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Help me name the book!
Let's play a game. Let's call it Title Brainstorming!
Like my foreauthors before me, if you come up with THE title that pleases the publisher enough to go on the cover of the book--or at least, the title that my editor and I call it for a period of longer than five minutes, because if there's one thing I've learned, there are no guarantees on this titling thing--I will send you a copy of the book once it's published. (Signed and personalized if you like.) (And I'll probably acknowledge you in the comments, unless it's too late in the game before the title gets finalized.)
The book started life as The Herbalist's Apprentice. It has been referred to betwixt the editor and me as The Princess Curse. Those are the starting points.
If you haven't read it (and that's most of you), it's set in a made-up region of Romania that I wedged in next to Maramures and Transylvania, in 1489. Reveka, the main character, is an irreverent herbalist's apprentice who decides to break the curse on Sylvania--the curse being that Prince Vasile's 12 daughters wake up every morning exhausted and with holes in their shoes. Everyone who has attempted to break the curse ends up either cursed with death-like sleep or disappears. The local Lord of the Underworld (a zmeu) becomes an important character. To say much more would be spoilery, but suffice it to say, there's a Persephone/Hades sort of situation in the latter half of the book. Herbs, sleep, lies, vows, souls, the water of life, the water of death, the underworld, dragons (zmeu), princesses, cow-herding side-kicks, dancing, shoes, plum blossoms...
The book is Middle Grade, and the title would need to appeal to kids between the ages of, oh, 9-12ish.
Let me know if you want more information, and please play long and hard!
Like my foreauthors before me, if you come up with THE title that pleases the publisher enough to go on the cover of the book--or at least, the title that my editor and I call it for a period of longer than five minutes, because if there's one thing I've learned, there are no guarantees on this titling thing--I will send you a copy of the book once it's published. (Signed and personalized if you like.) (And I'll probably acknowledge you in the comments, unless it's too late in the game before the title gets finalized.)
The book started life as The Herbalist's Apprentice. It has been referred to betwixt the editor and me as The Princess Curse. Those are the starting points.
If you haven't read it (and that's most of you), it's set in a made-up region of Romania that I wedged in next to Maramures and Transylvania, in 1489. Reveka, the main character, is an irreverent herbalist's apprentice who decides to break the curse on Sylvania--the curse being that Prince Vasile's 12 daughters wake up every morning exhausted and with holes in their shoes. Everyone who has attempted to break the curse ends up either cursed with death-like sleep or disappears. The local Lord of the Underworld (a zmeu) becomes an important character. To say much more would be spoilery, but suffice it to say, there's a Persephone/Hades sort of situation in the latter half of the book. Herbs, sleep, lies, vows, souls, the water of life, the water of death, the underworld, dragons (zmeu), princesses, cow-herding side-kicks, dancing, shoes, plum blossoms...
The book is Middle Grade, and the title would need to appeal to kids between the ages of, oh, 9-12ish.
Let me know if you want more information, and please play long and hard!
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Cursebreaker
Dance with death
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The Scourge of Sylvania
The Secret of Sylvania
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Six Ounces of Herbs Will Get You Far Out, Man...
When Life Gives You Nettles, Make An Invisibility Wreath
But Seriously....
Doomed to Dance
The Herbalist and the Princess
Barefoot Through the Underworld
An Herbalist in Hades
Dance, You Merry Princesses
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Hm.
Reveka [lastname] and the Zmeu's Curse
Herbs, Caps, and Curses
The Curse of the Zmeu
How to Save 12 Princesses in One Easy Step
The Princess's Guide to Breaking Curses (which doesn't work)
Cursebreaker is nice because it's simple. Cursebreaking, Breaking the Curse, The Dragon's Curse...
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How to Break a Curse Without Really Trying
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The Smell of Plums and Dragons
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How about:
Nights' Curse
The Dancing Sisters
Reveka
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The Devil and the Herbalist (and the smartass side of me says the subtitle should be A Love Story)
A Curious Thing Happened On the Way to the Nunnery
okay, I also like Cursebreaker.
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((also why didn't The Herbalist's Apprentice work? I loved that title))
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There are other considerations, like, do 10-year-olds know an herbalist from a hole in the ground?
I'm excited about not saying "herbalist's apprentice" every three seconds, personally. The sibilants killed me.
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Dracula's Granddaughter
(vampire imagery in the cover would cater to current vampire fashion as well)
or
Bloody Revenge for the Dozen
(Would have to include somebody buxom in the cover)
or
To the Hell for the Sisterhood
(and emphasis for the Quest in the back cover)
---
Based on my experiences with fantasy titles....
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I think it qualifies as ironic: there were numerous Dracula references in the book previously, as my main character's father had fought in Vlad Tsepes's army. I had to remove most of them, to avoid confusing this book with the vampire legions. You're barking up the wrong tree, I'm afraid!
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I gathered as much :-)
Unfortunately I've also heard horror stories about covers, back covers and titles based on dubious logic, hence my "suggestions"...