Answering these questions one by one, in posts. So, @madamebadger mentioned the Jokka novels as having evocative titles... here's how I got those.
I wrote Shell back when I was operating on "titles as art" rather than "titles as marketing" notion. I was still in college, or not long out of it, and my primary sense of how to title works was leftover from English literature classes where short story titles, and poem titles, were about themes and artistic considerations, primarily. (I don't think this is wrong, it's just a different way to go about it; most genre short fiction is still titled this way because they aren't meant as standalone products.)
So I named the first book, The Worth of a Shell, after the theme of the novel, which was encapsulated by one of its final scenes. (No spoilers, hopefully, for those of you who haven't read it yet.)
I didn't go back to finish that trilogy until long after I'd become my own publisher, which meant by then I was operating on the 'title as marketing' assumption. That meant all the titles in the series should sound like they belong together. I was stuck with Book 1's title, which wasn't too bad... so I decided to riff on that pattern:
[Article ] noun-related-to-theme [preposition] noun-relating-to-theme
I decided that the thematic images that worked best for Book 2 had to do with Keshul and his relationship to one of the gods (is he the literal pearl, or is something else? I leave that to people to decide). So now I had two:
The Worth of a Shell
Pearl in the Void
Then I needed the pattern again, and I wanted an indefinite article, because the first book had a definite one ("the worth) and the second one had no article. So I wanted 'a' or 'an'. I chose the thematic nouns, again, because they could be applied in multiple ways (which north? What is the bloom? Is it literal? Figurative?) and still be correct, and then went with the indefinite article to make that ambiguity more distinct:
A Bloom in the North
So all the titles have the same rhythm (one-syllable-word beat beat one-syllable-word), with the same structure (noun prepositional link noun), and with rotating articles.
Something you'll notice is that when I was doing the 'title as poetry/literature', the title is a literal callback to something said in the novel. But the later two titles are both a lot less direct; they're not supposed to act like the title of a poem (which often points you at the conclusion/idea you're supposed to take away). They leave a lot more up to the reader, interpretation-wise. There's really only one way to understand The Worth of a Shell from the book's context, but both Pearl and Bloom let you, the reader, decide what the titles mean to you.
I don't think either kind of title is better or worse. It's just a different way of doing things. (And I think that 'title as conclusion/thematic pointer' works better in shorter pieces of art that the reader is more likely to be able to keep entirely 'in memory', so to speak.) I do think the 'all books in a series should have a pattern' is really important, though, and that's something I didn't learn until later.
In terms of the short story collection, it's both a literal in-world reference (early Jokka set out stories with stones painted with letters, stone by stone, outdoors for people to read)... and meant to be evocative (it just sort of sounds cool). It follows the same pattern as the novels (NOUN (preposition) NOUN). And, I had notes that any additional collections should be similar: "Clays Beneath the Sun", "Clays Along the Seas", etc.
Lagniappe: I have no idea if the Jokka covers sell or don't sell the books, and I'm not inclined to change them because they do well enough. But notice that Shell, which is about the relationship between two people, and about the Anadi and the Eperu impulses in society, has the two Jokka on the front cover... but there's only one "trail" away from the medallion they're on top of, because that's how precarious their connection to society was. Pearl has only one Jokkad on the cover because it was about the isolation of one person and his mission, and primarily about the Male actors in society... but his medallion has two trails, because he was connected twice to society, through Roika and the Void. And the final book has three Jokka, because it was about the harmonizing of all three sexes in society, and it has all three trails leading from the medallion, because religion, society, and personal affairs were finally healthfully established.
I suppose one day I might update the covers. But not a priority.
Or at least, I intend it to be relaxing. Hopefully it delivers.
4:22 minutes
Materials:
In which I talk about the paper, the paint, and the experience of oils versus gouache. Fun stuff, will do more.
Thank you Locals supporters! Your contribution to my art war chest here is what's powering these experiments and videos. For now I'm keeping them public but I may start doing some subscriber-only videos if you all are interested.💖
Thanks for your comments yesterday on the business post... all very provocative, in a good way. I'll try to respond to all of them today.
Some Alysha misc now, since I'm gearing up for the results of the Kickstarter!
Petrov is giving away coupon codes for every book in the Alysha series (and has some leftover coupons for Marda and the business book). You can pick those up here (and please do! The books are bought already, someone should use them!) https://twitter.com/PetrovNeutrino/status/1457344535843987461
Our own @JudasComplex sent along a sample of the Faith in the Service audiobook, which I've attached for your delight! I... haven't had a chance to listen to it. Don't ask me about my past week and a half or so. Putting it here will guarantee I get to it.
