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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

A Book by Any Other Title: or Something Like That

by Chautona Havig · 4 Comments

The incessant blink of the cursor taunts me as I stare at a blank page gripped by a rare malady known as “titler’s block.”

Cranford-BBCLook. Everyone’s heard of its cousin, “writer’s block.” He doesn’t even bother knocking at my door. Why?  Because I have enough book ideas to last me a century.  And that is not hyperbole.  No. Joke.

But for some inexplicable reason, I cannot write the first words of a book until I have a reasonable title on the page. “Super-Funny Mystery” won’t cut it.

Can’t imagine why.  Wouldn’t you just love to read that one?  What about “Who’s Gonna Die Next?” (I consider that a fabulous title for the movie adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford.  Thought you oughtta know.)

All I know is that every time I get a new book idea, I sit down and start fighting for a decent title or I know that the day I want to start writing it, I’ll discover I can’t start.  No title.  The struggle is real, folks!
A Book by Any Other Title...

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So How Do I Title My Books?

Aggie SeriesThat’s this week’s blog question, and I haven’t a clue. So I started going over the titles of some of my books to try to figure it out.  Of course, I started with the first one I wrote, Ready or Not.  This was originally titled Aggie’s Inheritance.  It sounded like it was a mashup between a Texas A&M student and a 19th century Horatio Alger book. Ready or Not just fit the theme of the book, so the original title became the series title, but not after a lot of consideration.  It tends to get shortened to “The Aggie Series” or “The Aggie Books” and that’s good enough for me.

Unfortunately, I began my second book before I finished Aggie 1, and hadn’t learned much about titles and such. As my first book I published, Noble Pursuits was originally titled Graceful Measures. I liked the title, but it just didn’t really fit the theme of the book by the time I finished it.  So… yeah. I reworked that until I finally came up with one I liked.  Then it got a new cover.  Then it got new editing.  And it’s getting another surprise soon, but I’ll tell you about that when it happens.

Did I learn?  Nope.  You’d think that by book three, you’d think I would have figured out this title thing.  Yeah. Nope. Argosy Junction (the second book I published) was originally Not as I Was.  While it was an appropriate title, it didn’t really give any punch.  I’m not sure I would have picked up a book with something that sounded so much like a memoir instead of a novel. Then, while I was trying to figure out the cover, the new title hit me.  And man, am I glad.  Because the sequel (already plotted and ready to go!) got a new title as well.  Originally it was going to be The Reluctant Shepherd. BORING.  Now… now it’s Argosy Crossroads.  Can’t wait to share that one with you.

And the trend continued…

More of my books have been re-titled more than I realized. In fact, I compiled quite a list.  Here you go.

  • Hope 101 became Discovering Hope.
  • Out of Mediterranean Waters became Legends of the Vengeance: The First Adventure.
  • Oceanside became Seaside
  • Mountains became Highlands.
  • The Seven-Tree Obsession became Stalking Christmas, which then became Christmas Stalkings.
  • Andy’s Diabolical Plot became Kidnapping Santa and the Plotting Santa. Then it became The Moore Code before finally becoming Moore’s Code.
  • From the Cinders became Recall before it finally had a solid title of None So Blind. The second book had originally been called Refresh (now Will Not See) and the third, Rewind (now Ties that Blind).
  • A silly little exercise in not being quite so dependent on dialogue I called Gently until I found myself coerced into publishing it. Today, that book is Speak Now.  (If you didn’t read how I learned to like that book, click HERE).
  • Deceptive Appearances–loved that title.  And it would have worked for the first book of The Agency Files, but I’m glad I went with Justified Means instead.  Why?  Because I can use Deceptive Appearances for an upcoming early-Agency title.  One of Keith’s first cases–barely.
  • The Vintage Wren. That poor book.  It’s like the redheaded stepchild of my novels.  And just what is so bad about being redheaded or a stepchild? I’ve always loved red hair, and I’ve never noticed stepchildren being any less wonderful than others?  I digress.  Let’s see.  Originally it was 365 Days of Green.  Then it was The Green Queen.  Eventually I got to The Green Dare, but there were others.  If you want to see what that was like, I actually  made a video of it! HERE.  For those waiting for the next episode, I’ve got it down in the planner for after I finish Such a Tease.  I needed to do that.  Sorry.
  • And finally, of those in print, Deepest Roots of the Heart was originally Casa de Sueños.  I needed a title so I could write, and well that’s what they call their home in that book.  I knew I’d have to change it. No one would pick up a book with a Spanish title unless they actually spoke Spanish, and then they’d be pretty disappointed.

But I have a lot of books started

… and some of those have titles that changed.  Things like…

  • Marriage of Conviction became Blessing Bentley
  • A Man and a Mouse will become Deceptive Appearances
  • The Exiles of Endecadec will be The Exiles of Kedwick
  • Eden’s Garden… well, it needs a new title.
  • The Diner Detective Series has become Murder on the Menu Series
  • Undercover Missions has morphed with The Agency. I think I even changed that one slightly, but I’m not sure.

