Something about my Journey
I recently found my notebooks containing the first draft of Again and Again Back To You. Since these go back to 2005, I thought I must have thrown them away. My husband is a purger, but I grew up in a household with a hoarding mentality so I tend to lean more toward that end of the spectrum. Needless to say, I was thrilled that my original notebooks weren’t purged with other flotsam and jetsom of life but instead, I had squirreled them away and never found my hiding spot until last week (bottom of my desk drawer).
I looked up some of the significant events of that year to help me remember when I started this journey. Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans that year and I distinctly remember that event because of my job in the insurance industry. Also, the first book in Stephanie Meyers' vampire romance series came out in 2005. I didn’t read it back then. I think it was at least five years later that Jen, our babysitter, convinced me to give it a try. All of that is captured in a prior newsletter.
All Things Twilight Newsletter
YouTube also launched in 2005, but I was not at the cutting edge of things back then as I was handwriting my story. The first video shown was “Me at the Zoo”. Check out the link.
Here are a few pictures from the notebook. I wrote the first page while using an elliptical trainer. I would write during my 30-minute workouts when the kids were young. The second sample page was written on a flat surface and is easier to read. I included some pics of our kittens (one-year-old this month) as they were in the mix of things as I tried to take the shots.
Once I finished my first handwritten draft, I had two notebooks filled with 140 pages with notes and some outlines of chapters and storyline. I then used Dragon Speak to start transferring the handwritten mess over to a Word document. That process was challenging, especially considering the limitations of the technology in 2008. It actually compounded the pre-existing errors. Never mind, that my kids were annoyed by my incessant talking. You can’t help but talk louder when you want it to understand you better, so there was a lot of loud droning.
It was during these years that my book title was Channels. At the time, I didn’t realize it was a working title. Below is the back-and-forth on the retitling exercise my publisher and I went through. After 20 years of cherishing Channels, I gradually accepted the new title and now love it.
The first titles suggested by Brooke, my publisher:
Alternate Channels
Parallel Channels
Through Time and Space
Soul’s Recognition (or Souls’ Recognition)
Meet Me in Our Channel
Love Through the Multiverse
Channeling In
My responses to her suggestions:
Meet Me in Our Channel
Channeling Through Time and Space
Plus new options that came from friends and family:
Channels To the Roads Not Taken
The Channels We Take (or Make)
Life Understood Backwards(Or Love Understood Backwards) – this is a Kierkegard type phrase that I would build into Cholan’s backstory and introduction at the convention.
Channeling to You
Our Channel
Brooke’s Favorite:
Meet Me in Our Channel
Channeling to You
Andrea’s favorite:
Channeling Back To You
Brooke’s New Suggestions:
Again and Again Back to You
Premonitions of You
Pulling Towards You
Always Turning Towards You
Andrea’s Top Pick from the List:
Again and Again Back To You
Andrea’s New Suggestions (gathered from more friends and family):
Remembering the Year I Can’t Forget
The Year We Can’t Forget
The Summer We Never Forgot
Never Forget Your Dreams
Brooke’s updated final three options:
A Way Back to You
Again and Again Back to You
Finding You Again and Again.
Brooke’s final thoughts:
Again and Again Back to You
Brooke’s explanation: It evokes something otherworldly to me like it suggests Channeling without having to say it. That you’re destined to be together. It’s my strong favorite.
You know the rest of the story.
Which one would have been your favorite? Share in the comments.
I like, Meet Me In Our Channel or A Way Back To You. Sure am glad you rejected Always Turning Toward You. Kind of reminds of a cow disease or something.
What an involved process to select a title. I think you chose well. Great title and great cover picture. O and great book.
Thanks for your comments. I tried to reply, but either the system won’t let me or I’m too much of a doofus to figure out how. Also, this week I got my first subscriber specifically attributable to the Magpie’s Quill recommendation, so thanks for that.