Tuesday, August 2, 2022

It's launch Day for WHERE THE SKY BEGINS - Rhy's Wonderful New WWII Novel!

RHYS BOWEN: Today I am celebrating my new stand-alone novel called WHERE THE SKY BEGINS.

 

This was not my first title. Nor my tenth. It was a compromise between the marketing gurus at Amazon (who I suspect are all twenty-year old male computer geeks) and my editors, agents and me.

 

I wanted to call it THE TEASHOP AT THE EDGE OF ETERNITY.   I still love that title but…

 

I was told it’s too many words. Hard to read on an Amazon thumbnail.  Also teashop is not a word that would attract male readers. Put them off.  So, we tried other directions:

 

We know that these days titles with WOMAN, GIRL, DAUGHTER, WIFE seem to work well.

 

The Woman from London? The Woman from the Rubble? The Soldier’s Wife? The woman who got bombed and moved out into the country and met a pilot? None of them sounded right. And heaven knows we don’t need any more books with daughter, wife, girl in the title, do we?

 

 So it takes place beside an RAF base. Night flight? Flight into danger?  They sounded too male oriented war stories. At the End of the Runway?  That sounded too fashion oriented.

 

 

Enigmatic titles seem to be the thing these days: Where the Crawdad’s Sing, All the Light we Cannot See…. So we played with the setting—the flat, wide expanse of Lincolnshire after the narrowness of London streets. The House on the Marsh. The House at the Edge of… again too many words. Bombed? Buried? Reborn? 

 

And I realize that what strikes my heroine most as she is transported out of London is that she sees the sky for the first time. At home, between narrow streets, there is often smog from coal fires, rarely a clear blue sky, and here the sky seems to go on forever. It’s an important image and the word BEGINS indicates the character having a chance to start a new life. 

 

It’s funny how certain titles come into fashion, almost for no reason. I have a new Lady Georgie book coming out in November called PERIL IN PARIS. And I see that there are so many books called PERIL IN… this year. Should I be flattered that they are all jumping on this bandwagon?  Or is it just coincidence?  There certainly were enough variants on the Twelve Clues of Christmas after that book came out!

What do you think of the title? What sort of titles attract you and make you pick up a book?  

 

WHERE THE SKY BEGINS  London, 1940. Bombs fall and Josie Banks’s world crumbles around her. Her overbearing husband, Stan, is unreachable, called to service. Her home, a ruin of rubble and ash. Josie’s beloved tearoom boss has been killed, and Josie herself is injured, with nothing left and nowhere to go.

Evacuated to the English countryside, Josie ends up at the estate of the aristocratic Miss Harcourt, a reluctant host to the survivors of the Blitz. Awed as she is by the magnificent landscape, Josie sees opportunity. Josie convinces Miss Harcourt to let her open a humble tea shop, seeing it as a chance for everyone to begin again. When Josie meets Mike Johnson, a handsome Canadian pilot stationed at a neighboring bomber base, a growing intimacy brings her an inner peace she’s never felt before. Then Stan returns from the war.

Now a threat looms larger than anyone imagined. And a dangerous secret is about to upend Josie’s life again. Her newfound courage will be put to the test if she is to emerge, like a survivor, triumphant.

52 comments:

  1. Happy Book Birthday, Rhys . . . I am looking forward to reading Josie’s story [and I think “Where the Sky Begins” is a perfect title] . . . .
    Although I’m apt to pick up a book because of the author or the cover illustration, I find intriguing, enigmatic titles always capture my attention.

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  2. I think it's a brilliant, evocative title, Rhys. Congratulations on the release - I can't wait to get my hands on this!

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  3. It sounds intriguing! Congratulations.

    Ah, titles. There's no copyright in a title, and whether one can assert trademark rights is complicated, and hinges, among other things, on consumer confusion.

    When "From Pen to Print" (my book from 1990, not the one that stole its title and came out a couple of years ago), the Powers That Be at Holt decided to change from the working title at the last minute-- and I hated what they were proposing. I wound up sending them a list of titles and a list of subtitles, and they liked the idea that they could mix and match.

