Ok guys so I'm back to rethinking my book title...here's a little history.
Since 2004 I've been referring to my WIP as THE SEVEN SISTERS BRANDYWINE or SSB for short. And for years this WAS the perfect title. The premise....
Seven sisters in a small town in Pennsylvania each recieve a magic power on their
I spent two years writing this story-over and over, learning the characters, refining the plot, cutting out plot holes, but it never worked--until...I introduced The Brandywine School for Mage and Knight Studies into the plot.
But once I had this new setting, the focus was less on the sisters and my original title no longer felt right-though I still love it as a title.
So The Seven Sisters soon became Brandywine, and then some other things and then Rose Lily.
I really liked ROSE LILY for awhile, but the title is a bit confusing....and misleading and non-information giving...I was going to call book 2 SCATTERED PETALS and book 3 FALLING LEAF...but...
I'm back to the drawing board.
Here's my latest suggestion--I could use opinions from everyone---those of you who have read portions of my WIP will understand where these titles came from, and those who don't your opinion is still really valid because I want to know what your impression would be if you found a YA fantasy by this title.
For any of my new readers (hi new readers, welcome and thanks for being here!) and those who have been hanging out with me a while and need a refresher....here's a quick synopsis.
Lilliana Brandywine, the youngest daughter of a famous family of mages is the only person in history not to develop a magic power on her 16th birthday--Magic Revelation Day. Expelled from Mage School, Lilliana accepts a place in the Knight School to continue protecting her sister from pain inducing psychic visions.
She has sworn her soul to the fight against evil, but a magnetic attraction between her and her trainer could undo everything she has worked for. Lilliana fights to regain her power, but soon discovers that if she doesn't find a way to claim her magic, someone else will take it and destroy everything she holds dear.
So....
REVELATION
Followed by
BOUND
+
STRIPPED
+
2 more titles to be decided
P.S. "Bound" and "Stripped" are actual terms from my WIP.
So...thoughts?
I like...
ReplyDeleteMaybe [adjective] Revelations, though?
Like Dark Revelations.
Bound and Stripped work really well on their own, though it sounds very dark.
Ooooh Steph, I like where your going with this...Dark Revelations....I wonder if that could work, but yay for thinking Bound and Stripped work.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Dark Revelations is too dark but I like it. Thanks for the input:-)
More thoughts?
Revelations is a bit well-used. It seems to be more about her needing to claim her power (whether it be the powers she was supposed to gain at 16 or some other sort of personal power), rather than a mystery being revealed so I would go with something along those lines.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Vindication? It might make the following titles even more powerful.
Kimberly, thanks for making a suggestion. That is an interesting idea, I don't think it totally fits...but I'll keep it for consideration. THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteSo...I'm really bad at this, but I think those are good (though I can't hear Revelation without going Biblical). I'm not sure I LOVE them, but I like them, and some titles have to grow on you, ya know? I wish I could think up a suggestion, but since I'm bad at this I'll have to think on it for a bit. I'll email/tweet you if anything comes to me. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Sixteenth Revelation? The sixteen would refer to the age when powers are supposed to appear. I like just Branywine as well, as it's very unusual.
ReplyDeleteA few random ideas for book 1:
ReplyDeleteBirthright
Rights of Passage
Stolen Knights
Knight School
Mageless
Unchained Arcana
As for Bound and Stripped, without knowing the plot for each, I'm left with just initial impressions of, um, a non-YA nature. Y'know?
My not-familiar-with-YA-lit thoughts, for whatever they're worth. :)
Shannon, yeah this is tough!!!!
ReplyDeleteRhiannon, oooh that has a certain ring to it, and you might be right about just Brandywine.
Also I'm kind of liking Steph Bowe's Dark Revelations but my novel isn't that dark.
Simon, hmmmm those are some neat titles!!!!!!! Stolen Knights has a certain charm to it. And ooooh you're right Bound and Stripped does sound....not YA! Hehe, seriously, not the meaning behind the words -but yeah that could be an issue.
