Today I went to the Annual Betty Curtis Worcester County Young Writers’ Conference at St. John’s High School, Shrewsbury, MA.  It was very interesting.  I didn’t get into my first choice, unfortunately, which was, of course, fiction, but instead I got into play-writing.  I liked it and learned some very interesting things.  Perhaps someday I’ll write a play, but right now any time I give myself for writing must be devoted to finishing my book.  I’m determined to get it done by this August.  As it is, if I do get done by then it’ll be two full years since I started.  Quite a bigger project than Dragon’s Heart, I’ll tell you that.  I wish I could give you guys a title for this new book, but it keeps changing and right now I’m not really satisfied with anything I’ve come up with so far.  I’m not even sure how to describe it.

Funny thing about titles.  The keynote speaker at the conference, J. Courtney Sullivan, said she always knew the name for her first book, Commencement, and though the publisher wanted to change it, she refused to have anything else.  For the second book, Maine, she didn’t know what to call it the whole time and only called it Maine because it took place in Maine.  She figured that she and the publisher would come up with something, but the publisher thought Maine was the title and decided they liked it.

Similarly, for my first book, Dragon’s Heart, that was just the title from the beginning.  It just came to me and stuck.  For this second book, it absolute refuses to speak to me, and no matter no much I want to have one, the title remains elusive.  I’ll just have to wait for it to come and bowl me over.  Or, who knows, maybe titles come softly?