As you can see, I’m always changing up titles.  In fact, the one I’m working on right now I titled before I ever had the story idea.  All of the Madelines I titled based upon the cover image.  So, I had:

Madeline: Sleuth

Sweet on You, Such a Tease, Fine Print, Dead Letter, I to Eye, & Looks Could Kill

Those were the titles I came up with the day I designed all of the covers.  But when I started writing book two, I didn’t quite know how “tease” fit.  So, Such a Tease became One Lump or Two?  A couple of weeks later, I figured out how and went back to Such a Tease.  I think it’s better as it is. Sometimes your first idea is the best.  Just ask any school teacher before any test.  (That rhymes in what feels rather… unsettling.  Just sayin’.)

Did that answer the question?

What question was it again?  Oh!  How do I title my books?  Well, I don’t know.  Obviously, I don’t keep my titles every time.  I did notice that most of my Christmas books tend to keep their original titles.  I think there’s some important something in that.  But I have no clue what.

I can tell you what I want from a title.  I want my titles to evoke some kind of tone for the book.  The Hartfield Mysteries have plays on words or twists of things.  Crime of Fashion, Front Window, etc.  And actually, so do the Murder on the Menu books.  So far I have two titles for that series.  Sleazy as Pie and A Side of Lies. Madeline’s books have a similar theme, if you notice up there.  I think it’s because mysteries tend to be about misdirection and things not quite being what we’re expecting or they appear to be.

The Piper's Debt
The prototype that Ashley said no to.

Some books became books because I thought of a cute title.  Bullfinch’s Methodology.  I hadn’t intended a sequel to Allerednic, but when I thought of that title, I had to do it!  New Year’s Revolutions was one.  I thought of the title and the rest just came to me. Prairie is another.  And that one set the tone for the rest of the series.

The Piper’s Debt.  Can’t WAIT to write that one, and all because of one thing I read that sent my brain spinning. I found another couple that I’ve written down, but I couldn’t bring myself to share.  That is so not like me!  I’m usually dying to share.  So… I’ll just wait on those.  But I’d say my favorite is probably Bread and Butter Notes. I hadn’t heard that phrase in a long time and when I did, I knew I had to write the book.  And while coming up with the plot for it, I ended up with three.  They’re now, officially, the Dyerhurst Mysteries (for those who don’t know, that’d be pronounced “Dear-hurst”).

Yeah.  Not helpful on the “how I come up with titles” front.

Okay, let’s go with this in conclusion. I come up with titles that sometimes become books.  I also come up with books that I then title only to change half a dozen times.  But no matter what happens, my books always have a title.

Pretty genius if you ask me. 😉

I’ve got a fun one for you. Give me a cool title–any (but you have to give me permission to use it), and if I like it, I’ll create a book or short story for it!  And you’ll get a free copy.

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Filed Under: Author Q & A, Writing

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Comments

  1. Leah Spencer says

    February 25, 2017 at 9:29 pm

    Too Deeply Broken

    The Stolen Years

    Reply
  2. Challice says

    February 24, 2017 at 11:52 pm

    Order and Method

    Reply
  3. Lindsay says

    February 24, 2017 at 8:19 am

    A la Carte sounds like it could make a good story. I bet you could come up with a good one for it. 😀

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      February 24, 2017 at 3:21 pm

      Ooooh… my brain is spinning! WOOT!

      Reply

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Because Fiction: A Chat with Split-Time Author, Melanie Dobson
byChautona Havig

I chatted with Melanie Dobson a few weeks ago, and boy was it a wonderful time of talking about my favorite books of hers and her latest release, The Wings of Poppy Pendleton. Listen in to the heartwrenching story that sparked the idea for the book and the delicious (and fascinating) research she did to write it!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

How a Family Mystery Sparked the Idea for a Beautiful Story

The Wings of Poppy Pendleton takes place during the dichotomous Gilded Age among New York’s famous Thousand Islands.  Combining a family mystery with that era, Melanie Dobson creates a wonderful story that echoes the tumultuous time at the turn of the 20th century.

We chatted about the research involved–both for Melanie’s family mystery of a missing child who was in a photo but no one knew who she was and for the era and area as well.  I loved hearing how her mother got involved in trying to discover what happened to… was it Marjorie?  I think.  And, of course, how that helped shape the story of this book.

The Wings of Poppy Pendleton by Melanie Dobson

In this compelling new time-slip mystery, a little girl goes missing from her family’s castle in the Thousand Islands of New York. Eighty-five years later, a journalist teams up with a woman living on Koster Isle to find out what happened to Poppy, once and for all.

1907. On the eve of her fifth birthday, Poppy Pendleton is tucked safely in her bed, listening to her parents entertain New York’s gilded society in their Thousand Islands castle; the next morning, she is gone, and her father is found dead in his smoking room.

1992. Though Chloe Ridell lives in the shadows of Poppy’s castle, now in ruins, she has little interest in the mystery that still captivates tourists and locals alike. She is focused on preserving the island she inherited from her grandparents and reviving their vintage candy shop. Until the day a girl named Emma shows up on Chloe’s doorstep, with few possessions, save a tattered scrapbook that connects her to the Pendleton family. When a reporter arrives at Chloe’s store, asking questions about her grandfather, Chloe decides to help him dig into a past she’d thought best left buried. The haunting truth about Poppy, they soon discover, could save Emma’s life, so Chloe and Logan must work together to investigate exactly what happened long ago on Koster Isle.

You can learn more about Melanie Dobson on her WEBSITE.  Also follow her on GoodReads and BookBub.

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