I have no freakin' idea.

by Toni McGee Causey

I hate having to title fiction. Titles drive me living batshit (sans clutch) and honestly, I'm terrible at them. The only title of my own that I ever really loved was the first title of my first book: BOBBIE FAYE'S VERY (very very very) BAD DAY. When I sold that book, there were three more verys in that parenthetical, and I know for a fact I drove the marketing people nuts with those. They cut those three out, and then changed the title altogether when we went into reprints in mass market, because the length of the title plus two names (Bobbie Faye's and my own moniker) was just too much for the mass market sized cover. I was tickled as hell at first to get to keep the title, until had to type it for a bunch of different reasons, never remembering to make a macro keystroke setup so that I wouldn't have to type something so long. You would not believe how I managed to misspell her name. (Well, maybe you would.)

What I thought we'd do was keep the (very very very) for each book. My editor was on board with that... only... I couldn't think of anything that worked with the story. And then it occurred to us (duh) that if every book has the (very very very) parenthetical, people weren't going to remember which book they already had vs. which book was new. So we set out to change the parenthetical, and come up with something akin to the rhythm of the first. That effort ended in BOBBIE FAYE'S (kinda, sorta, not exactly) FAMILY JEWELS. Which I sort of hated for a while and then grew to not loathe. (My poor editor came up with a thousand titles--we just couldn't find one we liked and honestly, this was the one that bothered me the least. But she tried. My God, did she try.)

It still confused people. You wouldn't believe the email I got asking me when the new book was out, in spite of the fact that they had seen JEWELS on the bookstand... they thought that was the one they had. Not entirely the effect we'd hoped to have.

The only other title I've liked is my short story title in the Killer Year Anthology: Stories to Die For. Its title? A Failure to Communicate -- but that's because I fractured time as well as communication, and that fracture was the point... plus, that's a line said to Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke... a line he liked so much, (so the apocryphal story goes), he had it written in to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. (In my story, Trevor has nicknamed Bobbie Faye "Sundance" because they are about to die. At the end, she calls him "Butch.")

Everything else I've had published in fiction has been titled by others. I've managed the blog entries more like a drunken game of dice... sometimes I'm on, sometimes not. (Cornelia, I think, wins the memorable title aware around here. Seriously, tell me you do not think of the PILGRAMS! SCREE! SCREE! SCREE! title every time you see her name on Saturdays.)

Which, honestly, is the point: titles should be memorable. They should give you some idea of the kind of book you're picking up, the genre, but most of all, you should be able to recall that title when you're in the bookstore and are suddenly faced with thousands of choices... many of which sound so similar to one another, they all start to blur.

A good title will make me pick up the book, even if the cover art is so-so. I'll flip over to at least read the back cover. An average title that sounds like every other average title would have to have really eye-catching art for me to stop, unless I already know the author's work and therefore know whether they're an automatic buy. 

But a great title will stop me in my tracks when my arms are already loaded down with books and people are waiting on me to leave because we have to be at dinner in less than ten minutes and could I please please hurry? When someone (whether it's the author or the editor or the marketing department or some combination, I don't care) comes up with something that riveting that can stop me like that, I will pick up the book and read the back copy and the cover flap and probably the first page or so. If I'm really pressed for time, and that title was great, I'll buy it, without reading anything. My hunch is, people who are that creative have a good eye for good material. I'm not always right about that instinct, but I've been right more than I've been wrong, so I'll keep going by that gut feeling.

Examples of books I bought this past year based solely on the title, not word of mouth or knowledge of the author:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Sky Always Hears Me

The Book of Unholy Mischief

The Bridge of Sighs

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Granted, I heard about a couple of them somewhere, but when I was in the bookstore, I couldn't remember what had been said--but the title jumped out at me as a "Oh, yes, I'd wanted to get that." And I haven't read all of them yet, since I was sidetracked with a couple of other big reading projects.

It is an extremely difficult thing to do, to find a memorable, unique title. I know some writers who cannot move forward with the first page if they don't have a title in mind--one they hope will be their final title. I felt that way during book one, but since then, I haven't ever managed to settle on just one, to fall in love with something and know it was it and that it would be memorable. Oh, how I wish I could.

