My third Lynn Viehl novel, formerly Darkness Has No Need, needs a new title. This happens when your publisher looks at your book and says, "Yo. That needs a new title."
My editor and I are working on cooking up a new one today because a) she's brilliant and b) I'm feeling a bit surly (I like the old title, but I like everything I come up with; doesn't mean it's marketable.) I raided Bartleby.com's verse search engine and washed the key words for the novel through my Visual Thesaurus, and came up with this prelim list:
Midnight Lost
Like the Night
Dark Games
Night Touch
Dance in Darkness
Rule the Night
Darkness Dawns
Call the Night
Comes the Darkness (no pun intended)
King of Pain*
We'll probably bounce a few more around and refine the list, which will then go back to the publisher for consideration.
*My personal nickname for the novel's anti-hero.
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Whatever you title it, we'll love it. Any news on when the 2nd book will be out - you said it had been moved up. Can't wait to read all of them!!!
ReplyDeleteMarie
Thanks, Marie, I needed to hear that. :) The second Darkyn book, Private Demon, will be released on October 4 this year.
ReplyDeletei saw If Angels Burn at the bookstore and I was all kinds of hopping up and down with glee as you can possibly imagine. The book! in print! It DOES happen! ee!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm so darn giddy and happy about that!
It's also huge inspiration to push on to finish mine now.
Oooo..."Midnight Lost". I really like that for some reason. But as long as it doesn't get labeled something like "Vamps Gone Wild--The Extended Bite!!!", I'm game.
ReplyDelete"Vamps Gone Wild"...*snicker*
ReplyDeleteThe other two books' titles are a little sexier and edgier... what about EDGE OF THE DARK or MIDNIGHT GAMES or somesuch?
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, of the list, I like "Dance in Darkness" (although it doesn't convey much in the way of supernatural) and I love "King of Pain." Great Police song, too.
ReplyDelete"Angels Burn" was a great title, too, because of the contrast. "Angels" put me in mind of a religious or spiritual book, which "Burns" clearly signals that it's not.
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ReplyDeleteNico wrote:It's also huge inspiration to push on to finish mine now.
ReplyDeleteGood. I will nag and bitch at you if you think it'll help.
kellie wrote:Vamps Gone Wild--The Extended Bite!!!
(clamping hand over kellie's mouth and smiling at my editor) You didn't hear that, okay?
And, ValMarie, (evil smile) I know where you hang out.
new york city mouse wrote:The other two books' titles are a little sexier and edgier... what about EDGE OF THE DARK or MIDNIGHT GAMES or somesuch?
I already have an EDGE book over on the Jessica Hall shelf (The Deepest Edge, and no, that one wasn't my idea.) By very odd coincidence, MIDNIGHT GAMES happens to be the title of a writer friend's WIP -- I checked with her before I put Dark Games on the new title list -- so I can't use that one. I do appreciate the suggestions.
Duly noted, Bill -- thank you for the input.
I like Like the Night, Darkness Dawns and Dance in Darkness :)
ReplyDeleteOr, how about If Demons Freeze? No? Hmph. I thought it had a nice ring to it. *Grin*
I love Darkness Dawns.
ReplyDeleteCA
If you’ve not agonised over it for at least two months, it’s not a real title! Go now to your back garden and rub mud into your hair! Offer up sacrificial ding-dongs to the gods of nomenclature and sing of your titular sorrow!
ReplyDeleteOtherwise it’s just taking the piss…
I really like Midnight Lost and Night Touch.
ReplyDelete(But 'Vamps Gone Wild' does have a certain ring to it...)
I vote for Midnight Lost! It just has an original, dark ring to it.
ReplyDeleteI like Darkness Dawns and Midnight Lost.
ReplyDeleteJust my humble opinion, but Darkness Has No Need doesn't quite make sense. It sounds nice, even poetic, but it somehow... :|
I've tinkered with the Visual Thesaurus before, but never thought of using Bartleby's for title ideas...bookmarked!
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I like Midnight Lost as well. It has a dark, barren feel to it. Something with shadows might work too. Good luck!
Cast another vote for Midnight Lost. I like Nancy's shadows suggestion too – maybe Shadows Fall? Another one that sprang into my head while reading the list was Darkness Waits...
ReplyDeleteLouise
(member of Lurkers Anonymous)
Dance in Darkness is my favorite of that list with Rule the Night as the next, but honestly, title it Book 3 and I'll read it :). I'm working my way through your Gena Hale backlist now, a pseudo coincidence, but the next Darkyn will jump the list for sure. /me waits eagerly for October. Wait! That means I lose a lot of months! Okay, /me will be very happy in October despite the loss of most of the year cause there's something to look forward to. *sigh* There, that's better ;).
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Margaret
Dance in Darkness is very close to Walk in Moonlight, which is a paranormal romance featuring vampires (and not just any vampires - Christopher Marlowe as a vampire!) by Rosemary Laurey.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'.
I kinda like Darkness Dawns. And, okay, I haven't read any of the Darklyn books yet, but to me it seems kind of in keeping with the whole juxtaposition thing you've got going with If Angels Burn.
Just my $0.02. And don't forget, that's two cents Australian, so it won't even be worth two cents to you.