Time is relative

Something I learned as a lawyer was that time was different in the court system than in the outside world. A "speedy trial" in criminal cases happens in months, possibly even years, rather than in the days or maybe weeks that a non-lawyer might expect from the term. Getting onto the fast track for a civil trial meant waiting years for a day in court, instead of decades.

In any event, with experience, lawyers learn that nothing happens quickly, and sort of adjust their understanding of time into slow motion.

It's a lesson that's served me well in a publishing industry that's rife with delays and hurry-up-and-wait. The turn-around from the contract for A DOSE OF DEATH to its release yesterday was a nano-second in publishing terms, thanks to my nimble publisher. Of course, that came after years and years of learning my craft and getting (more than) my fair share of rejections.

Now, I'm learning to deal with a different sort of time issue: time shifts between the parallel universes of books on the shelves and books being written.

The first of the Helen Binney mysteries just came out yesterday, so it's brand new for readers. For me, though, it's an old story, something I first came up with several years ago, and finally got into publishable shape last year.

The good news, for those who've been asking about the next installment in the series, is that the sequel has been in the works for a while already. Book #2, tentatively titled A DENIAL OF DEATH, is being polished up to send to the publisher toward the end of this month. Book #3, tentatively titled, A DEAL OF DEATH, has a (really rough) outline.

I thought the series might end as a nice, tidy trilogy, but just as I was thinking that, I had this idea about a new challenge for Helen to face. I'm not sure where the idea will take me, but a friend gave me the working title: A DEBT OF DEATH.

A rash of titles

My upcoming release started its life with the abysmal working title of Helen Incriminates Herself. 

It's an accurate summary of the premise for the story (amateur sleuth who tries to prove she DID kill someone, instead of trying to prove she didn't do it), but not exactly catchy. It's more a function of my analytical, legal brain than my storytelling brain.

When it came time to send out queries, where every word matters and needs to be catchy, I had a brilliant inspiration. The protagonist, Helen, is a tad cranky (with good reason), and she's got a nurse who really annoys her (and who subsequently ends up dead). I got to thinking that Helen was nursing a grudge against the nurse, and voila! a title was born: Nursing A Grudge.

Catchy and representative of the story, so we were all set to go with it.

And then came disaster.

It's not uncommon for multiple books to share the same title, but it can get confusing if they share other features that make them difficult to differentiate, like genre and date of release. Generally, it's best if the title hasn't been used in the last year or two, and if the books are in different genres.

At the moment, there are three books on Amazon with this title. One looks to be a legal thriller released in September of last year, another is a traditional mystery released in 2012, and then there's a cozy mystery, released just a few months ago.

The last one rang the death knell for my using the title: same general timeframe for release, same genre, same SUBgenre, and even a similar style of cover (cartoony, rather than a picture or realistic painting).

There's just no easy way to distinguish the two books. I can't say "it's the one released this year," or "the one without any blood on the cover," or "the one that's lighthearted instead of grim." I'm more than happy to support my fellow authors, and I'm sure it's a great book, but I don't want to confuse my readers.

So, brainstorms happened. My faithful betas helped, even when I sent them after a red herring. For a while, I was obsessed with getting the word "pill" into the title, and came up with "A Pill A Day Keeps the Nurse Away." My publisher wisely vetoed that one, and the whole "pill" theme.

And finally we came up with the real title. I'm thinking it's kind of like the trope in fantasy novels, where everyone has a given name and a "real" name, and knowing the "real" name for someone (or something) can be powerful.

So, promise me you won't abuse the power, and I'll introduce you to the story formerly known as Helen Incriminates Herself, briefly referred to as Nursing A Grudge, and now openly celebrated as A Dose of Death.

It's official!

I have an author's page at Gemma Halliday Publishing now:

Author Page

(If the link doesn't work, try taking out the "www.")

The lack of a picture is my fault, not the publisher's. I'm getting the picture taken this coming weekend, and will forward it to the publisher next week. It should be up soon.

Breakthrough!

Over at Reinventing Fabulous, we were challenged to come up with a word (or short phrase) that would be our motto or touchstone for 2014. I'd already made a resolution to have "more fun," so that's what I chose.

Except, if you've ever read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, you might remember the scene where the four bikers of the Apocalypse have been joined by a group of tough-guy motorcyclists. They decide to adopt names comparable to the bad names of the four main bikers (Death, War, Famine and Pollution). One of the first guys to choose a name realizes he was a little hasty, and wants to change it after he hears someone else's choice, except they tell him he can't. So he becomes "Things Not Working Properly Even After You've Given Them A Good Thumping But Secretly No Alcohol Lager."

That's sort of what happened to me in the course of the ReFab discussion of our touchstones for 2014. I was really happy with my "more fun" until Jane Birdsell (go take a look at her photography!) chose "breakthrough."

So I printed out  my new motto and posted it on the wall next to my monitor:

It only seems appropriate to reveal my secret motto, now that I've made a breakthrough: My cozy mystery Nursing a Grudge (woman who's tired of being cosseted tries to prove that she could too have killed her much-hated visiting nurse, and catches the real killer in the process) has been acquired by Gemma Halliday Publishing, a "boutique publisher of light-hearted mystery, romantic suspense and romantic comedy."