When Your Editor Says Your Title Stinks

This week I came across an interview I did with romance author Peggy Henderson three years ago. I've pasted it in below. I'd answer most of the questions about the same way today, except the one about "what's coming up." At the time, I was working on two novels that changed in major ways before they were published (in 2014 and 2015.)

They both ended up with very different titles.

Grail Maiden with Cigarette

My editor hated the title I'd put on my Boomer comedy that became THE LADY OF THE LAKEWOOD DINER. I'd been calling it THE ASHTRAYS OF AVALON. I thought it was a hilarious title. I wanted to let people know it was a comedy about nostalgia and the need to imagine a "golden age" that never was. Like Matthew Weiner with his TV series, Mad Men, I wanted to remind people that the Eisenhower-Kennedy "Camelot" era that people look back on as innocent and idyllic stank of tobacco smoke, sexism, and hypocrisy.

Unfortunately, it just made my editor think of a smelly ashtray. Not exactly enticing. So I came up with the Lady of the Lake/diner combo I thought worked even better. And my brilliant cover designer Keri Knutson of Alchemy Book Covers managed to put a cigarette into the hand of Rosetti's Pre-Raphaelite Grail Maiden so I got my reference to smoking in anyway.

The second book I was working on was SO MUCH FOR BUCKINGHAM, my novel about Richard III and character assassination via rumor. I was still in the research stage, and I only had a few scenes mapped out. I knew the story would involve Plantagenet Smith finding the body of a historical reenactor in the Old Hall in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire (which I call Swynsby-on-Trent.) The historical reenactor would be dressed as the Duke of Buckingham, King Richard's nemesis. And someone who appeared to be Richard III would be the only witness.

My working title was THE LAST PLANTAGENET, which I liked because the story involved both Richard III and Camilla's best friend, Plantagenet Smith.

I originally named Plantagenet Smith for a character in a one-act comic Victorian operetta called  Cryptoconchoidsyphonostomata (talk about a title that needed an editor's firm hand!) When I was writing my first Camilla book, I happened to be flipping through a New Yorker magazine and came upon a mention of the play and its protagonist and thought the name would be perfect for Camilla's gay best friend, who hid behind a self-invented, theatrical persona. 

But when I sat down to write the book, as often happens, an unexpected character wandered in. A cat. I decided to name the cat Buckingham, as a tie-in to the Duke of Buckingham storyline. 

When I gave THE LAST PLANTAGENET to my first beta reader, she didn't much like the title. She thought it sounded like a historical novel and would disappoint historical novel fans and not attract people looking for a contemporary mystery. She also didn't think it was very funny. 

I realized she was right. 

That's when I remembered the line in Richard III: "Off with his head. So much for Buckingham!" which wasn't written by Shakespeare, but a Victorian actor named Colley Sibber. So it's known as "the most famous Shakespearean line that Shakespeare never wrote." Since the book is all about deception and how things are usually not the way they seem, I suggested SO MUCH FOR BUCKINGHAM as a title, and she liked that much better. Since it involves a "Duke of Buckingham" being dispatched, plus somebody who does a whole lot for a cat named Buckingham, the title worked for both storylines. 

Interview with Anne and Peggy from February 11, 2013

Peggy: Tell us a little about the person behind the pen.

Anne: My life has been kind of unconventional. I love having adventures. I spent ten years after college wandering the globe. Then I spent a couple of decades in the theater, acting and directing,

Anne on the Wicked Stage

before I moved to writing full time.

One day I was backstage, about to go on in the Comedy of Errors, and I realized I didn't want to act any more. I didn't have that zing of stage fright that makes for a good performance. It was about the same time that my father died kind of tragically and left me a little money. I realized that life was short and it was time to go for my life-long dream of being a novelist. So I left Southern California, bought a little cottage on Morro Bay and haven't looked back. I love the solitude and the fog. I'm doing what I love every day.

Peggy: Why did you decide to write rom-com mysteries? What is the appeal?

Anne: I didn't set out to write mysteries, but dead bodies kept showing up in my rom-com plots. Also a lot of jokes. Especially the kind that come from romance gone wrong. (I think romantic comedy is way undervalued these days. Jane Austen wrote it—and so did William Shakespeare.)

Because of the romantic humor—and probably because I started writing at the height of the chick lit phenomenon—my agent at the time tried to market my work as chick lit.

But it never quite fit. It's not Bridget Jones humor. It's pretty sophisticated—sometimes very dark—and most of my heroines are too mature to qualify as "chicks."

My new publisher finally helped me realize I write mysteries with rom-com elements rather than romance with mystery elements.

