Titles, Titles, and More Titles

Inspiration can appear in many places when you're brainstorming ideas for titles. The beautiful, fragrant lilac was my inspiration for the title of my first Hollyhill book. The Scent of Lilacs. Almost until it was ready to go into print production, I had the title The Smell of Lilacs. Then I was standing behind the old bus my husband's quartet used to travel in and being almost overcome by diesel fumes which I really hate to smell. And it hit me! A smell is not always a good smell. Ah, but when you say scent, you think pleasant odors and I definitely had in mind pleasant odors for my scent of lilacs in that Hollyhill book. Fortunately, it wasn't too late for me to say, "Hey, how about we change smell to scent?" If it had been too late, I'd have probably always been thinking diesel fumes when I saw the title instead of the heavenly scent of lilacs.

As I told you Sunday, I've been brainstorming for title ideas for my book in progress. I jotted down everything that came to mind and then looked on Amazon to see how many books were already using those titles and how long since they were published. Titles are used over and over. For instance, one of the titles I thought up as a possibility was Promise Me Tomorrow. Lots of other authors had already thought that title up. Many books with that title. Also Tomorrow's Promise was a popular, much used title. So I threw those out as too popular and too recent. 

I want my book to have a unique and fitting title.  I'm not sure I came up with any unique and fitting ideas. I really prefer to wait until I've finished the book to brainstorm title ideas, and this book is far from finished. I'm still feeling my way and not totally sure how the ending is going to go. But the publishers need a title now. Maybe I need a title now too. Maybe that will focus my thinking and let me see the story in a clearer way. My working title for the book is Far from Rosey Corner. But while I was brainstorming I kept wanting to throw love into the title or chance or wind/winds. So we'll see. The publishers titling committee will look at my suggestions and try to figure out which title would work best. They might also brainstorm new titles of their own. Since I'm not particularly attached to any of the titles I came up with, I'll have an open mind ready to consider whatever they suggest. That's not always the case when I'm attached to the title I've decided is best for the story.


Many of the titles I have come up with have ended up the final titles on my books. I've also been told that I write to the title. I do tend to intertwine the theme of the title into my story. I certainly did that with The Seeker. And I have done that with The Gifted, my Shaker novel that will be out in July since a major theme of that book is the gifts we are given by the Lord. So it will be good to have a title for this work in progress, so I can continue to brainstorm the story. 


How important are titles to you in picking a book? What are some great titles? Gone with the Wind - that's classic. I like Cold Mountain and Snow on Cedars. But sometimes it's a combination of a story you love plus a title like The Secret Garden or Charlotte's Web.  

Thanks for reading, and I always enjoy reading your comments.

Edits Done!

Made a run to the post office this afternoon and got the Angel Sister galleys sent in. I know most of you writers would have hit the send button. But I really like my postal workers and wouldn't want to deprive them of a job. :-) That's only partially true. Actually I haven't learned how to use the edit tracking stuff on my word processor. That's sad, isn't it? I think I'm going to practice up before the next editing deadline. But I do enjoy editing on an actual manuscript. There's just something about seeing the words on paper that's different from seeing them on the screen. Gives me a whole new perspective.
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Of course, I edit my drafts on screen all the time. I haven't printed out a draft to work over since The Scent of Lilacs. I printed that book out to work it over in an effort to make it the very best I could. You see that book was a career marker. If it hadn't found a loving editor, I was going to have to seriously consider if I should keep trying to write. Well, I might have kept writing. I doubt I could actually quit writing completely. But would I have kept working so hard? Maybe I would have said it was time to give it up. To stop beating my head against a wall trying to find a publisher for what I wrote. Maybe I would have decided planting flowers and playing with grandkids was more rewarding than writing page after page of words that no one wanted to read. And I would have just played at writing.
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But the Lord answered the prayer of my heart with that book. He let me find a loving editor and set my feet on a whole new path of writing. A path I like. I enjoy writing stories for the inspirational market. I like it when my characters look to the Lord for answers. I feel blessed when a story comes together and is finally out there for readers. It's great when a reader tells me my story touched her or him or was an encouragement during a hard time. A reader left a comment on my Facebook page last week to tell me that she re-dedicated her life to the Lord after reading that final church scene in Orchard of Hope. When I think about the Lord using my made up story to make that reader's life better, I'm amazed and humbled. But I'm also happy when readers are just entertained by my stories and put them down with a smile after they read the last page.
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So I did get the edits finished on Angel Sister. A lot of pesky little wording problems. My pet word seems to be still in this book. There are just some words that help a writer move along with her story. Still, too many stills begin to echo in a reader's ear. So I word searched and edited out some of them. Not all of them. Some of those stills hunkered down and sat real still so I wouldn't notice them all that much. So they're still there. Are you seeing why I still have a problem with still? :o(!!
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I am so looking forward to this book being published in February. It's been a long time in the process since we wanted the Shaker books to release first. And don't worry. If you like the Shaker books, there are going to be some more of those too. The Blessed will be out next summer. But in between Revell is mixing in some historicals that aren't about the Shakers but that I'm hoping readers will enjoy too. Especially this first one. A story of my heart and from my mom's heart since her memories of growing up during the Depression years were the germ of the idea that became Angel Sister.
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It was a beautiful day down here on the farm. I met my deadline for edits. Darrell mowed hay and it's not looking like rain. My old dog stayed home. Mom was feeling a little better. And I got to go to an ice cream supper at church. Hope you had a good day too. Thanks for reading.

