What's in a Name?

After much prevaricating and wordplay, a new title has been arrived at for my print debut. As of about, oh, 9.30 this morning, THE RELIC is now FIRE IN THE SEA. I was never terribly happy with The Relic as a title (partly as it's already the name of a 1997 horror film), so I'm much happier with the new moniker. Hopefully it's mysterious enough to encourage a reader to, at the very least, skim read the first page. (It's a good first page, so that should do the trick.)

I am genuinely appalling when it comes to making decisions and could have easily spent the rest of my life choosing a title for this book. Which is odd, as past titles have arrived quite organically. HOW TO DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY was kicking around for years before I got around to writing the book, as was ELECTRICITY. Most of the SALMON & DUSK titles arrived with little effort.

FIRE IN THE SEA was actually originally called THE DEEP HEREAFTER. It was a title I never really intended to use, although I quite like it now, seeing it written down. At some point I changed it to SUMMER DEVILS, after misreading some graffiti scrawled on a bar toilet wall. (It actually said Summer Bev's, meaning summer bevvies or drinks). It wasn't a popular title and, to be honest, was deliberately misleading about the nature of the story. Which probably isn't what you're after in a title.

Over the last couple of months, I've rebranded the manuscript at least a dozen times. When I sent a new draft through to my editor the title page tended to feature an ever-expanding list of possibilities. THE LOST FLAME? THE DEMON'S BOX?

I suppose a title feels particularly important with this book as it's the first time I actually know that I'm not just writing for my own entertainment. There are people out there who will read the book and other people (not just me) who are hoping it'll sell more than a handful of copies. Which means that those first few words at the top are carrying a lot more weight this time around.

I think FIRE IN THE SEA is a strong enough title to shoulder these expectations. Hopefully you feel the same way. You do, right?

FIRE IN THE SEA will be released August 2012 by Text Publishing.