At last I settled on a title for book number two. I gave this new title a lot of thought, avoiding commitment at all costs. However since I thought the existence of a second book in progress was worth mentioning in the query letter, I had to decide.

Here’s the original working title of book number two: 23 Seconds. Why? Two reasons – I like the number 23 and I was going for a sense of urgency, like a clock running down. Editor person saw through my ruse from the start and told me so with the grace of a diplomat.

Editor person: I hate the new title. Hate it.
sam: But it ties into the plot.
Editor person: Picture the review – Sam Hilliard – 23 Seconds – about how long you want to read this book. 23 Seconds – how long his career will last.
sam: It seemed like a good idea before.
Editor person: You get good ideas sometimes. This is not one of them.

So, in the sense of conveying the idea of momentum and progress, I settled on….

You didn’t think I was going to make it that easy, did you? Check back next Wednesday and the secret will be revealed.

UPDATE 3/7/2004: Editor person objected at the use of the word ain’t that I attributed to them in a previous version of this blog. Apologies to Editor person. This has been removed.