The Sweet Scents of a Summer Walk

I got my flowers planted. That's for my daughter in case she checks in on the blog this week. She was here last weekend and we went to the greenhouse so I could pick out a belated mom's day present from her. She's quite the gardener and loves planting and making things beautiful. So we picked out this big patio pot and plants to put in it for my deck that's not built yet but soon will be. Then last Monday when she had to go home she was regretting that we hadn't gotten the pot planted. I know why. She thought I'd let those beautiful flowers die in their seedling pots. But I got it done. It was on my list of gotta do's yesterday, but then I had to go get some potting dirt and so the gotta do got pushed back until today. The flowers look great. I'd tell you what they are, but I'd have to go hunt up the little pot stickers to know the names. I just know they are very pretty and are supposed to thrive in the sun.

It was a busy day. My granddaughter, Jillian turns big three tomorrow and she had her party at the park today. It was a fantastic blue sky and lots of sunshine and fun day. She got clothes she was actually excited about, a fishing pole, and a bike. There were plenty of cousins there to help her celebrate and a dad to go down the slide with her. Her little sister slept through the festivities. She's almost seven weeks old and growing. All the way up to nine pounds now. And Jillian is still enjoying being the big sister.

When I came home I had to pick the strawberries, so it was after sundown before I got to take my walk. That's a good time to walk on the farm. Peaceful and fragrant. When I wrote my first Hollyhill book, The Scent of Lilacs, the sweet fragrance of lilacs and of locust blooms played a part in the story. But tonight the sweet fragrance wafting on the early evening air was honeysuckle. And fresh mown hay. It was great. Thank goodness I'm not allergic to pollen. Of course on my farm sometimes a not so pleasant fragrance can break through in the cow pasture. My sweet big old Saint Bernard neighbor dog, Roxie, loves to roll in the cow piles. Then of course she wants to come be petted after she's put on her perfume. She's a mess.

But scents can bring alive memories faster than almost anything. The smell of Wrigleys' Spearmint gum takes me right back to my dating days at the drive-in movies because Darrell used to love to chew gum when we were going out. Maybe to make sure his breath was fresh, you think? Jergens lotion makes me think of Mom because she always liked that kind of lotion best. Still does. Isn't it funny how such little things can trigger a memory? Sounds can do it too. And of course a song can take you back to a memory time in an instant. Writers use that kind of thing to make their characters come to life too.

I'm chugging away on my book. I'm hoping and praying I'll write the end next week. But it's going to be crazy around here. They're laying my new floor tomorrow. They painted Saturday. The guy put in the lights on Friday. It's coming along. Faster than my book, actually. But I'm hoping to be fast next week. A fast writer, that is. Good would be nice, but that's optional. Fast is necessary.

Hope you have a lot of things trigger all your best memories this week. I'm going to draw the winner for my book giveaway tomorrow. You've still got a little time to get in on the drawing if you send me an e-mail - fast. By sundown Monday. Sounds like a line out of an old Western - only that might be high noon. I'm giving away one of my last four books (winner's choice) and Virginia Smith's Age Before Beauty. Then starting next month I'll start a two a month give-away for my new book, The Believer. Stay tuned for details.

Thanks for reading.

April Showers in May

We had a day of April showers here in Kentucky today except it's not April. Guess these are May rains. The raindrops are knocking all the petals off the locust tree blooms. The road was white under the trees when I drove home from church a while ago. But when I took a walk earlier this afternoon I could still smell the blossoms all the way across the field. They have the sweetest scent. For those of you who have read my first Hollyhill book, The Scent of Lilacs, you'll know I used the locust bloom scent in it too. That was what David thought was the sweetest scent and what he smelled when he received the call to preach while he was down in the submarine during the war. If you haven't read the book, you're going to think that sounds a little crazy.

I waver between locust blooms and lilacs as to which scent I like best, but I know about locust trees. When I was growing up, our yard was full of them. In the olden days that's what people planted around their houses - maybe because of their sweet smelling blooms and maybe because they grew fast. Now I doubt anybody would even consider planting a locust tree in their yard. And there were some definite disadvantages in locusts as yard trees for a girl like me who went barefoot all summer. Locust branches have thorns and these little twig branches fall off the tree and when you're running through the yard, those thorns can stick into even the toughest feet. Another disadvantage is that a lot of people believe locust trees draw lightning. Now I don't know if a tree can really "draw" lightning. I do know that the trees in that yard did suffer several lightning strikes. Another thing about locust trees is that the wood makes a nice warm fire in the winter. In the last few years some kind of bug has been working on the locust trees around here (all out in the field), so some of them are struggling. But they had a heavy bloom this spring that filled the air with their sweet fragrance.

