Ellen Hartman's Blog, page 2
May 15, 2009
Super Title Puzzle Game
I'm going to be part of the newly launched Super Authors blog on eHarlequin. We're having an official kick-off week starting June 1, but since the space is there and the community is there…it seemed like a prime opportunity for a little word game!
Last December a community member posted a game where we guessed retitled holiday songs? Example: Embellish Interior Passageways = Deck the Halls.
Jeannie Watt and I adapted that game by running the titles of the 2009 Supers (January-May) through the Obfuscation Machine. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to decipher the real titles.
Jeannie and I will each choose a name from the comments to win a book. I'm giving away The Boyfriend's Back, and Jeannie is giving away The Cowboy's Redemption. (Both of them are on the list--there's a clue!) Kay Stockham is also giving away one of her books.
If you want to be in the drawing to win books, post guesses in the comments on eHQ.
Here they are, the New 2009 Super Titles in all their incomprehensible glory. Have at 'em.
Hint: You can find title lists at the romance wiki.
Stances, Actions, Or Endeavors Undertaken As A Result Of Or In Direct Relation To An Emotional Attachment
An Act Deemed To Be Inappropriate Or Wrong Perpetrated By A Heretofore Unfamiliar Individual
A Factual Or Investigatory Exploration Into The Particularities And Networks Observed Among Individuals Descended From A Common Ancestor
A Person Once Linked Romantically With Another (but Not Betrothed) Completes A Homecoming Journey
A Diminutive Human Endeavors To Resolve A Difficult Or Possibly Dangerous Situation
A Written Or Oral Record Of Events Creating A Barrier
A Missive For The French Diminutive Of The Latinate Form Of Hannah
Transgressions Against Accepted Moral Custom Enacted By A Heterogametic Individual Whose Normal Abilities Surpass Those Of His Peers
A Party Bound In Troth Is Accessible Anew
Post-infant Pre-adolescent Recreational Activity
A Representative Of The Female Gender Could Not Consign an Adult Homo Sapien To Oblivion
Maternal Being Soon to Exist
One Of A Number Who May Resemble Or Appear Similar To a Female Individual
A Child in the First Stage of Life in Her Upper Extremities
A Fault Resulting From Defective Judgment, Deficient Knowledge, Or Carelessness, Committed By One Of The Feminine Gender
Her Favored Companion's Male Gendered Sibling
A Bovine Collector Loses The Fetters Of Shame
Reproductions Of Me And Those Close To Me
Structure Used As A Domicile, Most Often By Humans, Invested By Concealed Facts
Having an Inherent Sense of Paternal Responsibility
A Person Of The Male Persuasion Vocalizes A Short Form Of Her Occupational Title
Arcanum Harbored By A Member Of The Fair Sex
A Defective Period Prior to the Present
Progenitor (Masculine) In Stupefaction
French Form of a Name Meaning Wisdom's Clandestine Matter
To Infinity And Beyond Accompanied By Relations
Traditional Bonding Rituals Observed Among Genetically Linked Humans
From Solstice To Equinox In Proximity To A Collection Of Matter Changed From Solid To Liquid
Domiciled In Familiar Environs After Years Away
A Peerless Reproduction Of A Childbearing Female
Happy Guessing,
Ellen
Last December a community member posted a game where we guessed retitled holiday songs? Example: Embellish Interior Passageways = Deck the Halls.
Jeannie Watt and I adapted that game by running the titles of the 2009 Supers (January-May) through the Obfuscation Machine. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to decipher the real titles.
Jeannie and I will each choose a name from the comments to win a book. I'm giving away The Boyfriend's Back, and Jeannie is giving away The Cowboy's Redemption. (Both of them are on the list--there's a clue!) Kay Stockham is also giving away one of her books.
If you want to be in the drawing to win books, post guesses in the comments on eHQ.
Here they are, the New 2009 Super Titles in all their incomprehensible glory. Have at 'em.
Hint: You can find title lists at the romance wiki.
Stances, Actions, Or Endeavors Undertaken As A Result Of Or In Direct Relation To An Emotional Attachment
An Act Deemed To Be Inappropriate Or Wrong Perpetrated By A Heretofore Unfamiliar Individual
A Factual Or Investigatory Exploration Into The Particularities And Networks Observed Among Individuals Descended From A Common Ancestor
A Person Once Linked Romantically With Another (but Not Betrothed) Completes A Homecoming Journey
A Diminutive Human Endeavors To Resolve A Difficult Or Possibly Dangerous Situation
A Written Or Oral Record Of Events Creating A Barrier
A Missive For The French Diminutive Of The Latinate Form Of Hannah
Transgressions Against Accepted Moral Custom Enacted By A Heterogametic Individual Whose Normal Abilities Surpass Those Of His Peers
A Party Bound In Troth Is Accessible Anew
Post-infant Pre-adolescent Recreational Activity
A Representative Of The Female Gender Could Not Consign an Adult Homo Sapien To Oblivion
Maternal Being Soon to Exist
One Of A Number Who May Resemble Or Appear Similar To a Female Individual
A Child in the First Stage of Life in Her Upper Extremities
A Fault Resulting From Defective Judgment, Deficient Knowledge, Or Carelessness, Committed By One Of The Feminine Gender
Her Favored Companion's Male Gendered Sibling
A Bovine Collector Loses The Fetters Of Shame
Reproductions Of Me And Those Close To Me
Structure Used As A Domicile, Most Often By Humans, Invested By Concealed Facts
Having an Inherent Sense of Paternal Responsibility
A Person Of The Male Persuasion Vocalizes A Short Form Of Her Occupational Title
Arcanum Harbored By A Member Of The Fair Sex
A Defective Period Prior to the Present
Progenitor (Masculine) In Stupefaction
French Form of a Name Meaning Wisdom's Clandestine Matter
To Infinity And Beyond Accompanied By Relations
Traditional Bonding Rituals Observed Among Genetically Linked Humans
From Solstice To Equinox In Proximity To A Collection Of Matter Changed From Solid To Liquid
Domiciled In Familiar Environs After Years Away
A Peerless Reproduction Of A Childbearing Female
Happy Guessing,
Ellen
April 7, 2009
FAQ for The Boyfriend's Back
I’m a technical writer. That means I write Frequently Asked Question pages (FAQs) on a regular basis. Did you know that most FAQs are made up by technical writers and have nothing to do with actual questions anyone has ever asked? Yep. It’s like writing fiction, except about bytes and bandwidth and secure passwords. And also the FAQs are usually nonfiction. Usually.
