Themes, Dreams & Schemes: Guest Post by Judy Penz Sheluk

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Pacing, hair-pulling, scribbled up lists, asking friends and family - no, it's not naming a baby, it's naming a book. Not too long or readers will mess up the title. Not to short, or they'll forget it. Not too much like the latest blockbuster, but, you know, maybe a little like it?

If you're lucky, the work sets some guidelines. Lucy and Jenn have punchy, punny titles for their food-related cozies. I use quotes from Episcopal hymns. Rhys gets to use a lot of archly British phrases for the Her Royal Spyness series.

But what if the writing doesn't lay out a blueprint for a title? What if you need the title to guide you in what to write? Judy Penz Sheluk, editor of the upcoming anthology Larceny and Last Chances, tells us what goes into creating a successful and inspiring short story theme (hint: it doesn't involve having "Murder" in the title...)                                              

 

 

 Many authors will tell you that coming up with a title can sometimes seem as difficult as writing the book or short story. That difficulty is doubled when it comes to dreaming up a theme for an anthology. Not only does it have to work as a book title, it also has to offer writers the latitude to explore any number of schemes they might want to concoct. For the Superior Shores Press (SSP) anthologies of mystery and suspense, that pretty much eliminates putting “murder” in the title…because, well, then there’d have to be murder in every story. And while I certainly enjoy a good murder mystery, I don’t think I’d want to read twenty of them in a row. I expect you’re much the same.

 

That brings us back to dreaming up the theme. The first SSP entry —The Best Laid Plans—was easy (the definition of the adage being, “the futility of making detailed plans when the ability to fully or even partially execute them is uncertain.”). The second, Heartbreaks & Half-truths, worked perfectly for a short story I’d already written (translation: one less thing for me to worry about). And the third, Moonlight & Misadventure, continued to feed into my love of alliteration. Of course, I ran the risk of getting a lot of stories about werewolves (I really don’t get werewolves) but I’m born under the astrological sign of Cancer and we’re all about the moon.

 

After editing and publishing three multi-author mystery anthologies in as many years, I took a much-needed hiatus. In fact, I had joked to my hubby that if I ever contemplated publishing another anthology, he should duct tape me to my office chair.

 

He didn’t, bless his heart (though I suspect he was sorely tempted). Then, in the summer of 2023, a new theme popped into my head: Larceny & Last Chances (I did warn you that I love alliteration). Because who wouldn’t be above a bit of larceny if it was their absolute last chance to…

 

To what? It’s the ambiguity of that last, desperate chance that makes it work as a premise. The result? Twenty-two schemes, twenty-two dreams, and one overarching theme, duct tape optional.

 

What about you, readers? What “last chance” would entice you to partake in bit of larceny? 

 

About Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense: Sometimes it’s about doing the right thing. Sometimes it’s about getting even. Sometimes it’s about taking what you think you deserve. And sometimes, it’s your last, best, hope. Edited by Judy Penz Sheluk and featuring stories by Christina Boufis, John Bukowski, Brenda Chapman, Susan Daly, Wil A. Emerson, Tracy Falenwolfe, Kate Fellowes, Molly Wills Fraser, Gina X. Grant, Karen Grose, Wendy Harrison, Julie Hastrup, Larry M. Keeton, Charlie Kondek, Edward Lodi, Bethany Maines, Gregory Meece, Cate Moyle, Judy Penz Sheluk, KM Rockwood, Kevin R. Tipple, and Robert Weibezahl.

 

About the editor: JudyPenz Sheluk is a former journalist and magazine editor and the bestselling author of Finding Your Path to Publication and Self-publishing: The Ins & Outs of Going Indie, as well as two mystery series: the Glass Dolphin Mysteries and Marketville Mysteries. In addition to the Superior Shores Anthologies, which she also edited, her short crime fiction appears in several collections. Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she served on the Board of Directors for five years, the final two as Chair. Find her at www.judypenzsheluk.com.

