Yeah, yeah… I bragged about my apparent originality in many of the fantastic aspects of the book and overall story arc. I patted myself on the back about character names and book titles and avoiding overused tropes. Well, I am going to save those pats for some other day or year.

Changing the title of book 1 from EMERGENCE to THE PROVING was pretty easy compared to what I am trying to do now. Because a trusted editorial/agenting source has (not for the first time) let me know that the word Greystone is just a little too derivative.

And he’s totally right. Darn it all!

“It sounds a lot like Tolkien and a lot like Tarzan” were his words. Yup. The Tolkien part I admit to… love the feel of the word Greystone in a traditional medieval sense. The Tarzan thing threw me off. I never saw the 1984 movie “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes”. But lots of other folks did.

So I am playing with a few new possible names, and it is suitably painful. Why? Because it’s the name of the series, the name of a critical object/concept of power in the story arc, the last names of the ruling Queen of the country and her main character daughter, the name of the Lands where all of the characters live, and the name of the country where most of action takes place. Yikes.

Oh yeah, and it’s the URL of this blog!

But enough whining. It’s time for a change. The early leader in the clubhouse is the word Erinor (AIR-in-or), which is the name of the national school system in the country. It was derived from the name of the body of water to the east, the Erin Ocean.

What do you think? The Tome of Erinor? The Erinor Protectorates? I kind of like it.

Later!

~Kevin