I'd say my work is more like Janet Evanovich for English majors.

Historical research can take over your life

Peggy: How much research goes into your books, and how do you tackle that?

Anne: I did almost no research for my first few novels. They're mostly based on my own adventures. But my next one is going to require quite a lot. I'm fascinated by the discovery of what might be the body of Richard III in the English Midlands, so I'm planning a mystery around that. Lots of reading in English History ahead.

Peggy: What is the best comment you ever received from a reader? The worst or weirdest?

One of the strangest was a review for my novel Food of Love. The reviewer must have mixed it up with another book. She said it was the worst lesbian romance she'd ever read. Not that surprising, because it's not about lesbians—and it's not a romance. It's a humorous thriller about dieting. 

As far as best comments, it would be hard to choose. I have been blessed with some wonderful The Gatsby Game. I loved it when hardboiled mystery fan Ben Lelievre said, " I never thought I would have so much fun reading a chick lit novel, but this was great, even for my hardboiled sensibility."

Peggy: Tell us a little about your writing style? Do you plan and plot your stories, or do you just plow through them?

Anne: I'm kind of a "pantser"—at least I like to leave room for the odd character or plot twist to show up—but I always have the ending in mind. And a general idea of the story. I do write a sketchy outline, but I usually throw it out halfway through.

Peggy: Can you tell us a little about your current work, NO PLACE LIKE HOME? Is there a story behind the story?

Anne: I live near the town of San Luis Obispo, CA, which Oprah called "the Happiest Town in America."

San Luis Obispo's Mission Plaza

But we also have a big homeless population. Their stories can be heartbreaking. I wanted to write about how close we all can be to homelessness in the midst of this beachy, "happy" wine country. Even the uber-rich. I also saw a lot of potential humor in putting a Martha Stewart type into a homeless camp. Then I gave her a mysteriously dead husband and sent my sleuth Camilla Randall in to solve the case.

Peggy: What sets your heroine, Camilla apart from all the other women in your hero Ronzo's life? Why is she perfect for him?

Anne: Camilla has a new boyfriend in every novel. They're always Mr. Wrong. She's a former debutante and etiquette expert who's lost all her money. She's always attracted to blue collar guys who are intimidated by her former celebrity.

In NO PLACE LIKE HOME, Ronzo is from the East Coast, like Camilla, so he "feels like home" to her. They fall into each others' arms at the end of the book after she rescues him from nefarious evildoers, and they get a happy ending. But by the next book, something will probably have gone wrong. The only man who's a constant in her life is her gay best friend, screenwriter Plantagenet Smith.

Peggy: Have you ever had writer's block? How do you deal with it?

Anne: I'm so lucky that I haven't. I have the opposite problem. Too many ideas and too little time. I do write pretty slowly.

Peggy: Can you give us a little background on your hero Ronzo that's only in your author notes, and not found in your story? What inspired you to create this character?

Ronzo—Ronson V. Zolek—just sauntered into the story. All I had in my notes was "Mr. X, a tourist

Ronson is named for the lighter company

from New Jersey." But as soon as he walked in, I knew all about him. He's a Croatian-American and Iraq war vet and a fan of heavy metal. His immigrant parents named him Ronson for the cigarette lighter company in Newark where his dad got a job the day Ronzo was conceived. That's not in the book.

Peggy: Describe a favorite scene in your current novel?

Anne: I love it when Camilla's bookstore gets invaded by a "cash mob" perpetrated by Ronzo's blog. She doesn't know he's a blogger, and has never heard of a cash mob. Her bookstore is about to go under, but suddenly she's flooded with customers. Many of them come dressed as her—in her former celebrity persona as "the Manners Doctor." That's when she meets Doria, the homeless Martha Stewart type—who is dressed up as Camilla. I laughed out loud when I was writing that scene.

Peggy: What else do you have in store for your readers?

Anne: It's another rom-com mystery, but longer than a standard whodunnit. The working title is THE ASHTRAYS OF AVALON. Spanning five decades, it's full of Baby Boomer nostalgia. The theme is the myth of the Golden Age—and how it never existed. Every age had its drawbacks—like sexism and cigarette smoke.

Meanwhile I'll be doing all that research for THE LAST PLANTAGENET taking Camilla back to the English Midlands (the setting of SHERWOOD, LTD.) where she meets up with what may or may not be the ghost of Richard III.

***

So I was accurate about what the books were about, but I was on the wrong track with the titles. I've found out since that changing titles is very common. Lots of classic books started out with titles that might have kept them from becoming such huge successes. The Great Gatsby was originally called Trimalchio in West Egg, and Lord of the Flies was originally called Strangers from Within.

