Naming Games

I've been thinking. Yes, I know, get out the hardhats, hide under the tables, she's gonna blow.

Not today. I'm too tired to blow. Which disappoints Dusty no end, but that's another story.

So what I've been thinking about is names.

Take my current WIP, My Heart's Desire, for instance. It's almost done, odds are it's going to turn into a four story series, and I'm thinking of changing the name. "My heart's desire" is a phrase that will show up in each of the books thanks to a magical spell that calls to the mate of each brother; it's why the closer I come to the end, the more I think Heart's Desire needs to be the series title rather than the book title.

So if I go with this, it means that I need to come up with a new name for Heart. Don't be surprised if you go to check on my progress and find that something has taken Heart's place on my line-up; it will be the same book, just a different name.

So, my conundrum: Do I K.I.S.S. it, like My Heart's Desire: Christopher and Lana? Or do I go with individual names, like Wolf Man: My Heart's Desire Book One? I'd better decide fast, since I'm really hoping to have this to my beta readers no later than Monday (I'd prefer sooner, but with the kids home I never know how much work I'll get done).

I think I'm leaning more towards individual names, even though that means more work for me. Individual titles tend to stick out more in my mind, followed by the plot line, then the character's names. Dusty suggested I look for a phrase or word that repeats itself in the manuscript and name the book after that, which I've done before (Dare to Believe was named that way). Another option is to look at the overall book, get the feel for it (like I did with Cat of a Different Color) and come up with the name from that. I'm sure I'll figure it out before the book is done; I've already got something bouncing around, but it hasn't come to the forefront of my brain yet. It might have something to do with the rather loud Thomas the Tank Engine whistle my five year old is currently blowing.

I doubt that Dusty will be happy when I say, "Well at least something is getting blown, right?"

Anyway, it's time for me to put my thinking hat on and come up with something that feels right. And take the Thomas whistle and do terrible, horrible things to it.

UPDATE: I got it! Shadow of the Wolf will be the new name. It has to do with the look of the mark he leaves on Lana, and when they first meet. WOOT!

Writing, With Children

So for the second day in a row not much writing has happened thanks to the small people in the house. It seems like the moment my fingers touch the keyboard someone calls my name, or wants something, or needs to tell me how badly they kicked the butt of the bad guy in their video game. It's been non-stop "MommyMommyMommy" for two full days.

Please, dear Lord, make it stop raining so I can kick their tiny little butts back into the yard. Please? With whipped cream and a cherry on top?

See The Future, E-Book Readers

Text books of the future?

Pardon my ramblings, but I read this article and got to thinking, and you all know how dangerous that is. According to an article in ComputerWorld, e-Book readers are gaining in popularity, and while I think that's wonderful I have a few thoughts on it.

E-book shipments are taking off worldwide, says market researcher In-Stat, with worldwide shipments expected to grow from almost 1 million units in 2008 to close to 30 million units in 2013, due in part to the popularity sparked by Amazon's Kindle.

The kids manning a booth at a Taiwanese computer expo had this to say about them:

A group of high school students at Netronix's Computex booth said they all want e-readers this year because they're "cool." When asked if the fact Netronix had comics in their e-readers had anything to do with their enthusiasm, they said, "maybe, but [the e-readers] are just so cool, so light and you can put all your books in them." Many Taiwanese students carry around bags of books so big that some parents buy small suitcases with wheels to ease their burden.

A lot of e-book reader enthusiasts have been saying that e-book readers could be the future for high schools and colleges everywhere (and I agree), but it remains to be seen if the academic world will pick up on it before the students do. It's nice to know, however, that the younger generation is gravitating towards e-books! I've heard rumors of a color e-book reader that would be perfect for things like comic books and graphic novels. Since I love seeing book covers in full color I'd probably love a color e-book reader.

And now for my walk of shame: I have no e-book reader. I read e-books on my laptop and on my Sprint HTC SmartPhone, which looks something like this:

I haven't seen the need to buy an e-book reader since I essentially already have one. The screen is very small (it's a phone, after all) but it's full color and if it needs power I simply plug it in, sit back and continue reading. The page turn rate is fast compared to some of the page turn rates I've seen on e-book readers, and since that slow page turn rate is one of the few things that turns me off of e-readers I'm very happy with what I have.

The only cons to a "phone + e-reader"? It's back-lit, which means I have difficulty reading it in bright sunshine, and the battery power isn't as good as the battery power of an e-reader. Still, I have to wonder: is a $270 device that only reads e-books better than a multi-functional device that has less battery power but has the same price? Add in the fact that I can read in bed without waking my husband or tacking on an outside "booklight" that has about the same battery power as my phone, and all in all I have to stick with the multi-functional device.

The pros to a smartphone? It has it's own OS, which means I can install programs on it like Adobe Reader or Microsoft Reader. My phone reads .html, .pdf, .lit and .doc/.rtf/.txt. I can install Mobipocket if I like so I can read .prc's. Why can't e-book readers do what my phone can do? The only books I can't read on it have DRM, and I don't want to read those books anyway. And since it's a PDA I can make phone calls, put doctor appointments in the calendar, check the weather, read my e-mail...

I guess what all my rambling means is that I think e-book readers should have an OS like my phone does, whether it's Windows or Mac based, so I can install programs on it like I can with my SmartPhone. Why not, Sony? Amazon? How about a back-light you can turn on or off, or a button that puts you in e-ink mode for sunny days and lit mode for dark, midnight readings? I don't really see why it can't be done. After all, if my little phone can pack all that in, why not a dedicated e-reader?

8K and Counting...

A magical Beckett brother? Perhaps...

I only have 8k more to go before I send my current WIP, My Heart's Desire, off to my beta readers. So far I'm liking what I've got, but I need to make sure I have my logic holes fully filled in before I send it off. I think that will eat about half of that 8k. I always, always think I've covered everything I need to, and I'm always wrong. So it's off to The Meat Grinder in about 7k.

Chris and Lana are coming together nicely; the bad guy gets his comeuppance in a most satisfactory way; and since everything I write winds up turning into a series, I'm seeding the book with the makings of the next three (there are four Beckett brothers). I've got the meta-plot of each of them bouncing around in my head already, but don't worry, Bunny hunters! Bear Necessities is talking louder than ever, so as soon as Heart is done, I'll be writing two bears and a wolf lady.