And...

Titles are the worst thing. I've never been good with titles. Every time I write a story or a book, I spend minutes and minutes trying to think of the best title for it. Blog titles - a new one every week - are the worst. So let me apologize for my of creativity. I find my ideas are always to literal. For instance, I once wrote a story about a house, and I called it Uzelman's House. Because that's whose house it was. But I don't think it creates interest. And I believe titles need to perk the reader up, to make them jolt and reach for the shelf, or click on the link or tilt their head to look at words more closely. The best titles should require contemplation. Why is it called that? Where did they get that idea? Some great examples of famous titles that I love are:

The Sun Also Rises

The Tell Tale Heart

The Distant Hours

The Lord of the Rings

As I'm coming up with these I'm realizing that they all begin with "the". Now for some examples that don't begin like that:

A Hundred Years of Solitude

Lady of Mazes

Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire

Sense and Sensibility

and my favorite: Pride and Prejudice

That's and interesting one, P&P, because as most people know, Jane Austen originally titled it First Impressions. I can see why she choose that, becau

se that is almost exactly what I would have called it, since the book literally is about first impressions.

Maybe that is why the last book I completed was titled "Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch", because that is precisely what it's about. Below I've pasted a picture of some mock cover art I drew about a year ago. I found this picture earlier today, which is what got me thinking about titles. And now I know what I have to do: I have to quit naming things so literally, and think about names creatively.

Look what I remembered...and someone else forgot.

It's Tuesday and I'm blogging! For the first time since I've set my goal, I've met my goal. I feel that this a time for trumpets, for celebration and crumpets...wait...does anyone know what a crumpet is? (Look up - apparently a cake) Do people still eat crumpets? I'm pretty sure we don't in Canada, so maybe I will settle for an extra piece of dark chocolate instead. But still - celebration all around.

On the weekend I walked downtown to do some banking. As I was walking, I came across this pair of shoes below. I had to take a picture of them, the poor lost shoes, as I wondered just how they had gotten here, who had left them, and why. Then I began to wonder if perhaps they were magic shoes with some evil power (like the Red Shoes), only these were blue. I was tempted for a moment to take my shoes off and put these shoes on, just to see if anything were to happen. Maybe they would teleport me to Hawaii, or the large hadron collider, or the moon...that's where the fantasy's stopped: when I realized the moon has no oxygen and I would end up D-E-A-D. Where do these shoes take you?

The Quiet Weeks

Trying to be published means many quiet weeks when you hear absolutely nothing from potential agents, publishers, editors. It means a lot of time in my head wondering if I'm doing the right thing or if perhaps I should focus all my time and attention saving the world from potential environment disaster as I already do in my day job. (BTW - potentially is the word of the day). To distact myself from the quietness, I went on an epic roadtrip last weekend with my husband. We drove over 3000 km down to Rapid City and I saw Mount Rushmore for the first time. The best part of the trip was staying in hotels which had waterparks. The best of which was Wa-tiki in RC, where they have two tube slides, one which races down into a big toilet bowl and the other which passes under mini-waterfalls and pitchblack tunnels. The second best part was seeing Devil's Tower in Wyoming - so beautiful. And third it was just amazing to get out and GO SOMEWHERE I'VE NEVER GONE BEFORE. The other good thing was that it got me to NOT think about writing - something I think I was in desperate need of taking a break from. But now I'm ready to go back, to dive in and work on whatever takes my fancy instead of working on what I think may earn me some money in the future. I have a day job, it pays well. Today I saved a city from a diesel spill (well not really but at least I was there). So I'm ready to go back to writing just for fun, beginning with four dragons, three old crows, and maybe some turn of the century gothic adventure.

A Day Late

I got to work today and realized I forgot to blog yesterday. I'll forgive myself this one since yesterday was a bit drama filled for me. I've discovered that finding an agent is very difficult - even once they're interested. It's a much more political game, a lot about who you know, who you are, and what you can do. I feel like there is some testing involved as well - rewrites before signing, exclusive submissions, and just how to figure out the best order of querying in the first place? This industry is definitely filled with nooks and crannies, covered with cobwebs, and filled with hidey-holes and secret treasure. It's hard to find the information you need sometimes, but if you look hard, you'll eventually find it bound to the web somehwere. My lesson of yesterday is patience. I am not a patient person, and now I realize I'm going to have to be if I ever want to get somewhere - though the 'getting somewhere' part likely means another 3-4 years at least. Which brings me back to the most important fact of writing: always write for yourself, make it fun, because that is the essence of creativity. That said, looks like I have another couple of months of waiting, months and months of rewriting, and then hopefully - one day - a celebration. For now, I think I will return to loving my WIP, which is yet to be named.

Blogging Day

I was thinking to make Monday Blog Day. Then I realized that Monday already had enough points against it that I shouldn't make it any worse.I prefer my Monday's to be spacious and as free as can be. Needless to say, I did not blog yesterday. In all honesty, I wouldn't have blogged today either only a winter storm came tumbling in. After spending a half an hour in my tiny green car going nowhere, I turned around and came back home. Makes me feel ridiculous for even getting on the road this morning in the first place - I mean really, is work that important? (The answer to this is no, what's important is becoming a writer so staying at home and blogging really is more beneficial)

To that effect, I have attached a picture of the view of the storm from my writing window. This picture is a bit artsy, making the storm look worse than it is, thanks to the fog buildup on the glass. Personally, I like the effect because this is how winter makes me feel: foggy. Though I do have a whole pot of Earl Grey to clear me up so I can begin working on my current YA Work in Progress - a novel called Shadow (that's the short name). The previous novel I wrote I've completed and the full manuscript is in the hands of an agent whom I hope to hear positive things from any day now. That manuscript I will refer to as Tales, and I have great things in mind for it. I've had some awesome readers who have loved the story, now all I need to find is a publisher. That's about it for the writing update. I will blog again in a week - if the snow hasn't buried us all alive.

Ever noticed how funny the word Company looks after staring at it. Maybe it's just me....

Happy Halloween!

The achilles recovery is going well (fingers-crossed), and the wedding and the honeymoon went off without a hitch. So thankfully I can now focus on more enjoyable activities such as Halloween and NaNoWriMo, which begins tomorrow. But first things first, and that's enjoying the spirit of the day, the thinness of the veil, and everything that comes with it. Today I will be keeping my eyes and senses open, because at midnight I have thirty days to write another novel, which means I'm looking for any and all inspiration I can get.
Happy Halloween All!