Anyway, I wrote an FAQ for His Secret Past and the comments were a ton of fun so I thought I’d do one for The Boyfriend’s Back.
1. The title is The Boyfriend’s Back, but the cover shows his front. What’s up with that?
Um. Good observation? But the title refers to the fact that The Boyfriend was gone and has now returned. He came back. Get it?
2. See that part on the cover where it says “Going Back?” Is that because her hair is blowing back in the wind? Is it, like, a caption? Because I didn’t think her hair needed a caption.
Well, no. Sorry. You’re 0 for 2 here. Going Back means this book is part of the Superromance themed series about characters who return to their hometowns. In this case, The Boyfriend. He is back. In his hometown. Get it?
3. In the book, JT has a degree in robotics from Carnegie Mellon. You went to Carnegie Mellon. Is your degree in robotics?
Not exactly. My degree is in Creative Writing—that would be the English department, not the engineering school. But I had a job in a robotics lab one time, which is what gave me the idea of sending JT there.
4. So you majored in writing and built robots in your spare time? Cool.
No. I majored in writing and did some writing for a robotics project in my spare time. The project was an early speech recognition program. I had to copy edit the manuscript the robot created. It was pretty cool.
5. It doesn’t sound cool to me.
I guess you’re not a writer/geek like I am.
6. I think I'm okay with that.
Did you have another question?
7. I read the back cover copy and it sounds like a secret baby book—guy leaves home and comes back fifteen years later. Girl has secret she’s afraid to tell him, and she’s got a daughter. Secret baby, right?
Well, fifteen years…not exactly a baby anymore, is it?
8. Are you supposed to be sarcastic when you’re answering these questions?
Sorry. Not a secret baby. Not exactly, anyway.
9. Are you supposed to be evasive when you’re answering these questions?
Argh. Do you want me to give away the entire plot? Is anticipation not part of the fun?
10. Stop answering my questions with questions. So in the cover picture it looks as if Hailey is getting ready to have her way with JT. What page is that scene on?
Heh. 30.
Any other questions?
Ellen
Anyway, I wrote an FAQ for His Secret Past and the comments were a ton of fun so I thought I’d do one for The Boyfriend’s Back.
1. The title is The Boyfriend’s Back, but the cover shows his front. What’s up with that?Um. Good observation? But the title refers to the fact that The Boyfriend was gone and has now returned. He came back. Get it?
2. See that part on the cover where it says “Going Back?” Is that because her hair is blowing back in the wind? Is it, like, a caption? Because I didn’t think her hair needed a caption.
Well, no. Sorry. You’re 0 for 2 here. Going Back means this book is part of the Superromance themed series about characters who return to their hometowns. In this case, The Boyfriend. He is back. In his hometown. Get it?
3. In the book, JT has a degree in robotics from Carnegie Mellon. You went to Carnegie Mellon. Is your degree in robotics?
Not exactly. My degree is in Creative Writing—that would be the English department, not the engineering school. But I had a job in a robotics lab one time, which is what gave me the idea of sending JT there.
4. So you majored in writing and built robots in your spare time? Cool.
No. I majored in writing and did some writing for a robotics project in my spare time. The project was an early speech recognition program. I had to copy edit the manuscript the robot created. It was pretty cool.
5. It doesn’t sound cool to me.
I guess you’re not a writer/geek like I am.
6. I think I'm okay with that.
Did you have another question?
7. I read the back cover copy and it sounds like a secret baby book—guy leaves home and comes back fifteen years later. Girl has secret she’s afraid to tell him, and she’s got a daughter. Secret baby, right?
Well, fifteen years…not exactly a baby anymore, is it?
8. Are you supposed to be sarcastic when you’re answering these questions?
Sorry. Not a secret baby. Not exactly, anyway.
9. Are you supposed to be evasive when you’re answering these questions?
Argh. Do you want me to give away the entire plot? Is anticipation not part of the fun?
10. Stop answering my questions with questions. So in the cover picture it looks as if Hailey is getting ready to have her way with JT. What page is that scene on?
Heh. 30.
Any other questions?
Ellen
