Evolution of a Title

by Sara Rosett

When I wrote the synopsis for the eighth Ellie Avery mystery, I knew my publisher would want to keep to the same format that we’d been using for a while: M________, M_________, and Murder. The first two words in the pattern have been related to the setting (the South) and to mystery.

The title pattern is part of the branding of the books and hopefully makes the books memorable.

The problem was that I had gone through a lot of “m” words:

·     Magnolias, Mint Juleps, Mimosas, and Mistletoe (didn’t fit the Southern pattern, but it was a Christmas book, so it was okay)

Moonlight, Mischief, Mayhem, and Merriment (again, Merriment got the exception because it was the Christmas book)

Sooo…after several days of thinking, I was drawing a blank on more Southern and/or mysterious “m” words for the title.

I finally gave up and settled on Spanish Moss, Malice, and Murder. I didn’t think it was an amazing title, but it would do. I figured it might change.

It did. I got an email after a few months that the working title was now Milkshakes, Mud Pies, and Murder. I’d already turned in the manuscript, but I could work in some milkshakes and a few mud pies when I got the copy edits back. The story took place on a beach, after all.

But then I got another email that the title had changed again. Now it was called Milkshakes, Mermaids, and Murder. My editor suggested that Livvy (the main character’s daughter) might be interested in mermaids, which I thought was a great way to work them into the story—especially since I don’t write anything close to magical/fantasy/science fiction.

So that’s how the title evolved. Readers are often surprised that the title choice is more of a committee decision, but I have had books that were published with title I originally gave them. That happened with my first book, Moving is Murder. I think it must have been the multiple “m” words that made that title a keeper!

What are your favorite titles? Have you ever read a book because of the title alone?

~Sara  

A native Texan, Sara is the author of the Ellie Avery mystery series and the On The Run suspense series. As a military spouse, Sara has moved around the country (frequently!) and traveled internationally, which inspired her latest suspense novels. Publishers Weekly called Sara’s books, "satisfying," "well-executed," and "sparkling." 

Sara loves all things bookish, considers dark chocolate a daily requirement, and is on a quest for the best bruschetta. Connect with Sara at www.SaraRosett.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Goodreads.

Here's to new beginnings! by Brenda Janowitz

I always get so motivated at the start of a new year.  New beginnings, a chance to start over, a chance to do new things.

And this year, I'm doing something I've never done before.  My fourth novel will be published this winter, but it won't be on the bookshelves at your local bookstore.  No, this time I'm doing something a bit different.

This novel will only be published as an e-book.

No pretty paperback to display on my bookshelf.  No book parties at my local indie and at Barnes and Noble where my friends can come hear me read and then buy my book.  No actual, physical books anywhere to be found.

No, this one will be ordered solely by a click of the mouse.

When the fabulous Jason Pinter contacted me about his new independent publishing house, Polis Books, I jumped at the chance to work with him.  Only, I was halfway into my two-book deal with St. Martin's.  I didn't know what I would do-- I was working on book two for St. Martin's, and that was taking all of my free time.  But, then it hit me:  I had a book proposal that I was completely in love with, but never sold due to changes in the publishing landscape.  I asked Jason if he wanted to take a peek.

The rest, as they say, his history.  Polis Books will be publishing THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB this winter.  I don't have an exact pub date yet, but isn't that the fun of e-publishing?  Immediacy.  The second Jason and I decide that the book's ready to go out in the world, a few clicks, and you will be able to find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, or anywhere you buy your e-books.

Jason's already designed a gorgeous cover for the book, so we're just about ready to launch.

Now, you may recognize this book as my "drawer" novel, the one book I wrote but never saw the light of day.  Well, light: here it comes!!  (You can still read the first chapter if you'd like by clicking here!)  I'm so very excited about trying something new.  It's fun, a bit scary, and totally liberating to just go for it.

To celebrate the impending publication of LONELY HEARTS, I'll be reading at Lady Jane's Salon this Monday.  I'd love to see you there!  That is, if the snow clears by then....


What new things will YOU be doing this new year?

I’m the author of SCOT ON THE ROCKS and JACK WITH A TWIST. My third novel, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, was published by St. Martin's on July 2, 2013. My fourth novel, THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB, will be published by Polis Books this winter.

My work’s also appeared in the New York Post and Publisher’s Weekly. You can find me at brendajanowitz.com or on Twitter at @BrendaJanowitz.

Mobiles, Stabiles and Books by Melissa Clark

Happy 2014! 

