Sunday, June 06, 2010

Midnight in Rosary


I appreciate everyone’s input on my title issues. Midnight in Rosary and Midnight in Crimson were the top choices from the responders. Several liked “Mouth Torn with Sorrow,” which I also think is an evocative line but perhaps too “vague” as a title for the collection. A number of folks were strongly against the use of “holocaust” in the title. I can understand that, although the word to me does not instantly evoke the Nazi holocaust against the Jews. I think it’s because I learned the meaning of the word from reading years before I learned the history of WWII.

I decided after much cogitation to go with Midnight in Rosary. I believe it evokes a kind of feeling that appears in many of the stories within the collection. However, I know Borgo Press likes subtitles so I’m thinking of presenting them with: Midnight in Rosary: Tales of Crimson and Black. Maybe that’ll cover all the bases.

In other news, I watched A Princess of Mars on the SYFY channel this evening. There were some elements I liked. I actually thought most of the characters were pretty good and I developed some interest in them. I particularly thought the Tharks were well done as characters, despite having only four limbs instead of six. I wish they’d given the Dejah Thoris dark hair and some expression other than sour lemon, but I could live with it. One of the things I loved about ERB’s Barsoom books was the swordplay and this had very little in it. That’s probably for the best seeing as how the one sword fight was pretty badly handled. Overall, though, it certainly didn’t do ERB’s story justice and I don’t think it will jumpstart a new Sword & Planet revolution. If you haven’t read the first three Barsoom books then you’ve missed something. In my opinion, at least. Here’s a piece from ERB’s original story:

“As I stood thus meditating, I turned my gaze from the landscape to the heavens where the myriad stars formed a gorgeous and fitting canopy for the wonders of the earthly scene. My attention was quickly riveted by a large red star close to the distant horizon. As I gazed upon it I felt a spell of overpowering fascination--it was Mars, the god of war, and for me, the fighting man, it had always held the power of irresistible enchantment. As I gazed at it on that far-gone night it seemed to call across the unthinkable void, to lure me to it, to draw me as the lodestone attracts a particle of iron.”
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28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good choice Charles- I think the subtitle is good- it makes it clear that it is a collection.

Thank you for the extract from ERB's story. Yes, it would make me think about reading the whole story. Never read any fantasy fiction as you know...but will be delving in soon :)

Lisa said...

I like Midnight in Rosary. And I wanted to say that the image drawing by Lana was really interesting and fitting.

Charles Gramlich said...

Cinammon, A fair amount of ERB is also free as ebooks at Project Gutenberg.

Ocean girl, thanks, and yes, Lana is very talented.

ivan said...

Charles, Charles,

We are not at the front gate yet about "Midnight in Rosary" as a title.


Sorry.I think Midnight in Rosary is just too tame.

Rosicrucians from Talera?

See?

Put it through your fonts.
You gotta do a quantum leap.

Cheers.

Harry Markov said...

It's a title of a book I'd love to read. Good choice.

pattinase (abbott) said...

That kind of writing is hard to translate into a TV show, I think.

Charles Gramlich said...

Ivan, Rosary doesn't feel tame to me, probably because of my upbringing. AS for midnight, it's a bit cliche but I think a title can't be too provocative or no one will read the book.

Harry, glad you like.

Patti, for sure. the greater the imagination the harder it is for Hollywood to capture I think.

BernardL said...

Great passage. I remember it well.

Steve Malley said...

That's some good titling there, mister. :)

And that ERB, he certainly did set my young imagination on fire...

Lana Gramlich said...

I think you gave SYFY's "Princess of Mars" too much credit, but then again, I don't have a lot of respect for them, over all.

Charles Gramlich said...

Bernardl, it sure made me want to go to Mars.

Steve, thanks, man.

Lana, possibly I did. Possibly I did.

laughingwolf said...

grats on making a choice, charles, even if it does little for me

the erb quote is apt, tho...

Cloudia said...

you are converting me to 'genre.'




Aloha from Waikiki

Comfort Spiral

Charles Gramlich said...

Laughingwolf, Just strictly for myself I'd probably have stayed with HOlocaust in Rosary, but I have to consider the marketability.

Eric1313, definitely. If it helps sell some copies I'm happy.

Cloudia, I read plenty of literary fiction but when I'm reading just for relaxation and fun it's genre.

Bernita said...

Yes, I remember that passage too. Rich.
Good choice of sub-title. Really good.

Charles Gramlich said...

Bernita, I kind of like the subtitle too. Not as descriptive as some but more evocative.

Heff said...

It's fun to "poll the audience", ain't it ?

Charles Gramlich said...

Heff, I get quite a lot of good help as well. I see I didn't do as well on your quiz as I would have liked.

Greg said...

sounds like a good title to me. I think that subtitle is a good idea, too.

Akasha Savage. said...

I didn't read your post on tiltles, but I like the sound of Midnight in Rosary. It's so difficult at times finding just the right title, but that one would make me give a book a second look.

Travis Cody said...

Midnight in Rosary: Tales of Crimson and Black...I like that a lot.

Michelle's Spell said...

Great choice - I think your title works wonderfully! Thanks for posting the beautiful passage. (And your kind words on the new book Love One Another Constantly-- very excited -- now if I can just do as the title instructs . . . :)

Charles Gramlich said...

Greg Schwartz, I'm hoping the two will cover all the bases.

Akasha Savage, thanks. I just really wanted to use rosary because of the resonance and the connection to certain stories in the collection.

Travis Cody, thanks. I'm glad to hear it.

Michelle, thanks, and I'm glad you liked that. Yes, that's pretty hard advice to follow.

eric1313 said...

Speaking of titles, thanks again for your lending of the Mouth Torn With Sorrow line to me. I wrote the poem and after about 5 passes of editing and re-writing, it's in good shape, no whining, nothing that does not belong... I hope!

Let me know if you want the title back and I'll see what I can come up with... lol

ivan said...

For some reason, I still have your title, Midnight in Rosary on the brain.
I'm reaching, I guess for a snappieer title, perhaps slightly goosed by an afterburner.

How about Rosenkreuz at Midnight

A little Rocicrucian, maybe, but that's all I can come up with at these wee hours.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, who asked me? :)

Charles Gramlich said...

eric1313, cool. I look forward to having a look at it.

ivan, or rosenrot perhaps. I like the sound of the German but I'm not sure that would appeal to American audiences.

ArtSparker said...

Oh, how fun that #$%^& or whatever they are calling themselves did Princess of Mars, I'll put it on my netflix list. I just visited friends in upstate New York, the library just keeps its collection- many well-thumbed original Edgar Rice Burroughs books there.

Charles Gramlich said...

Artsparker, I've got all of ERB's books on my shelves, and they are well thumbed too.