Titling This Novel – A Guest Post by Quinn Anderson #giveaway

This novel went through two major title changes before it finally became Fourteen Summers. When I first came up with the idea, I called it The Casen Twins. That was the last name I’d given to the brothers before I’d even given them first names. Looking back, I can’t remember why I picked that. Sometimes names pop into my head and stay there. Later, however, I decided that Casen sounded more like a first name than a last name, so I switched it to Kingsman.

Most of my novels have titles before I start writing them, and this was no exception. In my head, it was The Kingsman Twins from the very first page. My friends and betas still refer to it by that title. However, when it came time to turn in the manuscript and get it published, a concern was raised. The Kingsman Twins sounded like a twincest book, or even a twin ménage. The incest vibe was even more pronounced when we started looking at mock covers. Anything with more than one figure on it seemed to suggest twincest. Since that’s not what the book is about, I had to change the title. It wasn’t easy! After months of thinking of this story exclusively by that title, coming up with something else was no small feat.

In the end, it was my editor and friend, May Peterson, who suggested the title Fourteen Summers. In the novel, the prologue opens with six-year-old Oliver playing with the Kingsman twins, Max and Aiden. Then, it jumps fourteen years into the future, to when the boys are twenty and home from college for the summer. So, why name the book after fourteen summers that pass off-page? Because those fourteen summers mark the time between when the love story starts and when it begins. A subtle but significant distinction. If you don’t get it now, you certainly will once you read the book. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the title!

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I’m Quinn Anderson, author of New Heights and the Murmur Inc. series. Welcome to my blog tour for Fourteen Summers! Stay tuned to get fun facts about this release, inside information about my writing process, and to learn how I chose my penname. Leave comments for a chance to win a $10 Riptide gift card. I look forward to chatting with you all!

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About Fourteen Summers

Identical twins Aiden and Max Kingsman have been a matched set their whole lives. When they were children, Aiden was happy to follow his extroverted brother’s lead, but now that they’re in college, being “my brother, Aiden” is starting to get old. He’s itching to discover who he is outside of his “twin” identity.

Oliver’s goals for the summer are simple: survive his invasive family, keep his divorced parents from killing each other, and stay in shape for rowing season. He’s thrilled when he runs into his old friends, the Kingsman twins, especially Aiden, the object of a childhood crush. Aiden is all grown-up, but some things have stayed the same: his messy curls, his stability, and how breathless he makes Oliver. Oliver’s crush comes back full force, and the feeling is mutual. Summer just got a whole lot hotter.

Fun-loving Max takes one thing seriously: his role as “big brother.” When Aiden drifts away, Max can’t understand how his own twin could choose a boy over him. Summer won’t last forever, and with friendship, family, and happily ever after on the line, they’ll have to navigate their changing relationships before it’s too late.

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About Quinn Anderson

Quinn Anderson is an alumna of the University of Dublin in Ireland and has a master’s degree in psychology. She wrote her dissertation on sexuality in popular literature and continues to explore evolving themes in erotica in her professional life.

A nerd extraordinaire, she was raised on an unhealthy diet of video games, anime, pop culture, and comics from infancy. Her girlfriend swears her sense of humor is just one big Joss Whedon reference. She stays true to her nerd roots in writing and in life, and frequently draws inspiration from her many fandoms, which include Yuri on Ice, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Buffy, and more. Growing up, while most of her friends were fighting evil by moonlight, Anderson was kamehameha-ing her way through all the shounen anime she could get her hands on. You will often find her interacting with fellow fans online and offline via conventions and Tumblr, and she is happy to talk about anything from nerd life to writing tips. She has attended conventions on three separate continents and now considers herself a career geek. She advises anyone who attends pop culture events in the UK to watch out for Weeping Angels, as they are everywhere. If you’re at an event, and you see a 6’2” redhead wandering around with a vague look on her face, that’s probably her.

Her favorite authors include J.K. Rowling, Gail Carson Levine, Libba Bray, and Tamora Pierce. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling, cooking, spending too much time on the internet, playing fetch with her cat, screwing the rules, watching Markiplier play games she’s too scared to play herself, and catching ’em all.

Connect with Quinn:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorQuinnAnderson/

Tumblr: quinnandersonwrites

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Fourteen Summers, Quinn is giving away a $10 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 26, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!