The other night, I had the pleasure of seeing the Calder exhibit at LACMA with a friend. It is a beautifully curated show. We enjoyed reading about Calder's process and seeing the final products - the mobiles dancing in the air and the stabiles proudly standing their ground. At first glance, the mobiles look like simplistic childlike designs, but upon closer inspection the artistry really stands out. Geometric, colorful shapes are attached with delicate wire structures, allowing for balance and movement. The pieces are thoughtful, vibrant and even funny

Mobile

Stabile

The exhibit made me think of my own writing, or rather, writing in general. There is an illusion of simplicity and ease when reading a page-turner, when really the author most likely struggled with the same sense of balance, only with words instead of shapes.

I teach a class called "In Their Own Words: Artists Speak About Living a Creative Life" and in that class we talk a lot about process - the part of art that isn't really shown in museums, isn't necessarily talked about. To me, the process is the art - the art of discipline, of showing up every day to navigate some mysterious inner-compass, the art of failing, or missing your target, your vision not in line with what's coming out on the page or the canvas.

Book

As I aim to complete the upteenth draft of my fourth novel, years in the making, scenes written and then scrapped, characters born and then killed off, plot points determined and then eradicated, I'm counting on that ineffable feeling to let me know when it's 'done'. The final product - the mobile, the stabile, the book - well, that's just icing on the cake.

Melissa Clark is the author of Imperfect and Swimming Upstream, Slowly, and the creator of the animated television show, Braceface. She lives in Los Angeles and looks forward to 2014.

Sadly, It's been a Slow Year by Jacqueline Luckett

My reading list is very different from years past. Typically, it’s filled with fiction and a sprinkle of non-fiction books—all hardback and paperback.

Three things changed this year: I focused on books on writing craft, I read several books on my Ipad, and, since I spent a lot of time, in my car I “read” audio books (unabridged versions).

Here’s a sampling. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Audio Books

Chitra Banerjee divurakuni

The Palace of Illusion

Isabelle Allende

Island Beneath the Sea

Walter Mosley

The Fortunate Son

Dennis Lehane

Moonlight Mile

Hardback/Paperback

Harlen Coben

Live Wire

Luis Alberto Urrea

The Hummingbird’s Daughter

Ebooks

S.J. Watson

Before I Go to Sleep

Matthew Quick

Silver Linings Playbook

Jacqueline Luckett is the author of two novels: Passing Love and Searching for Tina Turner. She's currently working on her third novel, and though she resists sharing both the topic and the title, she admits that it will be as much fun as her first two books.

THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR

by Barbara Claypole White

How are you celebrating New Year’s Eve this year? I’ll be sipping champagne, enjoying a roaring fire with friends…and ignoring the loop-the-loops in my stomach. December 31, 2013 is release day for me, which means I get to kiss goodbye to THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR and wave my book baby off into the big wide world of one-star bashings and five-star raves. And, well, I’m having a little separation anxiety.

Maybe I never learned to share in the sandbox, but I want to hold THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR close and say, “Back off, people, this one’s mine.” You see, writing THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR helped me through a difficult moment in my personal life. That moment is long gone, but something about the journey of my quirky, messed-up characters still feels like a locket worn close to my heart.

The inspiration for everything I write comes from being the mother of a brilliant son who has battled obsessive-compulsive disorder for most of his life. OCD frames my world, even though it has never held back my son and has never defined him. (What can I say, the British war mentality flows in his genes.) But while I was working on THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR, he slipped into a dark place, and my mind stuck on the little boy who cried on my lap saying, “Make it stop, Mommy. Make it stop.”

As I watched him claw his way out, my son’s struggles reminded me that even in the darkest moments of anxiety and fear, there’s always hope. THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR is a story of hope.

The setting is my corner of the North Carolina forest. The land surrounding our home speaks to me. It echoes with history, with real-life stories from the past: there’s an old path worn smooth by Native American moccasins, a family burial plot, and a tumbled down homestead that’s surrounded by daffodils every spring. This is a place of memories, of hidden beauty, of deep shade and dancing light.

My favorite time in our forest is that magical hour at the close of day called the gloaming. An in-between time—neither day nor night—this is when the birds call each other home, the shadows grow long, and the sinking sun hits the treetops. For me, that golden light flickering between the leaves epitomizes hope, and it’s a recurring motif in the novel.

THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR is a story of light shining through the trees. My characters come from two broken families each battling unwanted memories and invisible disabilities—severe grief and clinical depression. Yet their coming together brings healing. Their story gives hope for a better tomorrow and isn’t that what we all wish for on New Year’s Eve?

