Hello all,
This has nothing to do with Buffy, Angel, Serenity, Joss, Brian, or Everybody's Dead... but I'd still like to ask for everyone to participate. It's quick, probably painless, and fun! Well, not fun per say, but definitely not not fun.
See, for the past three and 1/2 years, I've been working on a YA book series. It's been going under the name "The Prophecy of Enoch," but that name is no longer relevant to the series, due to a change in the base mythology that happened pretty early on. But I've still been calling it TPoE, because it's pretty hard to change how you think of your own creation after working at it for so long. But, it's really necessary that I do change it, especially now that I am soliciting literary agents.
So please, take a teensy, finger-nail-sized amount of time out and vote on the title that you like best, or find the most intriguing. The poll is in the corner. You need not know what the series is about, just pick whatever sounds the best, because I really can't choose. Thanks ahead for your time.
I'm really in love with this series, as it's pretty much transformed my life. It's made me serious about writing, and working on the first novel in the series is what made me really put my all into my craft for the first time ever. Plotting out all the character arcs and the twists in the story has been so fun, and... I'm also thankful to the series because--as it's about vampires--I sought out other vampire stories in order to ensure that my story would be unique. If I hadn't begun writing TPoE, I would have never re-discovered Buffy (which I only saw the first two seasons of about eleven years ago, as a child). So yeah, it means a-like-woah-lot to me, so anyone who votes in the poll is forever awesome in my Book O' Awesome People. You can select as many options as you want in the poll, I kinda just want an idea of what titles suck and which don't.
Thanks ahead of time.
PS: I will post my review to "Serenity: Better Days #2" later on tonight. I wrote it a while ago, but I've been busy writing TPo---I mean, my "Untitled Series." (lol) And, something interesting about Serenity #2? Know how I, yannow, didn't like #1? Well I loved #2, so prepare for a favorable review!
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- PatShand
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11 comments:
I think any title containing "Cain," "Bane," or "Eden" sucks, because those words sound pretty cliched. I'm also skeptical of any title containing "The book of" (redundant) or "the song of" (incorrect).
But then, I am a picky, picky editor...
By the way, I'd enjoy seeing a review of Better Days #2.
Actually, "Song of" wouldn't at all be incorrect. Whitman's "Song of Myself" wasn't music, but I'd never label him "incorrect." ;)
I agree that Whitman is awesome. But "Song of Myself" was at least in free verse, making it a bit more song-like than a novel.
Personally, I'd stay away from using 'Eden' in the title... mostly because it makes my mind go directly to a Christian Bookstore kind of place, which isn't bad in and of itself but would alienate some people. I suppose 'Cain' is similar in that way, but it doesn't scream BIBLE at me quite like 'Eden' does. Anyway, I liked "The Mark of Cain" or any of titles with Desiree in them... because I like the name Desiree.
If you publish, you've got a customer here!
Thank you, guys. I agree about "Eden" sounding to Christiany. Don't think I suck at titles though guys, because I've made some really great ones other than this... It's just this is my biggest work, and it's hard to change the title after so long and blah blah blah. :]
I voted "The Bane Child" but I also liked "The Book of Cain" a lot. However - and I need to stress this - if you don't actually invoke the Biblical Cain in the story to any mentionable degree, the latter title would mislead and disappoint. The former is without any such implied luggage. Of course, instead, it gives you grave suspicions of any young character in the story from the get-go, so again, if you go with that, you need to be aware of that as you write the story. The reader will look at every child in the tale with suspicion if the book is called "The Bane Child". (Of course, you could very well use such expectations/suspiscions to your advantage)
Congratulations on getting to the step of hiring agents. Sounds like you're well on your way with this!
Thanks, Loki!
Cain is addressed, in a major way, in the book. The series is grounded in Biblical mythology. Thanks a lot for your vote! By no means would it be considered a "Christian Book" (so don't worry, Kali!). In fact, a friend of mine saw a passage with the Judas character and asked if I wanted her to contact her friend, who works at a Christian book publisher. I showed her the next page, and what Judas was up to, and she said that--in order to keep her friendship with the Christian book lady--she'll pass on making the contact. :D
No problem. Always nice to be of service.
I like Judas. One of the more fascinating personalities of the New Testament, I think. Glad to hear he plays a role. I think I'd very much like to read this book.
Do you involve other mythologies/religions as well, or only Christian? (I'd say there's a good case to be made for both approaches - keeping it "clean" and broadening it out, taking elements from what you feel fits)
I basically had to stick to Christian mythology with the--let's just call it--Baneverse. What the story pretty much centers around is a girl in modern times clashing with the Biblical heroes, who turn out to be not-so-nice. It's a vampire tale (it's what made me check out Buffy again after not seeing it for like seven years!) and has a lot of ideas taken from other religions and belief systems, such as everything being connected, the past and present and future (which is where the possible "The Continuity" title came from), and also that everything has a lifeforce, even the smallest rock, that makes it what it is. Those aren't major themes in the book, just a part of the tapestry if you will. I've been obsessed with the 'verse and think about it even more than the Buffyverse (if that's possible). So far, I've completed three novels in the main sequence, three short stories starring main characters, and began a spin-off (sounds pretentious, but the character was just too wild to keep around in the main sequence)lol. I'll post a short story fromn it here eventually.
Holy... that's a lot of work. Colour me impressed!
And your basic idea sounds interesting and rather fresh, which is always good. I'm assuming from the title-suggestions that you're turning the mark of Cain into something related to the dawn of vampirism, by the way? Or is that a deliberate mislead? (You probably shouldn't answer that, huh? ;D)
You've got me all intrigued as to what kind of Biblical/Christian(/Muslim/Jewish?) people could be showing up there now. Saints, the Leviathan, Lillith, archangels, there's a lot of cool stuff in Christian mythology. Finding out who/what shows up and what your take on them is is almost like an incentive to read the stuff all on its own, now.
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