How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?Visit Amanda Sellet's website.
The main title is fairly on-the-nose: By the Book is the story of a girl who lives her life according to the rules of fiction, specifically 19th-century morality tales. The subtitle (A Novel of Prose and Cons) could be construed as either a warning or an enticement, depending on your tastes. It’s like a mapmaker writing “Here be dragons” to indicate uncharted territory. Warning: silly wordplay ahead.
What's in a name?
As befits the offspring of two literature professors, all five Porter-Malcolm kids have names inspired by the life and/or works of Virginia Woolf. The main character, Mary, has always felt drab in comparison with older sisters Adeline, Vanessa, and Clarissa (who goes by Cam), not to mention...[read on]
Q&A with Amanda Sellet.
--Marshal Zeringue
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