Well, here I go again . . . everyone was so helpful in giving my heroine a name (Skye McPherson.) Now I don’t have a title for this novella. I need one. The anthology book will be titled by our editor (and I’m love the name she’s most recently suggested, but we don’t have approval yet for me to share) but I get to title my story.
I don’t wanna.
I titled THE HUNT, and that was the only book I titled. I wrote all of SPEAK NO EVIL as OPTION BOOK #1. Seriously. I didn’t want to fall in love with a title and then have to lose it.
Because you did so well with Skye, I thought I’d give everyone a chance to name my story! I’ll pick my favorite three and send them off to my agent and editor. Whoever they pick gets a prize. Something good. It’s still a year out before this book is published, so that’s not a great prize, but maybe an early copy of SEE NO EVIL or something similar. (Okay, disclaimer, yada yada . . . if no title is picked, I’ll randomly pick a winner from everyone who commented. Fair?)
Anyway, here’s the gist of the story:
Assistant Sheriff Skye McPherson is faced with the most brutal mass murder of her career–the slaughter of twelve retired priests at the Santa Maria Mission. The one survivor–young seminarian Rafe Cooper–is in a coma, but Skye is certain he was involved. How else could he live through the carnage without a scratch? The chapel is desecrated and an odd drawing is found–painted in blood. She thinks the trappings are either a hate crime or a set-up to make the slaughter appear to be a hate crime.
Then Anthony Zaccardi shows up and tells her the murders are the work of inhuman hands.
Anthony is an historical architect by day, renovating historic church buildings around the world. At night he’s a demonologist, cleansing the same buildings of evil spirits. When his best friend Rafe sends him a cryptic message about strange happenings at the mission, Anthony rushes across the world–but he’s too late.
Practical Skye certainly doesn’t believe demons had anything to do with these murders–her experience is that men are demonic enough without having to create mythical evil creatures. As she works the investigation as any trained cop would, she starts stepping on toes of those who know how to summon evil, and Anthony fears not only for Skye’s life, but her eternal soul is in jeopardy. After a harrowing night, Anthony finds himself falling in love and he’ll do anything to save Skye . . . even sacrifice his own life.
I have some ideas for a title, but nothing I love. Help!