    But you wouldn't have wanted the Tearoom title-- too close to "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," and too many people would be looking for humor, aliens, and babblefish.

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    1. I hadn't thought of the Restaurant. Brain the size of a planet etc...

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  4. RHYS: Congratulations on your newest book!
    Yes, the image of seeing clear skies evokes a new beginning for Josie outside of bombed London. A book with teashop in the title gives a totally different kind of image for me. And that cover is so poignant and riveting.

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  5. Congratulations on your book birthday, Rhys. I have been anticipating this book and just need to finish a library book or two before I open it up.

    The cover is perfect, evocative of a specific time. You know that the woman in the red coat has a story to tell!

    Titles are tough. This one works! Generally, I choose books because of the authors or the descriptions of plots. I have yet to read a modern novel with "Girl," "Woman," or "Daughter" in the title and only one with "Wife" that was kinda okay. If the synopsis had drawn me in, I'd have read one.

    I wouldn't miss a Georgie book for anything! I'll have the book and the audiobook and indulge in the delights of visiting with a favorite character. There are some books out with Peril in the title, but yours is different.

    Congratulations again. Well done!!

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  6. Happy Book Birthday, Rhys !
    I love the final choice of title, very evocative. Where The Sky Begins is now on my Kindle and, as soon as I finish the book I’m reading, I’ll begin yours.
    My choice of book is more about the author or what the story is about than about the title.
    Danielle

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  7. Congratulations, Rhys! Whatever the title, I can't wait to get my hands on this one!

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  8. Congratulations Rhys! The title definitely works, as would The Teashop at the Edge of Eternity. Looking forward to it.

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  9. I really like the title and I find it fascinating to learn what went into creating it. Congratulations on your latest book, Rhys!

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  10. Julie and her new knee are both delighted! Happy book birthday!

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  11. I’ve been waiting eagerly for this book! I don’t usually read books with girl, woman, etc, in the title, but I DO make exceptions (books written by the Reds or other authors known to me) and I know yours will be good.

    DebRo

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  12. Book just showed up on my Kindle…Yipee🤗

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  13. I think the cover and the title work perfectly together, Rhys. All that rubble, the lone woman, the glimpse of blue sky above. There's something hopeful in that image and title. There's also a hint of what's to come--she has to find her way to where the sky begins. So, there's a struggle, there's hope. Titles do draw me to a book--or, equally, repel me. I have yet to pick up a book with 'Girl, etc., in the title). Can't wait to read this one!

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  14. Congrats! I can't wait - the story sounds intriguing. That's an interesting question about book covers and book titles. I am first drawn to a book by it's cover over the title. Then I read the author's bio (for some strange reason I like British writers ! ) then I read the summary on the cover. Last I glance through the first chapter. So I guess you could say (for me) you can judge a book by it's cover.

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    1. I also have to read the opening to make sure I like the style.

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  15. Happy book birthday, Rhys! I love everything about this, the title, the cover, the red coat, the storyline. So looking forward to reading it.

    For awhile, before the "Girl" phase, everything was "the somebody's daughter". Margaret Maron's The Bootlegger's Daughter was first--at least the first I noticed, and so many more came after, it seems. The midwife's, the navigator's, the clockmaker's, the botanist's, and so on.

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  16. Congratulations on your new release! I look forward to reading it.

    I tend to ignore titles unless they are identical to five other books by different authors. Frustrating to identify the one I want to read.

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  17. Happy Book Birthday! It is a great title and a wonderful cover. They work together very well, I think.

    I like book titles that point you in the right direction and make lots of sense when I've finished reading. When I read the Teashop title my brain translated that to Women on the Edge of Time, Showing my age, I guess.



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  18. Congratulations on your book's birthday. A title can cause me to pick up a book by an author new to me. Once I get hooked by the words in the book, I look for the author's name to see what else they have written before I discovered them.