Right now, I'm tossing around ideas for titles for the new book, and it will probably end up being vastly different from my past titles since this book is much darker and complex and set in a different world. I've wandered around ideas of things lost and found again, and I've played with ideas based off Saints (the name of the fictional town is St. Michaels, a tiny place set just south of Baton Rouge). For an example, I loved the movie title THE BOONDOCK SAINTS, (and I enjoyed the movie, but haven't seen the sequel)... but obviously, this is taken and well-enough known not to be re-useable. Titles, unlike works, are not copyright protected, but I'd truly prefer not to use something someone else has already fingerprinted. I thought of BACKYARD SAINTS, but I think Joshilyn Jackson's next book will be titled something like that, so that one's out. I've thrown around war notions and betrayals, but so far, nothing sticks. If any one of you gets creative in the comments and I end up using it, you'll be mentioned in the book and will get the first autographed copy.

I'm looking for inspiration. What titles have you come across (whenever, doesn't have to be recent), that you loved and remember? I'm curious, did the book live up to its title?

A new writer's journey...

One of the things that we love to do here at Murderati is showcase fellow writers whose work we admire, who are Good People. I have had the best fortune in meeting so many Good People over the last few years, people who reached a hand out to help me, who graciously gave me some of their time or space on their blog, and did so with a "Pay It Forward" attitude, and so it is with great joy that I get to introduce the Murderati group to a debut author who just impresses the hell out of me: Leanna Renee Hieber.

It's fantastic when you meet a new author and you think, "Wow, this is such a fun person to hang out with," and then you read her work and think, "Geez, and she's so delightfully twisted, and talented!" This incredibly beautiful woman writes about everyone's favorite serial killer, Jack the Ripper, in The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. With a ghostly twist:

What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Hidden in the dark heart of Victorian London, the Romanesque school was dreadfully imposing, a veritable fortress, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met its powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadows, of the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She saw simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gift. This arched stone doorway was a portal to a new life, to an education far from what could be had at a convent—and it was an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…

I met Leanna about a year-and-a-half ago at RT, when she was helping director Morgan Doremus create video interviews of various authors in attendance. They had me laughing within minutes, completely forgetting my phobia of being in front of the camera (I am used to being behind it), and they made the experience enormously fun. (If you were to see the videos, I look like I'm constantly about to laugh. I am so freaking thankful Morgan didn't do a series of outtakes of all the faces I made at them, or the time we all doubled over in laughter and one of us who shall remain nameless fell off the stool.) (Also, I did not realize my bangs had completely consumed my face. That was pre-Lasik and I was, apparently, legally blind. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

I recently interviewed Leanna because I love her work, think she's a fantastic new writer and thought her journey would inspire.

INTERVIEW:

So let's just get an overview of your tastes as a writer... if you were to go to that Great Coffee Shop in the Sky, who do you want to meet most?

C.S. Lewis, Tolkein and the entire 19^th century canon of Gothic writers. I can’t pick one, I’ve folded my adoration for each and every one of them into my muse. The whole Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood too—and their coterie – this means you, Christina Georgina Rosetti…

Writers always like peeking in on other writer's writing rituals... we're nosy creatures, after all. What's yours? 

I don’t always have this luxury but this is my best-case writing scenario as I’m working on the Strangely Beautiful series: While showering I’ll shift my thoughts into longer sentences with British accents. Then I’ll put on music (piano music, Phillip Glass soundtracks or 19^th century classical composers) and light at least one of my two stained-glass lamps. Preferably a candle is lit. Must prepare and sip a cup of clove tea: the precise scent of my Professor hero. Wow, I guess I’m like I’m the method actor of writing books…

Along the way from first words onto the page through to publication, writers face rejection. Tell us a little bit about your journey and what your favorite rejection story would be. 

I started my first novel somewhere around the age of 12. Ray Bradbury once said “Write 1,000 pages, bury it in the ground and you can become a writer.” I chose a fireplace instead. There are a few things about me that will make it obvious as to why Strangely Beautiful is my break out series. I can hardly remember not writing, not loving ghost stories, or not being weirdly obsessed with Europe in the 19^th century.

