Petr
asked
Peter Cawdron:
When do you decide on a title for a book? Do you have a title in mind while writing, or do you come up with it afterwards? Did you end up changing some of the titles during the writing process? Any examples? :)
Peter Cawdron
Good question... Most of the time the title is part of the inspiration behind the book. For example, Little Green Men, Xenophobia, Anomaly, and Starship Mine are all stories built around their titles, and they reflect that quite well.
The only book I struggled to name was Mars Endeavour, which started life as The Colony (too common), then became Abiogenesis (but I felt that was too obscure) so it was released as Mars Endeavour, before being republished as Retrograde (due for release this Sept). Retrograde fits well as it describes not only the motion of the planet relative to Earth, but the way the relationships between the various parties slip backwards as the story progresses.
Some book titles have been torturous for a different (more obscure) reason. With Maelstrom and Nosferatu, their "real" titles were already used. Both Maelstrom and Nosferatu are the results of a series being combined, but I couldn't reuse the original names (Colliding Worlds and Vampire) for fear of confusing readers who read the first parts of the series (even though I've now withdrawn those shorter works). I won't make that mistake again. I think my days of writing serials is over. I'll either just do stand alone novellas or novels.
Cheers,
Peter
The only book I struggled to name was Mars Endeavour, which started life as The Colony (too common), then became Abiogenesis (but I felt that was too obscure) so it was released as Mars Endeavour, before being republished as Retrograde (due for release this Sept). Retrograde fits well as it describes not only the motion of the planet relative to Earth, but the way the relationships between the various parties slip backwards as the story progresses.
Some book titles have been torturous for a different (more obscure) reason. With Maelstrom and Nosferatu, their "real" titles were already used. Both Maelstrom and Nosferatu are the results of a series being combined, but I couldn't reuse the original names (Colliding Worlds and Vampire) for fear of confusing readers who read the first parts of the series (even though I've now withdrawn those shorter works). I won't make that mistake again. I think my days of writing serials is over. I'll either just do stand alone novellas or novels.
Cheers,
Peter
More Answered Questions
Zepp Jamieson
asked
Peter Cawdron:
Just a quick note to let you know I reviewed "Jury Duty." It's available here. https://www.zeppjamiesonfiction.com/jurors-in-the-ice-box-a-review-of-jury-duty/ I think it's one of the finest stories you've written and deserved special treatment. Thinking of returning to that particular world?
Jeri
asked
Peter Cawdron:
I just recently discovered your books, starting with your short stories. Now I'm reading Mars Endeavor (Mars = my favorite planet). Wow! Wow! A-MAZE-ZING books, especially the short stories. How you can grab a reader for a short time is truly a talent. No question from me yet. :o) ?
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more