Forethought

I have a confession to make:  both times I’ve had the delightful task of titling a novel, I didn’t conduct a search to see whether or not my choice had been claimed.

After I published Touched, a friend asked me if I’d checked, and was dumbfounded when I said no. “Are you crazy? That would be the first thing I’d do!”  Spit flew from his lips.  “You want to be original! What good is it if someone else has already taken your title?”

I wiped my cheek and shrugged. Touched was the ideal title for my first novel, for a host of reasons.  If someone had already used it for another book, it would have a totally different connotation. I was content to share.

Still flushed with indignation, my friend shook his head.  It was clear that my artistic integrity was dissolving right in front his eyes.

Well. It turns out that Leap is quite a popular title.  The Greater Victoria Public Library alone holds four other Leaps, one of them a YA novel published quite recently.  Two further books are called The Leap.

Then there are the 167 other titles that contain the word “leap” or its cognates.

As I said, a popular title.

And this time I’m convinced.  It’s still the right title for this book.  But,  next time, I’ll do my research.

(On the up side, there are an unprecedented SIX copies of Leap on order, and a thrilling FIVE advance holds. Thank you thank you thank you for all your interest and support, Victorians!)