Now that grades are in my mind has finally been able to turn toward writing, but I’m largely in the pre-writing phase at the moment. I’ve pretty much committed myself to writing a new Taleran book and so for the last couple of days I’ve been running over scenarios and plans and titles in my mind. Thinking back to the original trilogy of books there is one obvious setup for a second trilogy. I won’t give it away here, though. And there are a few items from the first trilogy left over that have to be dealt with. I have the opening for the new book laid out and already know the basics of what I want to work toward. But, for me, titles are important and I’ve been mulling this one over a lot. I don’t know if I’ll actually write a second trilogy, and any book I do will be a complete story in and of itself, but I would like to have the basic titles for a possible trilogy laid out now because the titles help me organize my plotting.
I had originally thought that I’d call book four Warlord of Talera but thinking about the possible sequence of stories I might tell I’ve decided that would be appropriate for a possible end book in a trilogy. Right now I’m thinking, Ghosts of Talera, Gods of Talera and Warlord of Talera . I’m thinking “Ghosts” because there will be an apparent one, if not a real one, in the new book. Another name I’d considered for this book is Assassin of Talera because it will involve one of those as well. For some reason, though, “Assassin” doesn’t light my fire and “Ghosts” seems more evocative. Mostly I’m thinking aloud here, but, as always, feel free to share your opinions.
In other news, we were at our local Flatwoods preserve today and the Pitcher Plants are out in full force. We also saw a Barred Owl, which was a wonderful experience. I’m sure Lana will post a pic of it on her blog soon.
27 comments:
It's great to see that you are busy with thinking of writing again. Titles eh? They always come last with me. I write first and then spent ages thinking of an appropriate title. I should do it as you do I suppose. Off to Lana to see those owl pictures.
I vote for Ghosts. Creepy, ancestral, other-worldly. What's not to like?
Congrats on finishing the semester and rekindling the creative works. After a full slate of coursework, I'm back to my WIP and it feels terrific.
glad you're able to get some more writing time in. i'm with Britta... "Ghosts of Talera" has a definite creepy/ancient sound to it, and it seems to flow.
good luck writing!
zounds! a hamlet connection here? ;) lol
'ghosts' is good...
i've always been partial to 'mists of avalon', would 'mists of talera' work in another book?
Good luck with your trilogy! :)
Revenants? Spirits? Shades? Haunts? Specters? Shadows? Phantasms? Eidolons? Wraiths?
Personally, I've always found "revenant" to be especially creepy :)
In a whimsical mood today, I'm thinking of "Phantom of the Talera", but that's a bit imitative.
You're on your own. :)
I like both titles, but prefer Assassin of Talera, perhaps because real people are scarier than ghosts.
Got it!
Phantom of Talera.
I prefer Ghost to Assassin and particularly like the idea of a ghost or spectre bumping people off [even if it turns out they are not quite what they seem].
What is the Taleran word for ghost? Perhaps you could invent one? :-D
Ghosts. Defintely ghosts.
Yeah, I'll cast my vote for Ghosts. Hopefully Assassins will not refuse to get out of the race.
I like "Ghosts" and also "Gods" but not too crazy about "Assassins." Isn't it great to get school behind you for the year! Are you going to teach summer classes? I used to love to go to summer classes at the university when I was a student.
Donnetta
Middle ditch, it's almost the most fun doing the thinking before the start.
Britta, am so glad to be finished with the semester. I was really burned out.
Greg, thanks. I'm looking forward to digging in, like into a good meal that I'm hungry for.
Laughingwolf, "Mists of Talera" certainly has a ring. I'll jot that one down in my title list.
Sameera, thank you, and thanks for dropping by my blog.
Lisa, Lana liked "Revenant" as well and I like the term but was afraid it might be rather obscure for a title. "Wraiths." I hadn't thought of that though and maybe that would be nice.
Ivan, I considered Phantom and I like it but it just smacks too much of "phantom of the opera," I'm afraid.
Shauna, I like assassin as well but there have been a couple of sword and planet series that have had an "assassin" title in it. STill, I'm definitely not decided for sure yet.
Miladysa, I will definitely create a Taleran word for Ghost but I don't want to use that in the title because it would be too obscure I think.
Steve Malley, Ghosts has a certain power for sure.
Sidney, I need a term for an assassin ghost, and revenant is closest to that, but relatively obscure. How about Ninja of Talera? lol.
