Where Ladybugs Roar

Confessions and Passions of a Compulsive Writer

Monday, November 2, 2009

Day Two-- Title was eaten and spit out

So, insomnia kept me up an additional twenty or thirty minutes, and I've been rethinking my title.

Original title is very gollumish: In his Shadow Where he Keeps It.

"We likes the title, my precious, but we ates it because it was tasty."

Considering new titles:

In Flame's Shadow

The Shadow of Fire

Scorched in Shadow

Shadow's Scorch

So, I know the title isn't important but I like to have a good working title. Anyone like one more than the other or have other similar ideas?

Here is the back flap summary (which is subject to change as my characters see fit) :

Sidra is obsessed and teased by the thought of fire. It consumes her every waking thought and is the focus of all her art. Nothing matters as much as capturing the light and depth of reds, oranges, blues, purples, and the occasional common yellow.

Well, that's not true anymore.

There is something decidedly strange about the new guy in school, Seth. He doesn't seem to care about popularity or grades, and he asks a whole lot of questions about why she is called "Scorch." There is purpose in his gaze, and he hints that he's come to Vegas for a reason. When mysterious fires begin plaguing her classmates, Sidra knows it's only a matter of time before they start asking "Scorch" questions. Hopefully, no one finds the paintings of the fires that she painted before they happened. Still, they should be asking Seth. He's been at all the scenes almost immediately, and there is something funny about the air around him--he casts a strangely dark shadow over everything. Then, there is the dog that sometimes is with him. It's huge and dark but disappears like a fire jarred.

She shouldn't be protecting Seth. She shouldn't want him. Still, for a guy hiding in shadows, he sure warms her heart--it's as if she's on fire.

17 comments:

  1. I didn't want to use the word "Flaming" because there are too many connotations to deal with.

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  2. Ooh I like "Scorched in Shadow." This story sounds really cool! Good luck NaNoing, your word count so far is terrific!

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  3. I vote for "Scorched in Shadow." It just jumped out to me. The first two seemed too common. The last one seemed like she belonged to him. If that makes any sense? :)

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  4. I like Scorched in Shadow. It rings.

    Sound interesting- happy writing!

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  5. Awesome! I switched the title on my NaNo page for like the eighth time today. :)

    I'm such a freak.

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  6. I love the picture at the top of this blog. As for the titles, I am in the same spot. I'm hoping that sometime during writing the book, the title will come. You are really good at writing a synopsis. The book sounds like what I'd pick up to read.

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  7. I like In Flame's Shadow. Good luck with deciding! It sounds like a fun story to write!

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  8. I think I need to catch up with your previous posts to understand this fully. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed that "words I commonly misspell" list! "temperament" is such a joke!

    Regards
    Val

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  9. I might be okay at writing a short synopsis, but I absolutely suck at long synopses, Christina. I think the back flap synopsis is actually a little fun, though because you can make it a teaser. Once you yank it out all for show with a synopsis for an agent. (Wendy makes retching noises.) I hate those synopses.

    Thanks for all the encouragement, everyone. I know I'm one of those freaks that writes really fast, so I almost don't want to add word counts because I know more people struggle with it. It's entirely possible that their books are worlds better than my books, though, so maybe that's the trade off. Anyway, I'll probably finish long before time due to insomnia and obsession. It won't be a pretty picture (in the mental health category) --plus I'm really hoping that I won't get stuck.

    (I'm still stuck on what to call Tara now that she isn't a Tara. Honor is underground--sleeping because I can't figure out what comes in the middle of the story. I have two Faes in a utility closet in a similar predicament as Honor.)

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  10. Temperament is a total joke, Valerie! :)

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  11. Damn girl, you blow me away! I'm the worst at the self-edit. That's why I'm doing NaNo. To torture myself.
    I love the story you've got. Hmmm, Scorched in Shadow. Does she fall for this guy? What about Scorched in Love? Too corny?

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  12. The reason I have "Shadow" in it is because Seth follows fires... and well... this is going to sound strange, but Seth has a Shadowhound. His shadow can turn into a giant dog, and they're trying to stop fire demons. I tried to explain it to the Husband, but it sounded odd when I explained it. Seth and his older brother move from town to town following mysterious fires, chasing and destroying fire demons.

    That's the problem I have with synopses too. Teasers are much easier to write. Once you lay it all out it sounds slightly ludicrous.

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  13. Teasers are definitely easier to write than a full synopsis. Double blecch.

    And I like Scorched in Shadow. It sounds like you've got an interesting premise!

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