Come September it will be about nine years from the moment young Miss Percy Parker waltzed through a wall much like a ghost, into my mind, and I couldn’t sleep or stop thinking about her. She couldn’t have had worse timing, I was working often 14 hour days with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. We’d be on the road touring Julius Caesar or Midsummer Night’s Dream to some sleepy high-school class and I’d be in the company van scribbling away like a madman. I was surrounded by wonderful ideas, artists, and so much great theatre that I couldn’t help but channel that energy into the first draft of the book, giving it some legs that none of my previous works had. It also gives it a bit of a dramatic flair and sparkle that those who know me quite recognize as a personal touch. But from those first scribbled notes, it was a long road ahead…

Percy, Alexi and The Guard were there all the while, waiting in my wings as I hopped around the professional theatre circuit, my favourite friends to come home to. I moved to New York with the hope that I’d figure out which passion should come first, theatre or books. I was at a Broadway callback and all I could think about was Percy. That was that. Thanks to dear writer friend Isabo Kelly I’d already joined the very-helpful RWA NYC chapter and threw myself into networking, got an Agent, met other helping hands like Marianne Mancusi and eventually one of the best in the business, editor Chris Keeslar, and Dorchester became the perfect house for a cross-genre work like mine.  

Favourite rejection? After considering Strangely Beautiful, set in 1888, one editor rejected saying “It’s a little too Victorian.” That still makes me smile fondly.

I love that. Your book is very cross-genre. (I know the feeling.) What does that mean to you?

Allison Brennan wrote a great post on this topic here a little while ago. Branding is very important to an author, and to a reader. We want to make sure the right books go into the right hands. It can be very limiting to an author, however, when only one word is applied to a work of fiction. I hope that fantasy, historical, Gothic and romance fans (as well as those who enjoy blends of light horror, suspense and mystery) will find my book because I feel all will find a part of their respective favourite genre represented in the ways appropriate to the narrative. It’s hard to appeal to a whole fan base and yet I wouldn’t do without the genre label. The spine of my book says Historical Fantasy and I think that’s about right. The wonderful thing about the word “Fantasy” is that it is an open and over-arching word, and often Fantasy incorporates a romantic through line at the center of its questing adventures. A descriptive title and a cover that exactly fits the story really helps.

It took a long time for a marketing department to take a chance on this book. As I’d said, it was a 9 year journey from idea to bookshelf, and several of those years were spent with marketing departments and editors saying “this is really good, but it’s too much of this- or not enough this…”

Well, thank goodness someone took a chance, because this is a unique world which deals with crime fiction and fantasy and horror in a way I found wholly fascinating and original! Tell me, what sort of promotional things are you doing as a debut author? 

1. August 22^nd I kick off my Haunted London Blog Tour at the Bradford Bunch. The tour hops various blogs until September. Each day I’ll tell a different ghost story. Many spirits “Ghost-star” in my book, each of them a documented London haunt. They don’t get their full due in the book, as they’re quite familiar to my Guard of spectral police, but their tales are too fun not to tell-- like telling spooky stories around a roving campfire. Each day I’ll give away a signed book. Schedule can be found here: http://www.leannareneehieber.com/haunted-london-blog-tour-book-giveaway/

2. The morning of Release Day, August 25^th I’ll kick off a Virtual release party at www.RomanceNovel.tv, my video interview will go live and we’ll do a bit of a chat/book giveaway.

3. NYC Reading/Signing on Release Day! At the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble on August 25^th at 7:30pm I’m thrilled to be doing a reading and signing with the inimitable Edgar winner Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime, Stoker winner Jack Ketchum and thriller author Anna DeStefano

4. Running a contest on my website, a 3 question quiz about the Shakespeare references in my book, starting Release Day, 8/25 and running for the next three weeks. Winner has a choice of either a replica of the Phoenix pendant Percy wears in the book, or a gift certificate. The second name drawn receives the second item. Details: http://www.leannareneehieber.com/contest/

Thanks, Leanna, for letting me bug ya with questions. And now in the spirt of all writers who have had rejections, I'll refer back to that previous question and share one of mine. Someone who read the first book in the Bobbie Faye series sent me an email that he thought it was funny as hell, extremely well written, and he absolutely "hated that woman" and "didn't want to spend another minute with her. Ever." That just completely cracked me up, and I loved it, because it was an honest response and a personal one. I respected that he just did not like tough female characters, but the books ended up selling the next week, which took the sting out of the rejection. I'm sure I've had worse, but I still think about that one and smile. No one is ever going to love everything (nor should they) and everyone isn't going to love one single thing, all of us at the same time (nor should we), and as new writers, we need to remember that. And write with our passion.

So how about you, 'Rati? What's the best rejection you've ever gotten (and it can be something you realized in hindsight, something that ended up being a Good Thing.) Doesn't have to be about writing... let's hear it.