You can read more about rejected book titles and how to choose the right one for your book in my post 10 Tips for Choosing the Right Book Title

Have you ever been told to change the title of a book or story you've written? Have you ever decided not to read a recommended book because of an off-putting title?

BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Lady of the Lakewood Diner is available at all the Amazons, iTunes, Kobo, and Nook. 

 

Who shot rock diva Morgan Le Fay? Only her childhood friend Dodie, owner of a seedy small-town diner, can find the culprit before the would-be assassin comes back to finish the job. Boomers, this one's for you. And for younger people if you want to know what your parents and grandparents were really up to in the days of Woodstock and that old fashioned rock and roll. Plus there's a little Grail mythology for the literary fiction fans.

"A page turning, easily readable, arrestingly honest novel which will keep you laughing at yourself."...Kathleen Keena

"I borrowed this book free with my Amazon Prime membership, but I enjoyed it so much that I don't want to give it up. I'm buying a copy to keep."...Linda A. Lange

"In The Lady of the Lakewood Diner, nothing is sacred, nothing is profane. And yet, in the end, love does conquer all. If you're of an age to remember Woodstock and the Moonwalk, don't miss it. If you're not, well, you won't find a better introduction." ...Deborah Eve of the Later Bloomer

"With rare perception and insight, the author lays bare the souls of the two women as they take their own unique paths though life, through fumbling first attempts at sex, to lopsided relationships, to the triumph of ambition and the agony of missed chances. It’s an epic coming-of-age story filled with passion, struggles, mistakes, and redemption. The main characters were extremely deep and realistic, along with vivid supporting characters. If you love literary fiction set against a fascinating cultural backdrop, you’ll love this book. Highly recommended"....Laura 6

Can Mr. Wrong Become Mr. Right? Choose your Favorite of Camilla's Unsuitable Suitors

The Camilla Mysteries feature perennially down-and-out former socialite Camilla Randall. I love writing about Camilla because she's so different from me. She’s an ultra-polite New York fashionista who’s a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong. (More about the real-life debutante who inspired her in my post "Why Camilla Randall?")

Me, I'm an old hippie who tends to use more four-letter words than I should. I live in a blue-collar small town on the coast of California. I'm partial to Crocs, sweatshirts, and stretchy jeans. My life is peacefully boring.

Camilla and I have one thing in common, though: we both make bad choices when it comes to romance. I won't say that the men in my life haven't taken me on excellent adventures, but I discovered some time ago that I'm happier living solo.

Camilla, on the other hand, is still looking for love in all the wrong places.

In the prequel to the series, The Best Revenge, we see Camilla as a teenaged New York debutante. While she's being interviewed in a trendy restaurant by the condescending reporter Jonathan Kahn, she sees her current boyfriend—a "Eurotrash" prince—with another woman, supermodel Regina (a cameo by the heroine of my comic thriller Food of Love.)

Camilla quickly gets over Prince Aldo, and proceeds to fall in love with the arrogant, but oh-so-sexy Jonathan Kahn.

But in Ghostwriters in the Sky, she's in the middle of a messy divorce from Jonathan and meets the charming L.A.P.D. captain, Maverick Jesus Zukowski, and they seem to be headed toward a happy ending.

But by the beginning of Sherwood, Ltd, Camilla's long-distance romance with Captain Zukowski has fizzled and Camilla falls for Peter Sherwood, the enigmatic, Robin-Hood-like figure who runs her UK publishing company. But she has to deal with the small problem that he may be trying to kill her.

In No Place Like Home, Camilla meets her most unlikely suitor, Mr. X, a.k.a. Ronzo (Ronson V. Zolek.) He's charming and brave, but he's a New Jersey boy and she's now living in California. 

Jonathan might look like '80s Jeff Goldblum

In So Much for Buckingham, Camilla reunites with two of her former suitors. (I'm not telling which ones: spoilers.)

I haven't decided who she will end up with in book #6, which has the working title The Queen of Staves. Maybe she'll have a whole new love interest.

Readers, if you have a favorite among Camilla's suitors, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Vote for the one you'd like to see more of! 

Jonathan Kahn—This is how Camilla describes Jonathan at their first meeting:  "He had a profile special-ordered from Mount Olympus, a tanned, muscular body, and quantities of unruly black hair that a stylist would die to tame."

Or maybe Jon Hamm? 

