News Roundup

Hey all! I have a giveaway coming later today, but in the meantime, I wanted to do a quick news roundup in one spot.

– In case you haven’t heard, my next book has a new name: PAWN, the first book of The Blackcoat Rebellion series, will be out November 26, 2013! I don’t have a cover or a synopsis to share with you yet, but as soon as both are released, I’ll be sure to let you all know. I’m so excited about this series. It’s been a long time coming, and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

– If you haven’t yet entered to win one of ten ARCs of The Goddess Inheritance from Goodreads, you have until February 1st to enter.

– The Goddess Inheritance blog tour is happening now! At each stop, you can enter to win the Goddess Test series book of your choice AND the grand prize of a Kindle.

Monday, January 28th – Harlequin Paranormal Blog
Wednesday, January 30th – Alison Can Read
Friday, February 1st – Mundie Moms

Monday, February 4th – Soul Unsung
Wednesday, February 6th – Starry Eyed Revue
Friday, February 8th – Two Chicks on Books

Monday, February 11th – The Story Queen
Tuesday, February 12th – Simply Infatuated
Wednesday, February 13th – Me, My Shelf and I
Friday, February 15th – IB Blogging

Books! Books! Everywhere!

Those of you who follow me on Twitter probably already know this, but since I was terribly rude and only announced it via video, I thought a text version of my earlier announcement was in order. There are two parts to this awesome announcement, both equally exciting:

1. The third GODDESS TEST book is now a done deal! It’s currently untitled, and while I’ve heard that the release date will be around November 2012, don’t quote me on it. This may or may not be any surprise for those of you who knew that THE GODDESS TEST was supposed to be a trilogy, but I’m floored at the reception this trilogy has had so far, and I’m beyond excited for you all to have the chance to read the third.

2. My amazing publisher Harlequin TEEN has also bought my YA dystopian novel entitled MASKED. I’m so excited about this story, I can’t even tell you. I’ve also heard this will be out in August 2013, but again, don’t quote me on it. All of this is subject to change.

For those of you who would like to know what MASKED is about, here is the blurb from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Author of the GODDESS TEST novels, Aimee Carter’s trilogy MASKED, set in a future America in which a 16-year-old orphan is surgically changed to replace the Prime Minister’s dead niece, and must deal with the dead girl’s secret life, her fiancé, a growing rebellion and a kidnapped heir, along with the knowledge that the Prime Minister will kill to preserve his own secrets, again to Mary-Theresa Hussey at Harlequin Teen, by Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio.

So that’s the big news! I’ve been sitting on it since December, and I’m thrilled to finally be able to share it. I’ve had a fantastic journey with Harlequin TEEN so far, and I’m so excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue it.

Only 36 days until the release of THE GODDESS TEST on April 26th!

Titles

As anyone who’s ever been around me when I’m trying to come up with a title knows, I’m crap at them. The original title of The Goddess Test was Persephone, and it only changed after an excruciatingly difficult brainstorming session. My titles for the next two books are equally as bad, and I’m positive they’re going to change somewhere down the road. The manuscript I wrote shortly after I finished TGT was called The Fake Princess, and yes, it was as bad as it sounds.

But tonight, thanks to my co-workers, an online thesaurus, and lots of bad jokes, I came up with titles for the next trilogy I’ve been working on, the one that evolved from the basic story of TFP, called Masked. That’s the first title I’ve been proud of in a long time. And now the next two–especially the one I have planned for the third–thrill me. The new titles tells me where the story’s going, and it gives me a goal to shoot for.

A lot of people judge books by their covers. I’m a title girl. If the title doesn’t grab me, it’ll be that much harder for me to pick it up. Artwork is great, and a lot of times that makes the book iconic (Twilight, anyone?), but in the end, what matters most to me about a book is its title.

The funny thing is, a title is so flexible. Changing the title doesn’t change the content. You could call a book a million things, but there’s usually only going to be one that jumps out at you. There were nearly twenty words on that online thesaurus that could have worked, but only one made me stand up straight and say “That’s totally it.” Well, okay, two.

But the important thing here is, they’re titles I love. Titles I could definitely live with on the shelf. I struggle with titles to the point where I get anxious when I have to think up another, but even before these books are written, I feel like I have something wonderful to look forward to, and to me, that’s a huge relief.