Donnetta, I didn't mind going to summer school but I've never realy liked teaching it because it's every damn day and usually very long classes. I've taught summer school most years but not last year and not this year. And never again unless I have to have the money. Being off in the summer so rocks.
I usually pull books off the shelf with the word "Ghosts" in their title.
And YAY for finishing the semester in one piece!
:-)
I don't like Assassin or Phantom because I also like mono-syllabic words next to multi-syllabic words. I know it's a bit anal, but there you go.
GOOD!
You write 'em. I'll buy 'em.
I like the cadence of the titles and the use of solid consonants.
I personally think "Ghosts" just sounds best, if nothing else.
Pitcher Plants ? Those things are cool. I currently don't have any.
Ooo ... nice owl. I saw a Barred once coming home from work in the evening, perched right beside the driveway.
I 'm a big fan of raptors.
I've not seen many owls in the wild. I'd love to see a Great Horned Owl in the woods sometime.
We have LOTS of Red-tail Hawks around now. Higher population than when I was younger, that's for sure. I even have a Red-tail and a Rough-legged hawk in my neighborhood having their own little turf war.
And I vote for "Ghosts", too. Knowing it is a sword & planet novel while having a supernatural element to the title is sure to provoke interest.
Charles: A book just doesn't gel in my mind until I have the title. And my thesis really did not have direction until I settled on a title for it.
GHOSTS OF _____ is a great choice for a title. Just ask Conduit ;-)
Chriseldin, I think the sound of monosyllabic words is better next to polysylabic ones myself. It's just a musical kind of issue.
Bernita, thanks. I made a bit of progress on it last night but just a bit.
Heff, the local Flatwoods has many "hundreds" of yellow pitcher plants, and also has two other kinds of parasitic plant, the sundew and the parrot pitcher plant. Definitely cool.
Paul, yeah, "ghosts" has a ring and I don't think it's been done with sword and planet fiction as a title. The owl was very cool. I'd heard them a number of times at the Flatwoods but had never seen one there so it was definitely fun.
Josephine, yes, I don't know why it is but a title is really important to me to help things gel.
Ghosts, yes! Warlord is good, too.
All good words, though. Assassin is an excellent word, maybe for some other title.
cf. Henry Miller's The Time of the Assassins.
Hi Charles -
You seem to be suggesting that you'd avoid "Assassin" because there have already been a couple of sword and planet series with an "Assassin" title, and yet you've already used "Swords" and you're considering "Gods" and "Warlord"!
Personally I really like the way you're reviving the genre and paying homage to the old masters. I'd be happy with "Princess of Talera", "Chessmen of Talera" and "Mastermind of Talera", then you could go on to "Nomads", "Raiders", and "Hunters" ;-)
Seriously, I like "Ghosts" more than the others. There's a John Carpenter film called "Ghosts of Mars" which I always thought sounded more S&P than sci-fi horror.
I have ordered "Swords" and I'm looking forward to reading it.
- Jon
I like ghosts -- you're right, it's more evocative. You are the hardest working man in writing, I swear! I'm so glad the semester is over -- trying to get back on the writing wagon a little more, but exhaustion has the best of me. Here's to recovering from a tough semester!
Erik, I like Assassin but it doesn't seem to have quite the ring I'm looking for here. But it is an evocative word in it's own way.
Jon, you make a perfect point. Gods, Warlord and Swords were used by ERB, and Alan Burt Akers used sword, and witches. Assassins was used by Norman. I will definitely keep Assassin in the bullpen then for a future tale. I do think I'll go with ghosts for this particularly one. Thanks for ordering a copy of "Swords." Hope you like it, but let me know either way. It's good to talk S & P with someone who knows the genre.
Michelle, lol, you wouldn't say that if you saw how lazy I was. But I have been looking forward to getting back into the writing so much. Plus, my finals were spread out enough that I was able to recover by bits and pieces between some tests. Good luck in getting rested yourself.
Hi Charles,
I am ashamed to say I have not read your books (yet) so I do not feel qualified to comment with any insight on possible titles. But just listening to the sound of the titles and knowing the sort of genre you are writing in, I think that I would go for Ghosts, and Gods and perhaps Warlock depending on how the first two stories pan out. HTH
Thank you for your continued visits at my blog and your support. Much appreciated.
"Ghosts" is certainly evocative because the word can refer to so many different types of ghosts, from actual spirits to shadows of the mind.
Spectre is a good word too.
Good luck, not only on your titles but on your writing this summer as well.
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