It is a happy day for a me when I come up with a title. When "Collaborative Fantasy Project" changes to "Axel and Ajax Novel" and then finally to "Remember the Alamok," there is a rejuvenation. It's almost a new book; a book that you can imagine sitting on a bookstore shelf somewhere. There's no longer that vague threat hanging in the air over the book; no more lingering doubt as to what you are working on. When asked, "What are you working on?" I can reply with confidence. "I'm working on 'Tough Target!'" or "Remember the Alamok." To me, giving a book a title is like stabbing that fluttering concept of a novel with a very solid and sturdy bowie knife! Until I pin it down, my book exists on many planes and I only can see the edges and not all the dimensions of it. It's like quantum uncertainty. Does it exist or is it only a theory? If a tree falls and no one hears it? If you don't open the box, is Schrodinger's Cat dead? Is a book without a title, really a book at all?
Having said all this, there apparently aren't enough titles to go around. Even if you aren't trying to find it, odds are good that another book will cross your path and it will have already used your wonderful title! Be not discouraged, though. Just take it as a compliment and write on!
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