After hearing the amused comments during the livestream, I went ahead and added all the ship type illustrations I have inked from the 90s to the wiki. Glory in the rampant adorableness of their anthropomorphic stylings! See those ...
A little comedy today, at least in the link. Transcript follows.
Hi, all. Welcome to this episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.
A while back I was introduced to a comedy sketch about Cuban coffee by a Mexican comedian, Gabriel Iglesias. ( The sketch begins with him greeting all his fellow Latinos and then backing up to say ‘but we’re all different, aren’t we’ which is a segue into a demonstration of how different Hispanics speak Spanish.
It is hilarious. First, because I am a Spanish speaker and a linguistics hobbyist, and his portrayal of various accents resonated with my experiences in trying to make sense of them myself… Not always easy, since from culture to culture, slang and accent are often totally different (and sometimes grammar! Spaniards use a grammatical construct that has died out in many other Spanish-speaking countries, the plural “you.”)
I also loved it because the Cuban coffee part is real. I grew up with Cubans. I know how we are....
One of the most common things I hear (and say) right now is "the asymmetry is the story." Here's one about how none of us are innocent of the sins we hate in others.
Hi, all. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.
It’s been weeks since the Baen’s Bar incident and I’m still thinking about it... because the longer I do, the more I feel, overwhelmingly, that it’s obvious that the problem is deeper than “this forum was saying stuff that offended us.” We have to back up to the glaring fact that people on opposite sides no longer consider each other human. Nothing I say will matter because the people disagreeing with me don’t think I’m human. They have denied my humanity; they have not bothered to listen to my beliefs, or have fake-listened to them in that way that people do when they’re so ready to prove you wrong that they’re only using your speech to provide talking points for their own ideas.
We have forgotten how to listen.
Increasingly, we have also ...
https://mcahogarth.org/gallery/image/123-2019-42-ElementalJahir
Today's Wednesday Share is a little different... in this case, it's the first of a series, and you can see the other 6 pieces (plus a false start) linked from the annotation in the gallery. (Bonus: there's a link to another, similar series of Peltedverse Tarot images in the artist notes section).
I was inspired to do this one by the song Elemental from the Tears for Fears album. I was thinking of what the elemental symbols of each of the major Eldritch saga characters was, so I decided to chase them down. For instance, Jahir's has the unicorn, the amulet, the sword of state, the caduceus, and the net/spacetime of the seer!
If you're interested in seeing the rest of them, go check them out! Share your favorites if you feel like leaving a comment!
How wild is that? This one is fun because it's a "choose your champion" style competition between tea and coffee! And my daughter is participating to raise money for her college food budget with a design of her own! AND it will run through my birthday!
This might be more excitement than I can handle, honestly, lol. Anyway, come check it out!
Yes! Because tomorrow I am launching the kickstarter, so I don't want to clutter up your feed. So for your pleasure today, here is a color pencil piece from 26 years ago. Look at the water! And goodness, how hard I worked on those dark and forbidding cliffs. But I think my favorite thing is her hair, caught up in the jeweled caul.
I hope this one brings some beauty to the start of your week!
You can see it here on the gallery: https://mcahogarth.org/gallery/image/56-2000-055-NorthPoint
Today's short returns to the Le'enle for a comical urban fantasy published originally in Raconteur Press's Brim to the Dregs anthology. This was a potion-and-brew-themed call, and that made it a perfect fit for the Le'enle who have a special relationship with...
Well, just read on. XD
Returning to the freebies, here's the fantasy short I wrote for Raconteur Press's Goblin Market anthology. One of the things I love most about the Le'enle is that they're a meta-genre species: because they are immortal superbeings who choose to live among mortals, they are as at home in a scifi dystopia as they are in an urban fantasy as they are in a fairy tale. For this story, I chose to return to their medieval-fantasy-esque roots to tell a gentle story about magical inventory.
Okay, it's not about magical inventory. But I did have a lot of fun designing Prissa's potions, and I hope you enjoy reading about them.🧡
This one was originally published in Raconteur Press's anthology All Will Burn 3, the theme of which was "parents will do anything for their children." Most people went super-serious with that theme. I decided to go slapstick, and set this one in the Peltedverse. It's about the Guardkin, and eventually it will go in the Forecourt collection I'm planning. But for my locals supporters, here's your dose of fun for Friday!