So back to the drawing board?
I'm thinking now of Magic Revelations which fits better than Dark Revelations....but I don't know. I'm on a title quest!
Okay I am with Simon on the non-YA thoughts...
ReplyDeleteOkay these came to mind due to the little synopsis I do know:
Mystic Revelations
As for the other two... Bound isn't as bad as Stripped (I think the only reason they conjure 'those' thoughts is because you have them in a consecutive order - you know 1st your bound then your stripped-yeah probably did not have to explain that)I like Exposed or Exposure rather than Stripped.
Without a great deal of plot information for the 2nd & 3rd it is a bit hard to imagine, Dark Revelations is good too... hmm will have to think about this
Hey Courtney--ooooh Mystic Revelations. Maybe in a few weeks you can really help me after you read my WIP in the gamma round. Bound and Stripped are terms from my WIP-they are two "conditions/punishments" in my world---only reason I thought of them. Maybe with an adjective they'd sound more YA...we'll see. I mostly just need to get 1 title and the rest will fall into place.
ReplyDeleteYou know I will be so excited to help! You are right, once you have one down the others will come. ;o)
ReplyDeleteThanks Courtney! It's so frustrating bc I used to have the best title. Le sigh!! But I'm really excited to see what you come up with!
ReplyDeleteOkay, obviously I haven't read your WIP so take all comments with a grain of salt!
ReplyDeleteI kind of agree with Simon and SP - without any other context, "Stripped" and "Bound" are a bit, erm, raunchy. But maybe something like "Stripped Magic" or somesuch? I'm not such a fan of "Bound" on its own because it's not such a strong verb.
"Revelation" I'm not a HUGE fan of, but only because (as Shannon pointed out) it has a Biblical ring to me. Again, you could pair it with another noun/verb.
What about something simple and classic like "The Seventh Sister"? I'm quite partial to "The -" structures like that. "The Youngest Mage"? "The Brandywine Mage"?
Or instead of "Rose Lily", how about "Lily Rose"? (Assuming this still makes sense in the context of your WIP.) Then you still get the flower/character-name allusions, BUT, there's also the verb-ish connotations of "rose", ie, Lily is "rising" into something. Which is quite strong.
Or "Knight School" - though that doesn't imply magic is involved. And it's kinda too punny with "night school". Scratch that one!
Brainstorming is fun!
I agree with Simon and SP on the non-YA titles bit and I had the same thoughts on thinking of the Bible with the word Revelations. Although, again, I do agree if you were to put a adjective with it, that would help. As I read your blog, the same titles as Sam suggested popped into my head. Lily Rose. I also like Sam's suggestion of The Seventh Sister. I will keep thinking though.
ReplyDeleteSam, hehehe this is the danger of being overly engrossed in your own world, you forget that outside of your book things like bound and stripped have completely different connotations! Yikes. Its funny that you suggested The Seventh Sister--Donna my CP from the FNC made the same suggestion yesterday. I kind of like it, but it doesn't feel right to me, plus I think automatically The Other Sister and I'm not looking for that to happen. Thank you so much for trying to brainstorm with me!!!
ReplyDeleteKelly thanks for trying too!!!
Hmmmm I think I'm asking for the impossible here. I want something that refers to my main character and her destiny, but I don't know...maybe that's why Rose Lily worked...it has actual significance but still vague so you know...
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! I'm still open to suggestions---something is bound (no pun intended) to spark an idea in my head! I really appreciate this. You guys are ALL the best!!!!
How about:
ReplyDeletePOWERLESS
Or, actually, I like MAGIC REVELATION.
I agree with Shannon and others that REVELATION by itself is simply too biblical.
And oh yeah, Frankie, BOUND and STRIPPED are definitely suggestive.
Although Donna Jo Napoli has a book called BOUND (it's a Chinese Cinderella story).
