And Now Taglines

~ Jenny

We’re closing in on the end here, ready to go to paper edits on Lavender and Pink and then Vermillion once we get the last of it done, and I’m starting to think about taglines.

My favorite is from The Royal Tannebaums: “Family isn’t a word, it’s a sentence.” I love that for so many reasons, not the least of which is I’m obsessed about families in my writing. My favorite one for my books is one the publisher wouldn’t use. It was “Fast Women: They don’t break for anyone.” They said it was because people would think it was misspelled. I disagreed but they went with something else. They took “The Unfortunate Misfortunes: There’s magic in the night.” I liked that, simple and to the point while describing the book. And then there were “Tell Me Lies: You can go home again. You just can’t leave,” “Welcome to Temptation: Population 2,158. And falling,” and “Faking It: What’s reality ever done for you?”

And now we have this trilogy.

I have one for the first book from a long time ago, and it made Mollie laugh so I still like it: “Lavender’s Blue: Would it kill you to go home and see your mother?”

Then there’s Rest in Pink, a book about revision and seeing things new, about making commitments, about becoming part of a community again. Yeah, I’ve got nothing, but I’m thinking. I keep thinking something about revision/new vision, but it has to be pithy, short and simple.

And One in Vermillion, which is about taking back your life and building a community, about exorcising old demons and old boyfriends, about getting even and starting over. Again, pithy. Argh.

But then I remembered that a long time ago on this blog, Absolute Cherry gave us this one: “Agnes and the Hitman: Leave the gun, make the cannoli.” That’s pithy.

So anybody want to play? Short, descriptive, clever and makes you want to read the book. Yes, it’s hard, that’s why I’m giving you the opportunity to do it for us.

Or you can just use this as a general comment post. I know, that’s lazy, but I’m trying to finish this book . . .

59 thoughts on “And Now Taglines”

  3. Are there any editor-isms that are common usage enough to work for “Rest in Pink” such as “she just wants to redline the whole relationship and start over”

    Do younger people know what redlining is? and by book two, probably not relationship, but I don’t know/remember enough about the conflict to know what stick in there. I did feel proud of thinking of REDlining for the Pink book though. It takes so little to make me happy!

    1. ‘Redline’ wouldn’t mean anything to UK readers, if that matters – unless it’s familiar for some reason to younger Brits.

        1. Well, the non-editorial meaning is the lines banks and other lenders used to draw on maps around non-white residential districts, meaning they would not lend there, so probably not a good tagline.

          2. Also in cars with a manual transmission place on the tachometer you have to switch gears or the engine blows. I am not a car need and have been driving Dodge Caravans for over 20 years. I do miss the illusion of control I had with a stick. Do not miss my 78 Chevette though.

      2. It means to edit text or changes in a contract, and is also used in Word. I thought it was used generally, but obviously not.

  4. Ha, JenniferNennifer, I was thinking “red” needs to be in the line for One in Vermillion:

    – Seeing red? Trouble ahead…
    – Look out when you see red
    – See red, see dead

  5. One in Vermillion: To know which dose makes the poison, you have to mix it up.

    Or there’s always:

    One in Vermillion: Because Bob Wouldn’t Let Us Call it Yellowbrick Roadkill.

  6. One in Vermillion: Time to let your hair down and paint the town red.

    Rest in Pink: Everything is coming up roses.

  7. Rest in Pink: When life hands you lemons, reach for the water, sugar and strawberries … and your gun.

    Not having read the full book yet but knowing its a Crusie/Mayer collaboration; there is a safe assumption that there’s probably a gun somewhere in there.

  9. Well, now I have the traditional Valentine’s rhyme, slightly revised, running through my head:

    [dead person] was pink,
    Lavender was blue,
    I’m starting over,
    how about you?

    Or something along those lines…

    1. Frances – the only “roses are red…” I can remember was dropped on me by my younger kid, and I’m not certain I’ve recovered yet:

      roses are red
      there’s mercury in thermometers
      beware moose in roadway
      next five kilometers

  11. I’m sure I could do better at this if you let me read the drafts. No? It was worth a try.

    Rest in Pink: It’s time to start again.

    Or bring in the writing side:

    Rest in Pink: It’s time for a rewrite.

  13. On the general-purpose post topic, it’s my birthday and I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself. I’m still recovering from gut surgery which is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. Today, my temperature’s up a little bit and I’ve got approximately no appetite.

    On the positive, my partner’s going to spend the afternoon attacking the garden with a small chainsaw and I’ve got fancy ice cream for afternoon tea. And the weather’s good.

    1. Happy birthday. Feel better soon. I always buy myself a present, just to make sure I get something I want.

      1. my husband indicated he might get me another live orchid for my birthday. I indicated I’d rather have a new kitchen faucet.

    1. Lupe, I had a similar thought about rose coloured glasses. Except then I thought that Liz doesn’t strike me as an optimist. So I’ve got nothing.

      1. I have been avoiding the in process stuff for these books because I love the experience of reading something I really enjoy for the first time. So I am just playing with puns and color words.

      3. Maybe more like “Time to take off the rose-colored glasses.” Because you need to be clear-eyed to revise. And vis-a-vis the romance, I assume in book 2 they’re moving past the early, crazy attraction and looking at each other more realistically.🤷‍♀️

  16. It’s an hour and a half into October. All my gardens are shades of green, except the red fire peppers (red, orange, yellow, and purple) and a few tomatoes (red!). Maybe a tomato was vermillion for a day? Oh – I harvest a jalapeño that was possibly vermillion, but it’s red now. No pink. No blue.

    The Jennyvese – I mean Genovese Basil in the Jenny of New Jarsey Mason jar is already tall enough that I’ve removed the hothouse dome. The Jenny Jar is being very productive. I chose a good name. 🙂

    Happy International Coffee Day, everyone!

  17. Rest in Pink: The color becomes you…too bad you’re dead.

    Rest in Pink: Embrace the community…or die trying.

    One in Vermillion: The power of red! Suit up!

    One in Vermillion: A haze of red. Bet you’re dead.

    1. It might be because it’s 3 A.M., but I’m kind of in love with “Embrace the community or die trying.”

  19. Rest in Pink – because Peace is too hard to come by.

    One in Vermillion: “It’s just a flesh wound.”
    One in Vermillion: the past isn’t worth a red cent.
    One in Vermillion: (wo)man doesn’t live by Red alone.
    One in Vermillion: when the Ruby slippers take you home, but no house falls on the witch, it’s time to call in the Flying Monkeys.
    One in Vermillion: There’s no place like home, but Liz could still use a couple of Flying Monkeys.
    One in Vermillion: Time to take a Mulligan
    One in Vermillion: Sometimes it’s just not worth the jailtime.

    Some version of, “She remembered who she was and the game changed” – Lalah Delia

    I really wanted to work in flamingos somehow, but couldn’t make it work.

  23. Rest in Pink: When you mess with rose, you get the thorns.

    Rest in Pink: Every rose has its thorns.

  24. One in Vermillion: What are the odds of cheating death?

    One in Vermillion: The odds against death are not in her favor.

    One in Vermillion: If life is a game, she’s (they’re) playing to win.

    One in Vermillion: Better red than dead.

  25. I have enjoyed all these comments. You people are too funny for words. Literally.

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