Simon novella: update

This image is NOT the cover -
this is the Simon trading card.
 I can't wait to see the cover,
which is being created now. 

Finally, a title: I'm calling it DEVIL'S LUCK!

I'm really grateful to the handful of online pals I bugged for feedback on my title list. You guy really helped me narrow my list and get thinking clearly about it.

One of the things I love about the phrase Devil's Luck is that few people can agree on what it means. Even if you go online, definitions conflict. Some say it means luck that turns back on you, others say it means extraordinarily good luck, or amazingly bad luck. So, it was perfect for this story, because Simon's kind of luck is a thing all its own.

I had more arty titles like BEAUTIFUL LOSERS or THE ART OF RUIN in mind. I actually think those are awesome titles, but I'm trying to think like a publisher now that I'm putting this piece out myself, and those titles felt like they didn't nod to the urban fantasy genre. What's so funny is that, I originally resisted MIND GAMES as a title. It felt a bit common to me, and I wanted more pizzazz. But part of the job of a title is to suggest to people what is inside a book. *head slap*

As I was explaining it to my husband, it's sort of like hospital logos. Have you noticed most American hospitals have blue, teal or green shades on their logos and materials? (Not children's hospitals, but regular ones.) Crisp lines, often swirls or simple lines, a clean look, lots of white space. I find hospital logos totally boring, but if I was sick, I think I might be more attracted to a teal swirl logo than a logo with a spangle of red stars on a field of yellow, or an inky old world font...it just wouldn't look hospitally! A simple greeny blue image tells me there's a hospital inside.

I want people to get that Devil's Luck contains something magical and sexy and dangerous. Devil's Luck definitely does not contain a hospital.

I'm so excited for this novella I can't even tell you. I love the Simon character!! Fawna is in it, too, another favorite character of mine. I'm working with a wonderful editor, as well as a cover artist whose work I've long admired - I've never worked with cover artists or freelance editors, so I'm excited to see what they come up with - more on all that as it unfolds. The book will stand alone--even more so than the Sophia book. In series order, it's 3.5, taking place after Head Rush. Though, a reader could start with it, too.

I'm hoping to release the book at the end of February. That might be ambitious because there is a lot to do between now and then for it, but that is my goal!