You could call it Bound and Stripped...but then it sounds like an erotica title....so um...I'm assuming that won't work!
ReplyDeleteFound you from Shannon's blog. Congrats on winning my gnome award :)
I look forward to following you!
Hi Joanne, funny Donna suggested Powerless too, but I don't know...I think it could work as a title but it lacks a certain ooomph and then I wouldn't want this to become the Powerless series...you know?
ReplyDeleteMagic Revelation could work...and I think the others are still possible but maybe not on their own so Magic Revelation, Magic Bound, Magic Stripped...I don't know, I just need 1 working title!!!
Marybeth, HI! Welcome! I'm following you now too!!:-)
Wooo another vote for The Seventh Sister! Or possibly The Seventh Brandywine? And I still like just Brandywine... though Lil sounds like a lush!
ReplyDeleteI'm not feeling Revelation, though. Maybe as an adjective?
Like Magic Revealed, Magic Bound, Magic Stripped???
Ok Im totally off of Revelation. Now I'm feeling Stolen, followed by Bound and Stripped which YES ok those are suggestive titles, but knowing what I know about the action and themes and motifs of my books-those are PERFECT!!!!!! Will keep brainstorming. Thanks everyone for the ideas! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a lot to add in terms of brainstorming, except to commiserate. I also have to turn in my WIP for my conference tomorrow, and I need to change my title too, because my original one no longer fits, but I LOVE it and I just can't get it out of my head!!
ReplyDeleteI think focusing on her downfall or magical loss is definitely the key. I haven't read anything other than the little section you posted recently, so take this for what it's worth, but I don't know where Stolen came from. Was her power stolen? Because I didn't get that from the initial synopsis (I just got that she didn't get it for some reason we didn't know right away), and if it being stolen is the big secret of course you don't want to give that away in the title. But maybe I'm just totally missing something since I haven't read it.
Or maybe something like The Brandywine Secret or The Brandywine something? That way you get Brandywine in there, because everyone seems to agree that's awesome, but you also can get a little hint of what the book is about. Then your series could be the Brandywine series, if that fits.
This might be totally unhelpful, and if so, I apologize. Good luck! No matter what you come up with, it isn't permanent; I keep telling myself that, though, and it's not working very well.
I'm going to suggest The Seventh Sister Brandywine.
ReplyDelete1) "Seventh Sister": if it's mostly about one sister, rather than the group, this is a nice way to put it in context. you know there are at least 7, and you know it's the 7th are going to focus on, although the rest may show up at some point
2) Brandywine: even though we don't know right away what this is, it makes it clear that there's something ELSE going on. it's not just "sisters," it's "the sisters OF..." and that feels like a nice teaser.
I think Revelations and the like are just too generic. Lots of novels have revelations. You have to pick a title that can ONLY be from your book.
Heather, your points are good and actually that makes me realize how I need to revisit and shape up my synopsis---ugh title wars!!
ReplyDeleteCKHB---good point about a title that can only come from my book--just need to think about what that could be...
Thank you!!!!
I do like the other Heather's comment, and a lot of valid points bouncing around. When you started mentioning the single title names, it made me think of the French titles for the Twilight series (which I actually like very much):
ReplyDeleteFascination
Temptation
Hesitation
Revelation
I like how there is an "ion" connection to all of them, tying them together. Something similar might be really fun and cool for your story. Something maybe like "Magic Bound" "Magic Stripped" or something completely different. Just something that could tie them all together.
I do like the use of Brandywine in there somewhere too. It's a cool word. The Seventh Sister makes me think of the stories about the seventh son of a seventh son, so it makes me hope there is something significant about her placement in the family. Just so you are aware of what kind of expectations I see when looking at a title like that. Good luck! Again, it's not permanent, and it seems like you have a lot of support here. :)
OOOh Heather--I love those French titles...and yeah Id love something to tie each book together, good idea-still brainstorming!!!
ReplyDelete