Monday, October 02, 2023

Q&A with Christina McDonald

From my Q&A with Christina McDonald, author of These Still Black Waters:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Book titles are always a work in progress. I rarely know what it will be right away because I need to explore my characters, my themes, my plot.

My agent suggested we change the original title I had for These Still Black Waters as she thought it gave too much away. We brainstormed a number of ideas together and both loved These Still Black Waters, as the town of Black Lake (where the story is set) and the theme of the black waters that so many secrets lie beneath is very central to the story.

And then that first plot point, when the reader learns that a body has been found floating in Black Lake on a still, hot summer day, it really encapsulates the feel, the aura, even the...[read on]
Visit Christina McDonald's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Night Olivia Fell.

Writers Read: Christina McDonald (February 2019).

The Page 69 Test: These Still Black Waters.

Q&A with Christina McDonald.

--Marshal Zeringue