I'm on the homestretch of the rewrites of the Possible Third Book, and I really want a working title.
I'd love to use Masquerade, but it's too recent/popular. So a quick trip to dictionary.com led me to the four options on the left.
If you favor any one of the four (all of which I've chosen because they have dual meanings), please vote for it. If you can think of an alternative, please say so in the comments.
Working titles don't always last. Life As We Knew It started out as When Butterflies Read and got submitted as In The Sunroom. Even the dead & the gone began as The Dead And The Gone.
But agents and editors always appreciate a title, and I don't think "Neither Of The Above" or "volume 3" is going to cut it.
7 comments:
life as we knew it
the dead and the gone
after the end; the beginning
The Nomad Blues
Susan,
The problem is, your first two books have a beautiful five-beat cadence:
life as we knew it
the dead and the gone
The third needs that too, y'know?
Like: The End is Now Here
Hi Anonymous, S.M.D. and Anonymous-
Thank you for your suggestions.
I'm a little reluctant to use the words "The End" in my title, for fear of reactions like, "It's about time," or "Not soon enough." Although one of my absolute favorite suspense novels that nobody has ever heard of is "The End Is Known" by Geoffrey Holiday Hall (it was published in 1949 and my cousin Ellen Conford found it at a book sale and I borrowed it from her and never returned it). Then again, since nobody has ever heard of it, that's not a great recommendation for using "The End" in one's titles.
"The Nomad Blues" is actually a great title, but it doesn't really fit P3B. They're more like vaudevillians than nomads, and the only color I mention in the book is grey, so Blues would have a different happy meaning in my incredibly depressing post LAWKI/d&g world.
See how tough it is to title a book? That's why I need all your help!
The Time of the Drogs
Bleak Times for Drogs
Urban Drogs in the Aftertime
Up With People (heh heh heh)
A Tale of Two Worlds
Theatre of the Drog
I've been thinking about this for a few days now (things happen faster here in the blogosphere than they do in my head, sadly). Have you thought along the lines of:
The Way from Here
or, to observe the five-syllable pattern (and good point, Anonymous)
Down the Road Ahead
Which has the added advantage of just sounding bleak as hell (and evoking Faulkner, who used at least one of those words before in his own title). Okay, these are just some thoughts. I won't be offended if you don't change your poll again.
Hi Anonymous! Hi Mr. Cavin!
I gave a bit of thought to putting Drog in the title, but decided against it because not only is drog pretty much a made up word, I made it up so it wouldn't be a pretty much attractive made up word.
On the other hand, it's one of those words you can pop into another title if you're looking for a cheap giggle- Tender Is The Drog, Drog and Punishment, Let No Drog Write My Epitaph. You get the idea.
The Way From Here and Down The Road Ahead are both good titles, but my guess is a publisher wouldn't find them Grabbing Titles. They're just a little too soft. In any event, I don't dare change the poll again.
And we should all keep in mind, the title selection (and I will go with majority rule on this one, since I like all 5 possibilities) is just so the manuscript will have a title if/when a publisher reads it. Who knows what the publishing house will favor if P3B moves into 3B territory.
But keep the suggestions coming in. If a really spectacular one shows up, I can have a run-off election between it and the winner of the current poll.
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