What's In A Name?

A lot, actually.

"If people have to read your book to know what the title means, you're not there yet..."

I found out from Writer's Digest magazine that my book's title needs to change. Fine, since I was thinking about it anyway, but really... In theory, it's like renaming your kid, after s/he has already been Anne or Kyle for seven years, and then having to remember to call him/her by the new name that s/he has chosen for him/herself- no doubt something like Gwendolyn, or Atticus. Needless to say, I've tried a few different ones, and nothing seems to fit as well as the original- except, as shown above, some long, fancy one that is three times the length.

Admittedly, I hated my name as a kid, and didn't grow into it until I was 16, or so. Still, I was born, and will probably also die, with that name and I sincerely doubt that I'll be changing it to Alexandra or Catherine (apologies to my sister!) anytime soon. It may sound more fluffy and romantic (great, if I wrote romance), but I've kinda grown on 'Laura'- it's a strong name and, as a book-title also should, represents me (the hapless subject-matter) and what I'm about.

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In other news, the agency that I've been dying to pitch to has finally reopened to submissions, and I stayed up all night writing a killer query. Thing is, I'm beginning to think that the only thing I've killed with it is myself- while accurate to the plot, it made me find a couple of holes in my manuscript that need filling in, and I now have to rewrite the whole thing before I even think about submitting... Argh!

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Off to give my little Atticus another makeover,

L.