In celebration of THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR’s release, I will be giving away one signed copy (North America residents only). To enter, just leave a comment below.

Happy, happy 2014, everyone!

 

Barbara Claypole White is the award-winning author of THE UNFINISHED GARDEN, a love story about grief, OCD, and dirt. THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR is her second novel. Visit her at barbaraclaypolewhite.com, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Writing With a Beginner's Mind

 Sheila Curran

This Christmas I spent far too much of my time with scraps of fabric and my sewing machine, constructing flannel gift bags.  I'm not a seamstress.  Not one inch of my ego cares about being considered one.  Thus, I think, I found myself released to enjoy the activity as a child does.  

That's how I once felt about writing.  That's how I feel when I paint, or draw, or sing out loud to the radio.  Because it's not how I define myself, not how I accumulate credit in the part of myself that's keeping track of my so-called life, I can enter it with an open heart.

My yoga teacher says everyone should, each class, enter with a 'beginner's mind."

This is my hope for my writing in the year 2014.  That I can somehow cast off all the expectations I've created for my words, and simply try to approach my work as getting to the heart of what it is I'm needing to express.  When we focus on that bit that's slightly elusive, that shimmering fish just below the surface, that's when we get into the flow.  When we tell the worry-wart on our left shoulder and the inner critic on the right to please pack up their things and depart for another location, that's when we can find our way back into the reason we, as writers, fell in love with the craft in the first place.

So this is what I wish, for myself and all of you out there, trying to create.  Become a beginner each day.  Focus only on getting it right, or a little more right.  Or, as Leonard Cohen puts it:

Forget your perfect offering.
There's a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in."


Sheila Curran is the author of Everyone She Loved, about a woman’s efforts to protect her own family even after her own expiration date has come and gone.  Her first book, Diana Lively is Falling Down, was a romantic comedy Jodi Picoult called warm, funny, inventive and original and Booklist called ‘a gem.’

THE BEST BOOKS OF 2013 by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Sure, you could get your Best Books of 2013 lists from the New York Times or the Guardian, but why would you want to when you have ME???

I've read 157 books to date this year. And while in the remaining week or so I may read another great book, what follows is my list for...

THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ SO FAR IN 2013

SO FAR AWAY, Meg Mitchell Moore

THE ANTAGONIST, Lynn Coady

MAY WE BE FORGIVEN, A.M. Homes

SEATING ARRANGEMENTS, Maggie Shipstead

DRIVING MR. YOGI, Harvey Araton (nonfiction)

LUTHER, Neil Cross

INDISCRETION, Charles Dunow

BIRDS ON THE TREES, Nina Bawden

THE YELLOW BIRDS, Kevin Powers

THE DEATH OF BEES, Lisa O'Donnell

SWEET TOOTH, Ian McEwan

GODS AND BEASTS, Denise Mina

DEAR LIFE, Alice Munro

THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME, Holly Goddard Jones

LIFE AFTER LIFE, Kate Atkinson

A THOUSAND PARDONS, Jonathan Dee

THE DINNER, Herman Koch

THE SUNSHINE WHEN SHE'S GONE, Thea Goodman

THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS, Claire Messud

THE TYPEWRITER GIRL, Alison Atlee

ME BEFORE YOU, Jojo Moyes

Z: A NOVEL, Therese Anne Fowler

ABOVE ALL THINGS, Tanis Rideout

THE LONG SONG OF JONNY VALENTINE, Teddy Wayne

FRANCES AND BERNARD, Carlene Bauer

THE ILLUSION OF SEPARATENESS, Simon Van Booy

THE REDEEMER, Jo Nesbo

WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES, Karen Joy Fowler

THE GOOD HOUSE, Ann Leary

THE LONGINGS OF WAYWARD GIRLS, Karen Brown

THE LAST GIRL, Jane Casey

A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH, Jussi Adler-Olsen

SURE SIGNS OF CRAZY, Karen Harrington (YA)

LET HIM GO, Larry Watson

THE HIVE, Gill Hornby

VISITATION STREET, Ivy Pochoda

A HUNDRED SUMMERS, Beatriz Williams

And...drumroll, please! The single best book I read this year is...

THE MOUSE-PROOF KITCHEN, Saira Shah

So...that's my list! Did you read any of these and love them too? What was your favorite book of those you read this year?

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of over 30 books for adults, teens and children. You could make her really happy by buying one. Or not! You can also visit her at www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com or follow her on Twitter @LaurenBaratzL