Sleeping Dogs Are Lying! Let ‘Em!
It’s been awhile since my last blog. Why? I have a bad case of Titleitis! A really bad case, which involves my night and my day, and won’t let up for a second to allow me sit down and write a good blog.
Never heard of Titelitis? I’m not surprised. I just made up the word this minute. You see, I’m trying to come up with a great title for my new book and, as always, that’s the most difficult part of writing the whole thing. Two to three hundred pages, plus, of book material? No problem! But, a short and sweet, perfect, clever book title??? Big problem.
One of my brilliant ideas has become the title of this blog. Of course, it has nothing to do with the contents of the blog. And unfortunately, nothing, at all, to do with the contents of my book manuscript. But, it’s a great pun and I think it might be original. It’s actually something I said in my sleep and heard myself enunciating as I woke from a nap. Wow! Brilliant! A twist on the old maxim: “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.”
If I were the author of a political expose book, maybe I could justify its use. Or maybe it would have to be an animal psychology book, or dog training tips, a mystery, or any fiction. But not my book. If you have a use for it, be my guest.
That’s the whole thing. This book is a three-in-one, as far as themes go. How do you pack all that into one title? First, it’s about my four-months backpacking as a very old lady throughout South America. So what else is new? My first book Hey Boomers, Dust Off Your Backpacks: Travel The World On A Limited Budget, was about twelve-months backpacking around-the-world alone, as a slightly-younger old lady.
But, a second running theme in this current manuscript is about my cronky investigation of the parallel between the Andean Mountain Chain and the human spinal column; during which I saw (and proved, conclusively) that there is a correlation and that (no doubt about it) we have the fossilized skeleton of the living planet right there along the western coastline of South America. See the physical/geographical features page in any Atlas to confirm this truth. Plus, I attempt to cure the planet’s ills by performing chiropractic upon any mountainous bones I happen to be walking upon at the time. Hmmmm? The lady’s crazy alright. Hey, why not try to do some good in the world?
Further complicating my title search, is a third theme which I have decided to allow to remain in the manuscript, written using my journal notes of the trip. This angle was not included in my previous book, although it was present throughout. As you may have gathered from some of the blogs presented here, I have an ongoing, conversational relationship with The Holy Spirit; giving me a deep interest in the metaphysical angle of just about everything in existence. I like to analyze things to the Nth Degree and that’s what we talk about, (Him and me). I have decided to include those conversations in this book, thereby opening a very private door into my soul. This book will be my debut into the New Age category.
A title is, basically, a marketing tool. You have to think of all the angles, especially how it will sell your book in ten words or less. I have huge respect for the folks who make their living writing headlines, especially those little blue blurbs on your home page, announcing all the news stories of the day. They have to make you want to click and read. That’s what a book title must do. And yet, it has to capture the essence of the written word inside and telegraph something of what the reader will get when selecting your book over all the others on the shelf. An author must figure out stuff like: Who is my target market? What is my message? Who else has used this title? Does it offend? Is it stupid?
Most of my ideas are pretty stupid…considering the snap reaction of those upon whom I test these things. The blog title above is a prime example.
I have this yellow pad with pages and pages of ideas:
“Inspecting The Unexpected”
“The Spine of South America”
“Sacred Spine Of The South”
“Upper Level Spinal Tapping”
“An Odd Adjustment”
“‘Dem Dry Bones: Exploring The Andean Spinal Column”
“One-On-One With The Holy Spirit”
“Crossing Dimensions Of Andean Proportion”
“Conversations With The Holy Spirit”
“Straddling The Dimensions””
“Either, Or: Either She’s Nuts, Or She’s Not”
“Walking The Spine Of A Planet”
“Bones Of A Planet”
“A Foot In Each Dimension”
“Stalking The Gigantic Nebulous”
“Stalking The Nebulous Gigantic”
Or how about: “Nebulous Nebulae,” which I might use if I were ever to walk in space while carrying on my conversations with my own particular Nebulous Gigantic. And survive to write about it, of course.
See what I mean? This practice causes my son to shake his head every time. Like I said, I have Titleitis.
The list goes on. Submit some of your own, if you like. Stay tuned to see what is finally chosen.
Tags: 1, Andean Backbone, Andean Cordillera, Andes, Backbone of the planet, Book Titles, Holy Spirit, New Age Books, spinal column of the planet and the Andean mountain cha, Titleitis, Tag Index
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