But back to the rainy day. It was a good day for ducks. Now there's a cliche for you, and cliches are a definite no-no for writers. But sometimes a familiar cliche can be sort of comforting. Everybody knows exactly what you mean because you're talking a common language. My only problem is that I get the cliches mixed up sometimes and say the wrong thing like fast as a fox. No, that's not it. It's sly as a fox. Isn't it? How about brown as a berry? Is that right? What berry is brown? Then there's cute as a button. I'll bet kids wonder about that one. Most buttons are pretty plain these days.

Of course there's always stubborn as a mule. I haven't gotten that one mixed up. I've heard that plenty in my day because I've had people accuse me of that sort of mulish behavior. But I read that mules aren't really stubborn. They just need motivation. Same with writers and their stories. Sometimes the story can be stubborn, but maybe it's because we, the writers, forgot to give our characters the proper motivation.

Hope you're motivated to have a great month. Enjoy those showers and the flowers that will be sure to follow.

The Outsider is Launched

Hey, everybody. Here it is Sunday again. Another week passed by and the calendar turned over to August. Has anybody told you how many days it is till Christmas? Well, don't expect me to talk about Christmas shopping in August! I do well to Christmas shop in December, although the way my family is growing, I should think about Christmas shopping in July.

No, the twins aren't here yet. The target birthdate is August 12th. By then we figure the babies will both weigh in at seven pounds. All you mothers groan a little for my daughter-in-law. She had that measuring and so forth done again last week and they're guessing one twin weighs six pounds and the other one six pounds and three ounces now. When she heard that, she just started crying. I mean she's glad the babies are healthy and growing. She just couldn't get her mind around carrying that much weight around for eleven more days. Not that many days now. I know she's counting off the days. So that's the twin update.

The work update is I'm trying to rush through to the end of the first draft of my current work in progress, The Believer. I keep telling myself it's time to ride off into the sunset or whatever, but so far I haven't gotten the sun to go down on the story. But the end is coming. I just have to figure out how a couple of things are going to happen. Or let my characters figure it out. Maybe if they do, they'll tell me what I need to write down.

I had my book launch for The Outsider at Corinth Christian Bookstore in Frankfort last Friday night. Thanks so much to everybody who came. It turned into a Shaker info session. I'm no expert, but I have read books by a lot of Shaker researchers. So I knew a few answers, but certainly not all the answers. I may have to study up on the Shakers some more before I have another question and answer session. But we had a fun time talking and sharing thoughts about the book. One person there had already read the story, so she was ready with her questions. I've gotten a few e-mails from others who've read it, and so far everybody's comments have been favorable.

Then I did the "Gathering of Authors" at Paul Sawyier Library on Saturday. Not many book buyers showed up, but all of us authors had a good time chatting and comparing notes. And of course, I had to buy one or two of their books. They all looked so interesting! I wanted to buy a dozen or so. I appreciate Rose and Alice stopping by to show their support. Alice even brought me some raspberry tea. Smuggled it in the library in her purse. I guess she didn't really have to smuggle it in since the great folks at the library had water and juice and all kinds of goodies for us to snack on. They'll be cleaning up doughnut and bagel crumbs for weeks. But it was sweet of Alice to think of me. I appreciated her thoughtfulness.

I do plan to have another local - as in Lawrenceburg - book event for The Outsider at the Anderson Public Library, but I haven't arranged a date as yet. I keep waiting for the twins to make their appearance. So it will probably be September even though both September and October are looking majorly busy. The Quartet Convention is in September along with my family reunion and then our church has Homecoming in October and so does the Patriot Quartet. My daughter is coming home for a visit in October and I'm scheduled to go to the book festival in West Virginia the next weekend in October. Plus there are a couple of grandkids birthdays in there to celebrate. And so on and so on. I was looking at my calendar to see when I might do some bookstore visits or signings, and I think I found an open spot about midnight on the second Tuesday after the first Monday. (LOL) And oh yeah, I didn't mention that deadline looming along in there somewhere. But I like being busy, don't you? Still I try to remember that quote I used to keep on my desk, but it's gotten lost now. It says something like it's not enough to just be busy. It's important what you're busy about. I want to busy about the right things, but I know that sometimes I just get busy.

Hope you are all busy about the right things and have a great week. We're supposed to have a scorcher here in Kentucky. It was nice today for August. 85 degrees and not too much humidity. But the rest of the week is supposed to be more like the weather I had in my book The Scent of Lilacs. Hot, hot, hot! I like using weather in my books. I haven't done that as much in this new book. We did have one snow that plays a part in the story, but that's all. The seasons, that is the time of the year, play more a part in this one.

Talk to you next week. Maybe I'll think up something funny for Wednesday.