A Rose By Any Other Name
Over the weekend, I was cleaning my office and reorganizing my notes. (When it comes to writing, I am an obsessive note taker.)
While I was going through my things, I came across my brainstorming sheet for titles of The Kanin Chronicles.
I knew right away that the series would be called The Kanin Chronicles, but naming the individual books took quite some time actually.
When I initially pitched the series to my publisher in early 2013, the books were called First Oath (which would become Frostfire), Dark Marrow (which would become Ice Kissed), and Last Bastion (which would become Crystal Kingdom).
It actually took me a very long time to come up with those names, but I wasn’t completely in love with them. My editor Rose suggested changing them because they sounded more like high-fantasy titles, and since my books aren’t high-fantasy, it didn’t really suit them.
So the two of us spent a great deal of time trying to come with names. I always think it’s interesting to hear what books and movies were almost called, so I thought I’d share with you some of the possible titles.
- Book 1 – White Rabbit
- Book 2 – Blue Blood
- Book 3 – Black Heart or Black Knight
- Book 1 – A Rabbit So White
- Book 2 – A Heart So Blue
- Book 3 – A Throne So Black
- Book 1 – A Promise in White
- Book 2 – A Betrayal in Blue
- Book 3 – A Heart in Black
I was really going with colors there for a while. But then I also just threw singular names, the way I had with the Trylle and Watersong series.
- Book 1 – Dynasty (which really is too 1980s soap opera to have ever worked)
- Book 2 – Throne
- Book 3 – Empire
And eventually, I just had words written down that weren’t attached to any particular book:
- Trothe
- Liege
- Betrayal
- Treachery
- Sedition
- Covenant
- Chicanery
- Branded
After much deliberation, we finally decided on Frostfire, Ice Kissed, and Crystal Kingdom, and I do think they fit the series best. What do you think? Do you have favorites?
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Book-naming is a bit like choosing a brand name or name for your website, important, but it’s easy to get too focused on it, I think. Probably best just to get the book written, and think about book title as you go along.
I love reading posts like these about trying to name books. It’s such an interesting process to see how a book grows and shapes in all different ways before being published.
That’s very interesting. I’m still trying to come up with a name for my book. I’m on my sixth rewrite (most of the fifth will go in the second book) and somewhere around my fourth title for the first book. I can’t seem to find a word or small phrase that fits. When you finally settled on names, did they just feel right?
I love the names of your books. I’m sure that you will find just the right words for your new novels. I also enjoy that you share how you write both on your blog, and You Tube.