CHIT-CHAT: Awkward Beginnings

Anniversary. On September 26, The Blue Door will celebrate its third birthday, making Saturday the anniversary of the entire Threshold Series. Since nostalgia and anniversaries go hand-in-hand, I thought I’d share a few stories from the early days, when we were prepping Book 1 for publication.

Did you know…

♦ My publisher didn’t like Prissie’s name and (very politely) asked me on more than one occasion if I’d consider changing it. At the time, Books 1 and 2 were written, and I was already thinking ahead to Book 3. The change would have required an entire overhaul because she was more than simply “Prissie.”

♦ Prissie’s mother doesn’t shorten her daughter’s name. She still calls her Priscilla.

♦ Milo calls her “Miss Priscilla.” (A very princely thing to do.)

♦ Prissie’s older brothers call her “Priss.” (Her younger brothers call her “Sis.”)

♦ Ransom’s default nickname for Prissie is “Miss Priss.”

♦ I know I’ve mentioned this before in interviews. One of my editors wanted me to consolidate Prissie’s five brothers into two guys. Because no one has big families anymore. But once I (calmly) explained the role each boy served in forwarding the plot, the Pomeroy family came through edits intact.

♦ There was a typographical error on the very first draft of the dust jacket for The Blue Door. It changed the entire tone of the series:

♦ THIS was the first version of The Blue Door‘s book cover. (It’s still floating around out there on the interwebz.) I knew going in that I’d have little or no input over the appearance of my books. So at the time, I pasted on a polite smile and tried not to be overly critical. But I sagged in relief when, within days, my editor sent me a new version—the current version. Folks on their sales teams had requested a re-do. Mercifully, I wasn’t the only one to question that angel’s lack of pants.

Quiz! Names are kind of a thing in the Threshold Series. Most have special meanings. And many have more than one. What’s more, plenty of the cast members have nicknames. How many can you recall? We can compare lists in comments. ; )