Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I need your help

Dear Gentle Readers,
I am looking to you for help in coming up with a title for a short story collection that I plan to publish at the end of the summer. The collection will be published as an ebook and will feature eight of my previously published Val Lyon mysteries. Val is a Honolulu-based private eye. She is an ex-cop and an ex-professional basketball player. All of the mysteries have something to do with sports. In some of the cases, Val is involved as a participant; in others, she is a hired investigator.

Here is my offer. Everyone who suggests a title in the comments section will receive a copy of the ebook when it is published, which I expect to be in September. Here are the eight stories and a short summary of each.

Wahine O Ka Hoe. Val is part of a team of paddlers participating in an open ocean canoe race. When one of the team is killed during a treacherous channel crossing, Val must determine if it was an accident or murder. The setting is the channel between the islands of Molokai and Oahu.

Drop Dead Zone. Val's first skydive is lethal for her instructor who suffers a horrific double malfunction of his parachute. Was it an accident or did someone plan the malfunction? Setting–Honolulu.

Home Wreckers. A professional women's basketball team beats their opponents on the opponents' home courts. Off the court, they engage in bed-hopping. Their winning streak comes to an end when one of the players is murdered. Setting–Los Angeles.

Kill Leader. Val is guarding a champion beach volleyball player who has received death threats. When the threats escalate to an attempt on the player's life, Val must find the attacker before he or she strikes again. Setting–Oahu.

The Big Dance With Death. When an assistant basketball coach of Val's alma-mater is killed in a car wreck, Val steps in to take her place and help the team reach the NCAA tournament. She finds that March Madness is more than basketball fever. Setting–Northern California.

Teed Off. When a young woman plunges to her death from a hotel balcony, Val is hired to determine if she jumped or was pushed. The woman's brother believes she was hounded to her death by a wealthy distributor of golf equipment. Setting–the island of Kauai.

Horns. A breeder of champion rodeo bulls wants Val to find out if someone is hijacking prized bull semen. The victim is a seventeen-hundred pound bag of aggression named Terminator and the primary suspect is a rodeo clown. It seems like a cut and dried case until Val becomes enamored with a bull rider and the clown dies. Setting–the island of Maui.

Ripper. A teenage surfer disappears leaving only a surfboard that was bit through by a shark. Val must find out what happened to the girl. Setting–North Shore of Oahu.

So, to repeat my offer, suggest a title for this collection and I will send you a copy. The book will be available in September.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Mark Troy
Hawaiian-eye blog

12 comments:

Ricky Bush said...

THE SALT, THE SEA, and THE SURF. Don't really know how the bull semen caper fits, but it should slip in there somewhere.

Morgan Mandel said...

Game Over

Mark, your individual titles are great , but I'd suggest not leading off with the Hawaiian name for more effect since everyone isn't familiar with the language.
Morgan Mandel
morgan@morganmandel.com

Mike Dennis said...

Sports-oriented? How about SUDDEN DEATH? Or maybe NO SCORE.

Ann Summerville said...

Good luck with this.
Ann

Mark Troy said...

Ricky and Mike, thanks for the suggestions.

Morgan. I agree about the Hawaiian name. I'm not sure of the order at this point. I'll probably lead with Drop Dead Zone.

Cozy, thanks for the encouragement.

J D Webb said...

Mark why not title it Hawaii 8-O? Good luck with it.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

LYON UNBOUND BUT COLLECTED

or

LYON UNBOUND.

Could be taken many different ways.


Kevin
Best reviewer ever per Earl Staggs

Jean Henry Mead said...

Wow, Troy, what a collection! I think I would call it RIPTIDE.

Mark Troy said...

J.D., riffing off the TV classic makes good marketing send.

Dirty mind, Kevin.

Jean, RIPTIDE has a nice ominous sound to it.

Thanks.

Kevin R. Tipple said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kevin R. Tipple said...

No, I was trying to get away from obvious sports metaphors or the TV show since there is supposedly a fan fic book series planned to start this year for Hawaii 5-0. I also was trying to get away from obvious titles that have been to death. Whatever title you pick, I hope you take a few minutes to run it and see what other authors have used it--if they have.

So, I was trying to go with something unconventional that would stand out and be unique. As I see the character, Val Lyon is unbound by convention or expectations of others. A free spirit who does her job well and does what she wants. So if you went with LYON UNBOUND BUT COLLECTED it means all of that and that her stuff in one book. Or, one could go with the shorter version of LYON UNBOUND.

Anyway, that was what I intended. I took it seriously and gave you what was intended to be a serious answer and a legitimate idea.

Now, if you want me to go dirty......

Mark Troy said...

Okay, that's an interesting take on it, Kevin. Thanks for explaining it.