How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?Visit Sandra Chwialkowska's website.
The working title for my novel was Eleuthera, which is the name of the Bahamian island where my book is set. I liked how eleutheria is also the Greek word for freedom, which is a motif in the book, as well as the epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis (Diana) who is referenced in the novel. My heroine, Laura, yearns to have the confidence and freedom embodied by Diana, the solo female traveler she encounters at the beach resort, who later goes missing. My acquisitions editor encouraged me to find an alternative title, one that was a bit easier to pronounce (haha), had an internal tension, and also suggested the genre of the book, which is psychological suspense. My beta reader pulled a phrase from my book—the ends of things—and it instantly clicked with me because it encapsulates what the book is about: my heroine, Laura, always imagines the worst-case scenario, or “the ends of things,” which causes…[read on]
Q&A with Sandra Chwialkowska.
--Marshal Zeringue
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