“‘Lost Illusion’ is the undisclosed title of every novel.”
– André Maurois (1885-1967), [Émile Herzog] French writer, essayist, “Atmosphere of Love,” “The Family Circle”

I’m sitting in my living room looking around and trying to think of topics for my latest journal entry and it hits me. I glance in one direction and I see a book called Eat Mangos Naked by Sark. She’s great. She shares her experiences in fun and silly ways and makes you realize that life doesn’t have to be suffering (despite what the Buddhists may say).

I look in another direction and my eyes fall upon one of my newest acquisitions, The Way to Write for Children by Joan Aiken. This was a true find. I was wandering through the writing section of Bookman’s and happened upon it. Ms. Aiken gives some wonderful insight into finding out if you really want to write for children or about children and the differences between doing so for different ages of children.

The next title that catches my eye is I Don’’t Want to Sleep Tonight by Deborah Norville (of morning news fame). This book is a wonderful adventure into a young child’s experiences with the monsters that live within his room as soon as the lights are turned out. Willow and I have read this so many times that she practically knows it by heart.

At the same time that I stumbled across the Aiken book, two other books fell into my hands. One of the books I had been looking for and was pleased to find it. The other, by the same other, was a bonus buy. Writing Down the Bones and Wild Minds: Living the Writer’s Life by Natalie Goldberg are books that make me smile just to look at them. It is possible to earn a living writing. It may not happen for me but it is possible. Books, in my house, are even more numerous than plants (and that’s saying a lot).

I think about what makes a book.< A title is important. It attracts a reader like the green of a leaf attracts a gardener. Use a word one way and you may get one type of reader. Use it another and you may attract a different type of reader. What makes people decide on the titles they've chosen? Is it the editor that has come up with it or did the writer of this particular book win out?

I've been thinking about titles even more lately because I have to come up with enough pieces for a chapbook sometime in November and I will have to title the book. The only thing I can think of to call my work is The Bottom of the Barrel.

I thought that beginning at the bottom of the barrel for my current writing life only allows me to work my way up. There is nowhere to go but up. That may be a good place to start. What if that is too pessimistic, though? Maybe I should be more optimistic.

I could choose something like Riding on a Cloud but that may seem too “out there.” I thought of Forget~Me~Not and like it because it has so many connotations. Cliche’, cliche’, cliche’. Ugh.

Sometimes the writing is the easy part.

The hard part is coming up with something that will draw the reader in to actually read what I’ve written.