A Novel by any Other Name…

I think I may have stated this before but here it is anyway – I suck at titles. I can write the stories – sometimes effortlessly – but the words above ‘by R. M. Ridley’ often cause my head to hurt.

The exception to this has been my novels. I get the titles for them almost right off the bat and they work, and fit for the story told. It is nice to refer to something you spend months on by its title – which is why it has been so annoying that this fourth ‘Jonathan Alvey’ novel has been -’ the fourth novel’ for far too long.

I dabbled with the idea of something like ‘Swarms and Shadows’ but it sounded corny to me. It just didn’t fit, like a show that pinched the toes but flopped off the heel. So I knew it wasn’t right.

I wrote on, hoping for my Muse to come through on this. Last night – late, as I couldn’t sleep – I think she did.

I strongly believe the fourth novel, my current work in progress will be titled, ‘Corrupted Souls’.

Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

It fits too. It covers many aspects of what is contained in this novel. It gives you a right up front association to the main plot, extends into the secondary plot nicely, and even covers a bit of self revelation that occurs for my protagonist.

Best of all – I can now stop referring to my WIP as ‘the fourth novel’ and say ‘Corrupted Souls’ instead. Must more satisfying.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: Corrupted Souls, current work in progress, fourth novel, Jonathan Alvey, muse, novel, paranormal private investigator, plot, short story, Urban Fantasy, WIP, writing