We're entering the time of year when I have to learn again to appreciate the beauty of dark skeletal branches against a gray sky . . . the orderly confusion of an abandoned nest . . .
And to wonder about this all white addition to the Canada Goose flock by the river. He or she has been with them for a month or more -- seemingly accepted as a part of the group. Has the interloper found a mate? I can't tell. But I wonder what the others make of it.
In the past, the geese have stayed there all winter. I hope they continue to do so because I suspect this domestic bird wouldn't be capable of flying long distances.
The title of a book, along with its cover, is the writer's first chance to grab a reader's attention and tempt him to pick up the book. As I've mentioned before, the cover is pretty much out of my hands -- the Art Department and the Marketing Department at Random House deal with that. As for the title, I send in my idea for a title and so far, except in one case which I'll talk about later, the titles have been accepted.
In choosing a title, I look for something a bit tantalizing that, in some ways, reflects the content and tone of the book. And I usually check on Amazon to make sure that title hasn't been used recently. Titles can't be copyrighted so I'm free, if I want, to call a book Gone with the Wind or The House at Pooh Corner. But instead, I rack my brains, trying to come up with something semi-original.
It's not easy.
People often ask what me a particular title of mine "means." In the case of my first novel, Signs in the Blood, the answer is that I'm not exactly sure. I usually ask what they think it means and have gotten some terrific explanations, often involving horoscopes and/or planting by the signs as recommended by The Old Farmers' Almanac.
Alas, it's nothing that clever. As I recall, while I was writing Signs, I was researching the snake-handling Holiness religion that plays a large part in this novel and came across the phrase 'signs in the blood.' That sounds like a good title, I thought and made a note of it.
Unfortunately, I neglected to make a note of what it meant. And though I've looked, I've never found that passage again. But what I think it means comes from the fact that folks of the Holiness church call themselves "signs-following believers." (These aren't horoscope signs but the signs mentioned in the Bible -- "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover," (Mark 16:17-18).)
So I suspect that 'signs in the blood,' refers to the fact that these beliefs tend to be passed down in families. Really, not much at all to do with the story I was telling. But nonetheless a mysterious sounding title.
Art's Blood was a mistake. I had the idea that I might try to use the word 'blood' in all my titles and, since this book had to do with art and artists, I came up with this rather lame pun -- art's blood -- heart's blood. It was meant as a working title, something to be replaced when I thought of a better one but my editor liked it so there it is. I don't like it because punning titles tend to suggest a cozy, humorous mystery -- which this isn't. Ah, well . . .
By my third book, I'd abandoned the idea of always having the word blood in the title. For one thing, a friend told me that the titles suggested slasher-type stories and for another thing, when I made a list of titles including blood, everyone of them had already been used recently, sometimes several times.
Besides, for once I had a great idea! I wanted to call this book The Booger Dance. That's the name of a Cherokee dance that plays an important part in this book, both actually and symbolically. And it's certainly memorable.
Unfortunately, both my agent and my editor reacted with horror to this proposal, feeling that such a title would have buyers hurrying away with averted eyes.
So, since my editor had suggested that this might be a good time to explore Elizabeth's past and perhaps uncover some old wounds . . .
In a Dark Season is pretty straightforward. It's set in November and a pivotal scene is on the Winter Solstice -- a dark season for sure. And the tone is rather dark as well.
The Day of Small Things came from a Bible verse -- I was skimming through Bartlett's Quotations, looking for inspiration and came across it. Not the most inspired choice but I liked the sound.
Next year's book, Under the Skin, deals with Elizabeth and her very different sister. The title comes from a poem by Kipling which contains the lines, "But the colonel's lady an' Judy O'Brady are sisters under the skin."
Here's an article about the original titles of ten famous novels.
One day I happened upon this beautiful picture. I realized that it was an antique biological model, but couldn't find out much for about it. Tonight while browsing through one of my favorite blogs morbidanatomy I think I might have found my answer. I believe it is a "Pregnancy Doll."
"In the 18th and 19th centuries, sideshow carnivals known asmisemono were a popular form of entertainment for the sophisticated residents of Edo (present-day Tokyo). The sideshows featured a myriad of educational and entertaining attractions designed to evoke a sense of wonder and satisfy a deep curiosity for the mysteries of life. One popular attraction was the pregnant doll. Although it is commonly believed that these dolls were created primarily to teach midwives how to deliver babies, evidence suggests they were also used for entertainment purposes. For example, records from 1864 describe a popular show in Tokyo’s Asakusa entertainment district that educated audiences about the human body. The show featured a pregnant doll whose abdomen could be opened to reveal fetal models depicting the various stages of prenatal development... (July 2001 issue of GeijutsuShincho magazine) " In morbidanatomy post about the doll she references another post on pinktentacle that has even more info. So happy I finally found out what it is.
You might want to make a note of this for next Thanksgiving. Or indeed, for any time. This is pumpkin pie for people who aren't all that crazy about pumpkin pie. This is fantastically good pie. And here's the recipe, from my much used Southern Junior League Cookbook.
2 baked pie shells ( I think it's worth the trouble to make them yourself)
3/4 cups milk 2 cups canned pumpkin 1 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/ 8 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/3 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 5 egg yolks 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin 1/3 cup cold water 5 egg whites 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1/3 cup sugar
Caramelized almonds (see below) Whipped cream and grated nutmeg for topping
Heat milk with pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, and spices. Beat egg yolks slightly and slowly add hot mixture to yolks. Mix well and cook in double boiler till thick, stirring constantly.
Soften gelatin in cold water. Add to hot custard and stir till dissolved. Cool till it begins to thicken.
Beat egg whites till stiff but not dry. Fold into custard and cool a little bit but not till set. Whip 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, adding 1/3 cup sugar and then folding into pumpkin mixture. Chill till very thick and pour into pie shell. Chill (overnight) till set.
Top with more whipped cream, a sprinkle of grated nutmeg, and the caramelized almonds.
(The original recipe called for butterscotch sauce as well but I don't know, that just seemed excessive. So this is practically a diet version.
The pie can be frozen and is quite good that way. Also, the filling alone is a nice dessert, frozen or otherwise. )
Caramelized almonds
1/2 cup sugar 1 cup slivered blanched almonds
Stir sugar and almonds in heavy skillet over medium high heat till light brown. Spread on greased cookie sheet. Break apart when crisp and store in airtight container. Also really good on ice cream.
With the re-release of Alice in Wonderland this year it seems EVERYONE wanted to be Alice for Halloween. Here are some of the best ones I found this year. Granted most of them look NOTHING like what most people think of when they hear Alice in Wonderland, but I really like the direction they went with them.
