“And now / The end is near / In point of fact / It’s receding into the distance …” Yep, ye olde proofe-edite on the sequel to THE BIG O is done and dusted, and I can finally put away that hammer I was using to batter myself towards the desk of a morning recently. Seriously, there’s nothing like re-reading a punchline for the eleventh time to remind you of how unfunny it was the first time. Still, all things considered, I’m not entirely disgusted by the story. It was fun to write, and I got to take multiple road-trips across Europe with the crew from THE BIG O before fetching up in the Greek islands for some mayhem. Hey, if you can’t get to take your annual holiday in the Greek islands on account of you’ve a little girl to worry about these days, writing a story set there is the next best thing.
Of course, now the fun really starts. With the sequel out of the way, I can take a few months off and not worry about writing anything at all, other than the occasional review and blog post. Right? Erm, not quite …
What is it about this disease that has you spinning a whole new set of lies in your head barely hours after you’ve put the old lies to bed? It’s not that it won’t be fun, but when you know how long, arduous and painstaking the process will be if you’re to get it right – because it never winds up on the page the way you see it in your head – you’d need to be some kind of self-destructive masochist to want to leap back into that abyss, the better to hit rock-bottom and start crawling upwards towards the light again.
The temptation? That this time, oh yes, this time, you’ll finally get it right …
As Beckett once said, Fail, fail again, fail better.
Anyhoos, I have one question regarding the sequel to THE BIG O. I’d originally planned to call it THE BLUE ORANGE, as a nod to Wendy and Panos, the very friendly folk of The Orange Bar, who were incredibly hospitable when my brother and I spent a month on Ios a few years ago, and who brew the finest White Russian this side of Moscow. But during the process of writing the book, I thought it might be something of a jape to call the story CRIME ALWAYS PAYS. So now I’m a little torn, because I like both titles equally.
Folks? A little help?
10 comments:
Yeah, I think Crime Always Pays really works but I'd considered calling a future project Crime Scene NI. Now I'm going to look like I copied you... so go with The Blue Orange.
No, Crime Always Pays has my vote.
gb
Crime Always Pays fits the story better. It might also prevent the book from having that Photoshopped orange on the cover.
And I'll have to re-title my blog post about it...
By the way, do I comment on here too often? I have a lot of opinions, and they need an outlet.
Cheers, folks - much obliged. It appears that on the basis of a whopping two votes, CRIME ALWAYS PAYS it will be. Ms Witch? Feel free to vent, ma'am. It's all part of the service ... Cheers, Dec
Three votes, Dec. I much prefer Crime Always Pays.
So I can be the dissenting voice then. I prefer The Blue Orange just cuz it's a more off-the-wall title and maintains a consistency with the (Club) Orange reference of The Big O. So there!
I haven't read The Big O, so on the basis of the title alone I prefer The Blue Orange. Crime Always Pays is too generic. Blue Orange jumped off the page at me. I had to go back to read the other one. Jordan
Hmmm, the thick plottens. So that's three for CAP, and two for TBO. Let's hope it doesn't come down to a hanging chad ... Cheers, Dec
I agree that The Blue Orange sounds much more interesting, and it does match The Big O quite well. I was surprised you had changed it to CAP when I read it, but it does fit, once you have. But I'll put a vote in for TBO as well.
TBO, I think. Like the Big Sleep, or The Big Blow Down. I rather like it. But in the end of the day it's got to be what you feel in your water, right?
Either way, congratulations. Can't wait to read it.
Arlene XX
Cheers, folks. As Marsha Swan pointed out, THE BLUE ORANGE and THE BIG O share the same initials. Mind you, she thought I'd done that deliberately. I wish I was that smart. Cheers, Dec
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