Flexibility by Jenn McKinlay

JENN McKINLAY: It’s been quite a week. Instead of living large in NYC at a writer’s conference as planned, meeting with author friends and my publisher while celebrating my giant step into women’s fiction, I’ve been hunkered down at my brother and sister-in-law’s house in MA while recovering from Shingles. Yes, Shingles, in all of its swollen nerve ending, blistered agony. It was also completely unexpected at my age -- at least to me.

Nervous system - where the varicella zoster virus sits after a person
has chicken pox until it decides to come back as Shingles!

     This was one of those moments where life punched me so hard in the chest, I had to rock back on my heels and figure out what the universe was trying to tell me. As I said to a friend of mine, after days of trying to figure out how to make what I wanted to happen happen when it was clearly an absolute impossibility, “I think the lesson here is that I need to be more flexible.” Why the lesson had to be so painful, I don’t know. I suspect so it would stick.

     PSA: Shingles suck! Like, for real. There is a vaccination now available to people over fifty. Shingrix. I urge you to get it or get on the waiting list for it!

     Here's the thing, I like to think that I’m flexible. Being a writer, you have to be as you flit from creating to editing to promoting, sometimes all in the same hour. But upon closer scrutiny -- brought on by my cheek, hip, and ear full of blisters no doubt -- I realized, I’m not really flexible at all. In fact, I’m a bit of a toddler as in, I want what I want when I want it. I’m also the sort of person who when committed to a plan has a very difficult time changing the plan, or the plot, or dare I say, the title.

     Yes, this leads us back to the world of writing. In the course of five months, I thought of a book in a new genre, wrote the book, sold the book, and then rewrote the book from third person to first person but was then informed that the title was a no go. Huh. I did not receive this news well, in fact, some might say I was rather inflexible about it. But I’m a team player so I started conjuring up new title ideas. I asked everyone, including the Reds, for suggestions. In the end, over one hundred titles were offered and rejected. My stress level was higher than ever before because, frankly, I still wanted my original title. Side note: I’m pretty sure all of this title drama -- along with my skin cancer treatments, rearing of hooligans, and other life incidents -- is what brought on my Shingles but…whatever. 

     Finally, a new title was decided upon and met with approval by the powers that be. In case you thought authors have any say in their titles, cover art, and occasionally their plot points, let me disabuse you of that notion here. We don’t. We can fight for what we want but it doesn’t generally (read very rarely) go our way.

     Back to life lessons. While pondering my blisters and my apparent need to be more flexible, I decided, with a pep talk from the Reds and others, to embrace the new title to the book. So, now I’ll share it with you. The book formerly known as The Gap Year is to be called Paris Is Always a Good Idea, coming out in July 2020. Despite the weeks of angst, I am very excited and I’ll bore you with more information on the book as the release date gets closer. To reward myself for my acquiescence, I'm planning a trip to Paris, for  more boots on the ground research, of course.

     In the meantime, I am trying to incorporate a new level of flexibility into my life. Traffic on the highway? It’s cool. I’ll get there when I get there. Hooligans not texting me back in a timely fashion? It’s all good. They’ll get to it when they get to it. Deadline fast approaching? No worries. The world will not actually implode if I turn in a book a few weeks late…um, I’m pretty sure. See? I’m getting there. Totally, working this whole flexibility thing!

How about you, Reds and Readers? How flexible are you with changes of plan? Any other gut punches from the universe telling you what you have to work on?

Seven Sinister Sisters Talking Titles!

Jenn McKinlay: I am thrilled to be hosting seven fabulous mystery authors here today to talk about one of my favorite book topics: 

Titles! Let her rip, ladies...

Thanks so much to Jenn McKinlay and all the terrific Jungle Red Writers for hosting the Seven Sinister Sisters on our grand blog tour! We are seven mystery authors, all members of Sisters in Crime, with new books launching between now and April.

  

Our question for today: How do you choose the titles for your books?

“Titles are tough,” says Cathy Perkins. “You’re trying to capture the tone of the book as well as the key plot element, while selecting a title that hasn't been used a dozen times by other authors. Whew—no pressure! Then, to make it more fun (and complicated), there’s the series aspect to consider. The second book in the Holly Price series releases later this spring. My team wrestled with whether to go with the “So About...” or “... the Money” title continuity. While everybody loved “So About” because it was different, it made the titles awkward. So About the Truck? Eh, no. So About the Family? Not working for me. I’m happy to announce the next Holly Price novel is titled In It For the Money.”

