What's in a Title?

I recently sent my proposed book title to my writer's group, and asked them to chime in with any thoughts or mental images the title inferred to them.

I purposely did not provide them any visual images (that is, the proposed cover of the book).

Responses were pretty much across the 'romance' related spectrum, from historical to erotic to inspirational. (Of course, they may also have been influenced by the fact that they know me and in some cases, have read my work.)

What was NOT mentioned was any sort of military theme. So what should I glean from that?

Everyone knows a book's cover is VERY important. It may have more of an impact on compelling a reader to buy the book than the title. So my cover art really needs to impart that 'side' of the story - that the main character is a military officer. (And if possible, to communicate the multiple meanings behind the word 'surrender' in the title.)

To that end, I took a fresh look at the proposed cover (done back in January) and am pleased with what I see. It does not have as much color as I tend to prefer, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. It says what I need it to say.

One Small Interview for (Wo)man ... One Giant Step Forward for Book

I just had a really enjoyable - and hugely productive - meeting with what I call a "SME" (Subject Matter Expert). This SME is an ex Air Force physician, and when I first met him back in July, I had put this novel (the one I'm working on now) on the backburner - even though the plot line was more than half done.

Much of that had to do with time constraints. But also, I think, I was stagnating in certain aspects of the plot. I don't feel my fiction needs to be 100% percent literal and accurate - it IS fiction, after all, and needs some room to breathe - but I do like believable settings, and understanding the settings enough to use them for character development (like flying with medevac before I wrote "Last Chance Rescue").

Meeting this particular SME really jump-started the novel. It was like a message from above: 'YES, I want you to write this story now, and I'm sending you the tools to do it.' I know it will be a better story because of this person's experience, insight - and willingness to share those with me. So thanks, SME (you'll know who you are)!