Jonathan was a dedicated newspaper reporter, but he fell from grace when his success as a Geraldo-Rivera-style TV muckraker went to his head. And, um, other parts. He got caught up in a hooker scandal, and established a serious relationship with Jack Daniels. His relationship with Marva, aka Mistress Nightshade almost got a lot of people killed.Last heard from, he was drinking his way through the dive bars of Southeast Asia. 


But what if he got sober? Could he and Camilla finally reconcile? He says he still loves her.

Jimmy Smits could play Rick

Captain Maverick Jesus "Rick" Zukowski—Rick is a tall, Mexican-Polish L.A. policeman. He also writes novels (not very good ones.) He has overcome a difficult childhood and a street-gang past. He never quite recovered from the death of his wife and has some anger management issues. 

On the other hand, he's honorable and kind, with a great sense of humor, a "scrumptious smile" and "warm brown eyes." Camilla says "He had a brotherly/boy next door manner that made me feel safe."

Rick and Camilla couldn't keep up a bi-coastal relationship, and eventually he leaves her for "a sweet vice detective named Lola". 

But what if it never worked out with Lola? Could Rick and Camilla click again, now that she lives in California, too?

Peter might look like Peter O'Toole

Peter Sherwood—Peter is a charming Englishman with a murky past and a less-than-reliable moral compass. He's wiry and "good-looking, in an unkempt, What-Not-To-Wear sort of way: Oxford don meets Pirate of the Caribbean." 

It's rumored he won his publishing company in a poker game. Some people think he has an aristocratic background, but it's more likely he grew up poor in the English Midlands. 

The staff at Sherwood, Ltd. are loyal to him, but they're also aware of his faults. He has a habit of disappearing for months—or years—at a time. 

But he saves Camilla's life more than once, and protects her when everything around her is chaos. Did he really die when his yacht went down off Jamaica? 

Ronzo's a Jersey Boy like Jon Bon Jovi

Ronson V. Zolek a.k.a. Ronzo—Ronzo's Croatian immigrant parents died when he was young. He was raised in a Newark slum by his grandmother. He's a jack of all trades and full of contradictions. 

He's a music blogger for Rolling Stone who also works as a detective for a law firm. He has a Tony Soprano accent, but his manners are impeccable. He's an easy-going rock and roll guy and also an Iraq War veteran. 

He seems to have a lot of compassion for the homeless and loves small animals...or does he? He's famous for his butt tattoo of a Stratocaster guitar. Camilla finds him irresistible, and thinks he looks like Jon Bon Jovi. But is he a good guy or a bad guy? 

People tell Plant he looks like Leslie Howard

Plantagenet Smith—Through all the stories, Camilla's one constant is her best friend, the bisexual playwright, Plant Smith. Early in their friendship, they have a romantic relationship, but it doesn't last long. 

Plant was an orphan raised in poverty, but he earned a scholarship to Princeton and re-invented himself as a blue-blood by changing his name from John Smith and befriending Camilla's wealthy debutante set. He becomes an Oscar-winning screenwriter, but he seems to be as unlucky in love as Camilla, until he meets California businessman Silas Ryder. They marry, in a big wedding planned by Camilla, but the relationship is rocky.

In So Much for Buckingham, Plant finally gets his own voice and tells the story himself in chapters that alternate with Camilla's narration. He also gets accused of murder when he discovers the body of a young historical reenactor playing the Duke of Buckingham in the Old Hall at "Swynsby-on-Trent".

So readers, which one of Camilla's unsuitable suitors do you like best? Do you want to see any of them reappear? What kind of man do you think Camilla could find happiness with? 

News: I'm currently recording the audiobook of So Much for Buckingham with narrator C.S. Perryess reading Plantagenet Smith's chapters.

THE BEST REVENGE: The prequel (Camilla Mystery #3)

When Camilla Randall, a 1980s New York debutante, is assaulted by her mother’s fiancé, smeared in the newspapers by a sexy muckraking journalist, then loses all her money in the Savings and Loan Scandal, she seeks refuge with her gay best friend in California. But her friend has developed heterosexual tendencies and an inconvenient girlfriend, so Camilla has to move in with wild-partying friends. When a TV star ends up dead after one of their parties, Camilla is arrested for his murder. She must turn to a friendly sanitation worker, a dotty octogenarian neighbor and the muckraking journalist who ridiculed her--who also happens to be her boss. 

The Best Revenge is 99c until February 1st at all the Amazons. It's also available at Smashwords, Kobo, Google Play,  Apple, NOOK, and  Page Foundry (Inktera)

"…while laugh-out-loud funny, [The Best Revenge] carries a message about how we view ourselves and how others' views of us may conflict, yet make us grow."...composer Richard Alan Corson