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  19. Congratulations on the new book, Rhys! I've been intrigued by the story ever since you shared the first bit of it here on Jungle Red. When I got the opportunity to read an advance copy, I jumped on it, and I can happily say I loved every minute! Good job! (This is Gigi Norwood. )

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  20. Rhys, I love the title! I remembered when you were struggling with it. Now, having read the book, I think Where the Sky Begins is absolutely perfect. The cover is brilliant, too! Congratulations on another terrific book!

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    1. DEBS: I love the title though I am so bad at remembering titles! Diana

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  21. RHYS: Congratulations on your publication of WHERE THE SKY BEGINS. I hope that I remembered the title. I am sooo bad at remembering titles. Whenever I read about a new book that I would like to read, I take a screenshot of the book and look for it online from bookshop here in the USA or Hatchard's in England or bring it to my local bookstore and show the picture of the book to the bookseller. I could read anything you write. Even though I am bad at remembering titles, I would like to say that I'm pretty good at remembering names of the authors.

    What attracts me to a book? When someone raves about a book, I want to know more about the book. Sometimes it sounds like a book that I would like to read. And another factor is IF I already know who the author is and I loved the other books by that author, then I am more likely to read the book.

    Diana

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  22. Congrats on the new release!

    And congrats on being a title trend setter. I guess the real peril is not following Rhys's lead when it comes to titles.

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  23. I love the title (and the story) and think that if it's the product of compromise, it gives compromise a good name. I am hoping that my new editorial and marketing team will give at least half that attention to my upcoming book's title! (Susan Shea)

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  24. I'm so happy I got to read this ahead of time - it's my favorite stand-alone so far, Rhys. And while i also loved the Teashop title, I think this is a winner, especially combined with that stunning cover!

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    1. Julia, I agree that this is a winner, especially with that stunning cover! Diana

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  25. This is SO fantastic, Rhys! And BEGINS was such a stroke of genius. Yes, and I remember us all talking about teashop, and it's a little..what do they say these days? Niche-y.

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    1. I hope we've come up with the right title. We can never know in advance...

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  26. I got to read an ARC and I loved the story! The teashop title is cool but I would expect to meet Dirk Gently or Doctor Who there.

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  27. Rhys, I think you arrived at the perfect title! It speaks to a wide open body of possibilities, of a grand scale of life change. And, of course, the setting of WWII is absolutely a grand stage. I'm so excited that Where the Sky Begins is out, and I can't wait to read it. Congratulations, Rhys!

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  28. Happy book birthday, Rhys! Yippee skippee! I LOL at "twenty-year-old male computer geeks." Wouldn't we love to see what goes on behind the Zon curtain?

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  29. Thanks for detailing your title-picking process, Rhys, which I found fascinating. I think Where the Sky Begins works extremely well, especially combined with the cover, and I just bought it for my Kindle. Normally, when I'm choosing a book, I don't think titles are very important, because so often I don't really understand a particular title until I finish the book and can say, Aha, now I get it. But recently I got a review of my debut mystery, PESTICIDE, that showed me that (for some people) titles are very important. Luckily, it was a good review, but here's how it started: 'First a word about the title. It did not engender any thoughts of “Well, that sounds good. I think I’ll read it.” Quite the opposite.' Now that statement, friends, makes me quite nervous about the title of my next book, I can assure you!

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  30. Congratulations, Rhys! I loved all the titles but the final one is glorious and matches the story so well. I can't wait to read it!

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  31. The title is perfect and the book is grand! So much courage and compassion! (Storyteller Mary G)

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  32. I was lucky to attend the launch today at Book Passages in the Bay Area. Thank you Rhys for your fascinating description of your writing experience and your answers to our questions. I've already started it, you are a master at drawing us into the story. Love the cover and title, but would read your stand alones in addition to Royal Spyness regardless.

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  33. Congrats, Rhys! I just sorted out a credit card issue related to my pre-order of WHERE THE SKY BEGINS and it's now waiting for me on my Kindle.

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