a chore, an afterthought, or even a job they relegate to their publisher.

Among the things readers comment on and ask about a lot are my titles. I’m Tara Lain and I’m celebrating the release of my new romance Cowboys Don’t Ride Unicorns.

Fool of Main Beach by Tara Lain