And as a bonus, all commenters are eligible for a free copy of Leanna's book, THE STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL TALE OF MISS PERCY PARKER as well as a signed copy of my first in the Bobbie Faye series, CHARMED AND DANGEROUS. (Contest runs 'til midnight, Pacific Time, tonight -- Sunday. Winner announced here on the blog after that.)

Summer

by Toni McGee Causey

(oops, sorry about that HUGE jpeg that ate the internet--I think I have fixed that.)

Do you remember that first taste of freedom when you’d been in school forever and ever, amen, and finally… finally… it was summer? I had it all planned: going barefoot, toes in the grass, blue sky overhead, climbing trees, riding bikes. Magic in the night. There was homemade ice cream, lazy mornings, no homework, and adventures to be had running with the feral pack of kids that made up our neighborhood. 

Mostly, though, summer meant reading binge. Going to the library, checking out as many books as they’d let me, then huddling under the sheets into the wee hours of the night, reading. Snapping off the flashlight whenever dad’s alarm went off, and waiting (not very patiently), until he finally drove off to work. Mom getting dressed to go to her job, and you knew you had to wait ‘til she cracked open your door to make sure you were sleeping? You learned to face the wall so she couldn’t really see your face, and you waited for the almost silent schnick of the bedroom door as it closed. (And, if you were me, you knew that after she’d caught you reading a few dozen times at six a.m…. having had no sleep… she’d wait a few seconds and peek again, to try to catch you reaching for your book—because she wanted you to be at least part-human the next day instead of a sleep deprived growling grouch. You waited for the double-fake-out before moving.)

Even as childhood morphed into adulthood, summer held this shimmering lure, an oasis of potential. Even with all of the kids’ activities, there was less pressure and more focus on fun. Stretching out on a canvass chair, watching the kids play while I read a book. We didn’t have much of a chance to travel when they were younger—money, scheduling nightmares between this one’s baseball and that one’s karate, our own work commitments all meant we were more or less homebound. 

I didn’t mind. I got to read. I was a pirate, a chef, an international spy. I beheaded monsters, traveled through time, and flew a spaceship. (I was quite a good pilot, let me tell you.) I solved mysteries, had romances, danced in ballrooms, and handled a sword with an expertise that made me crave lessons. There were times that I was a superhero (never appreciated) and other times I solved mysteries and thwarted villains. 

I love the summer. I especially loved, at that time of the year, finding stories that were larger than life, transporting, fascinating adventures into a world I hadn’t yet seen. Maybe it was even the world right here, but with details that were just beyond my vision. I loved being more than just me, more than just this girl right here in the deep south, with my small collection of life experiences. There weren’t enough years to cram in everything I wanted to do… but I could live it, through books. 

So this is my love letter to summer, and to books. To librarians and booksellers and all of the writers who gave me such joy. This is my love letter to my parents, who carted me to the library or the bookstore and read constantly themselves and never once seemed to think it odd that their kid was constantly walking around in a haze, halfway living in some other world somewhere. (Not that they didn’t think it odd, mind you, that they had to say my name sixteen billion times if my nose was in a book before I’d even hear them.) 

And now, how about you? Do you love the summer? Does it mean more time to do the things you enjoy? Are you going to go on vacation? Read? Play? What’s up with you? 

-toni

 p/s… Charmed and Dangerous is out on Tuesday! Here’s the new cover:

And yes, this is BOOK ONE of the Bobbie Faye trilogy—all out this summer, back-to-back. Yep, that is a new title and design. I’ve gotten quite a few emails which have ranged from, “love the new look” to “OHMYGOD, ARE YOU ON CRACK, WHY THE HELL DID YOU CHANGE THE COVERS AND THE TITLE, BOO” and a large number of “what’s going on?” questions. The short answer is that when St. Martin’s Press wanted to re-release the series in mass market, the realization that shrinking down that original cover plus title plus my name was going to make the cover of the book look like a bunch of text. Bobbie Faye’s Very (very very very) Bad Day + Toni McGee Causey…. Hard to read on the front of a smaller format. It also didn’t help that, once reduced, the crawfish started looking like a spider. Also not good. 

I’m thrilled with the new covers—I think they have a certain danger (the gun) and playfulness (the smiles, the taglines) that indicate that this is an adventure—a romp—within the suspense/thriller genre. 

WINNERS FROM MY CONTEST two weeks ago for Allison Brennan's last book, SUDDEN DEATH were announced in the comments section of Allison’s blog last Sunday. If you haven’t claimed your prize yet, contact me and I’ll get your prize out to you right away.