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My working title for this novel was The Hare’s Mask, because the skinned rabbit faces that are left on the murder victims in this book create such a vivid, creepy image, to me. But I was never sold on it as a permanent title. It just helps me to have something to call a book while I’m writing it. The editorial team at Thomas and Mercer wanted the book to have a title that was indicative of the West Texas landscape and the nature of the crimes occurring in the novel. We briefly considered Dead Man’s Bluff; but my agent actually came up with The Killing Plains, and I liked it immediately.
What's in a name?
For me, a character’s name either springs up spontaneously, or I never do seem to get it quite right. As I was doing some pre-writing about the personality of my main character in The Killing Plains, the name “Colly Newland” just popped into my head, almost as if she were rising up out of nowhere and introducing herself to me.
“Colly” is actually a nickname. Her...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: The Killing Plains.
The Page 69 Test: The Killing Plains.
Q&A with Sherry Rankin.
--Marshal Zeringue
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