How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?Follow Jason Sheehan on Twitter.
I think Children of the Flying City does a lot of heavy lifting right there on the cover. It tells you, straight off, that this is a story about children (which it is), and something in the cadence of it implies adventure and action. Then there's the whole Flying City thing with its pulp vibes and blunt promise of impossibility and strangeness. It lets you know, in no uncertain terms, that you're going somewhere when you pick up this book, and that it's gonna be weird.
Originally, the book was called Quick--named for the main character, Milo Quick--and while that was a great working title (because it was a constant reminder that this was a story about motion, taking place over just three days as Milo and his friends, Jules and Dagda, evaded kidnappers, war and the truth about their pasts), but it didn't work on the final. While single-word titles can be powerful, this one was too broad, too easily forgotten, and didn't do enough of that necessary set-up that a title like Children of the Flying City does.
What's in a name?
For me, a lot. My first step in considering any new story is choosing names. It's a little bit of magic I do. Something like...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: Children of the Flying City.
Q&A with Jason Sheehan.
--Marshal Zeringue
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