Shawn McGuire agrees: “Titles are so hard!! Sometimes they come from a line within the story. That’s easy. With the Whispering Pines series, the further into the first story (Family Secrets) I got, I realized a lot of the story was about the main character’s family and another family in the village, so that title made sense. By the end of that first book, I realized there were a lot more secrets yet to be uncovered; therefore Kept Secrets and Original Secrets followed. I still haven’t found them all, so the other books in the series will also have “secrets” in the title.”

  

According to Sue Star, however, “The titles choose me. I started with a light-toned mystery about martial arts, and the first book of the series became Murder in the Dojo. In the second book I wanted to explore some troubling concepts of attitude that sometimes crop up in my high-altitude setting: Murder with Altitude. Then Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, and my editor handed me the title of the next book: Murder for a Cash Crop. My friends and family, who claim that I am obsessed with moose, gave me the title of the current book, Murder by Moose. I wonder what title will choose me next?”

  

“For all my books,” Becky Clark says, “I start with titles. I’ll have a basic idea of the series concept and several plot ideas, but if I can’t come up with at least four good titles that work on the theme, I don’t pursue it. I like writing cozy series and I know the titles for those need to be punny and clever. In the Mystery Writer’s Mysteries, I have Fiction Can Be Murder, Foul Play on Words, Kill Your Darlings, and some others. Fingers crossed my publisher likes them too!”

  

But for Pat Hale, “the titles come to me at some point during the writing, most often when I’m not thinking about it. For the first book in this series, The Church of the Holy Child, the church is at the crux of the conflict. It’s also a slight play on words in that, the serial killer believes their mission is in the best interest of the children. Durable Goods, the second book, is about the sex-trade industry where women are treated like merchandise and yet their spirits endure. Whether they escape their captors or not, their emotional strength cannot be ignored.”

“The best titles tell a miniature story in two to five words,” according to Leslie Karst. “Other than your cover art, the title is all you have going to encourage that reader to pick up your book in that store, turn it over to read the back and, hopefully, even crack the spine and take a peek inside. My titles have two primary roles to play. They must convey that they are murder mysteries and also that they concern food. But the titles also hint at the fact that each book concerns one of the five senses. Hence, Dying for a TASTE (food/taste); A MEASURE of Murder (music/hearing); and Death AL FRESCO (painting/vision).

And then there’s Edith Maxwell’s option of getting help from others: “My cozy mysteries from Kensington feature puns in the titles—and I stink at punning. So I outsource them! The Sisters in Crime Guppies chapter, a childhood friend (whom I’ve rediscovered on Facebook), and fans all contribute great title ideas when I ask: Farmed and Dangerous, When the Grits Hit the Fan, Mulch Ado About Murder, and the latest, Biscuits and Slashed Browns—all courtesy of friends. For my historical mysteries, Midnight Ink changed the first two titles and I’m happy with their choices: Delivering the Truth and Called to Justice. The April book's title—Turning the Tide—was mine, and I’m delighted they liked it.”

  

So now it’s your turn: How important are titles in your decision to read a book? What sort of title will compel you pick up that book in a store (or make you shun it like the plague)?

  

And to celebrate our new releases, the Seven Sinister Sisters are having a giveaway! Seven lucky winners will receive an ebook from one of us. One GRAND PRIZE winner will receive a signed copy from each of us! Enter to win by leaving a comment below.

Our tour runs from January 6th to April 30th and we’re answering a different question at each blog. Leave a comment at each blog for more entries! We’ll draw the winners from all the combined comments at the end of our tour.

If the grand prize winner is out of the United States, we'll send an Amazon gift card for the equivalent amount.

Watch our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/sevensinistersisters for the next stop on the tour.

  

http://www.patriciahale.org

http://www.edithmaxwell.com

http://www.lesliekarstauthor.com

http://www.cperkinswrites.com

http://www.shawn-mcguire.com

http://www.rebeccawriter.blogspot.com

http://www.BeckyClarkBooks.com