When I first started writing The Luke Bright Series, the titles of the books were very different to what I have now. And, I was also quite precious about them. The title of the book it’s like the name of a child, and it’s how you identify them. How can you change it’s name once the book is already written? Isn’t that a bit backwards? Yes, it is, but sometimes, you have to write the book first before you can title it. In this week’s blog, I’m discussing how I chose my titles, and with less than two weeks to go until publication, I want to shed some light on why I chose this particular title for An Undercover Dream.

So, let’s start with book 1: Atlantic Split. Originally, it had a very different title: Guilty Until Proven Innocent. I loved that title and I still call the book by it’s old name sometimes when I refer to it. However, I found out, when I went on amazon to search whether it had been used before, that around 10,000 other people loved that title too. One of the most important things for a self-published author is to make your book stand out and I knew that if I kept that title, I wouldn’t be able to stand out against the competition at all. So, I knew the title had to change. At that point in time, the actual war was called the Atlantic Division (again, already been used before) so I knew I had to change that term. So, I went on the thesaurus, and Atlantic Split was born. Now I look back on it, it’s the perfect title and it’s a very stark title that pulls you in with intrigue. As opposed to Guilty Until Proven Innocent, which is very much about Luke, Atlantic Split is very much about the circumstances the book is set in, which are very unique – and no one else has that title on Amazon!

Once I changed the title of book 1, I knew I had to do the same with the rest, especially with book 2 which at that point was called A Second Chance. Again, a very generic title and I knew it had been done plenty of times before even before I searched it. So, I knew I had to choose a better title. As the book is set in New York, I wanted the theme of ‘Liberty’ to play a part in the title and so At Liberty To Live was born. It’s about how Luke is finally free to start over and actually live his life – not just as Danny Springer, but away from the influences of his parents.

So, when it came to book 3: I had a much harder task and honestly, I really struggled to name the book. The old title, I can’t reveal as it has too many spoilers in it, but it was again about the setting where the book takes place. It was the hardest book I’ve had to title and I just couldn’t find the right way of naming it, even though I knew the sentiment. I had to re-read the whole book, just to give me an inkling and I spent hours on the thesaurus trying to find the right words. However, like with At Liberty To Live – I knew there was one word that had to be part of the book, and that word was Dream. California is the state of dreams and that’s where the book is set, so I knew that word had to be part of it. The word dream also has further connotations in the book, which you’ll find out once you read it! I just needed the rest of the name and that actually came to me as soon as I finished the final page. And from there, I knew that An Undercover Dream was going to be the title.

So, finally, the title of book 4 – which is still actually inside a folder called book 4 on my laptop – is one I can’t reveal yet. It’s probably the one that changed the least and actually, there’s a clue to what it is in An Undercover Dream. See if you can find it!

I can’t wait to reveal it to you, but all in good time. But I’m sure, if you’ve noticed the pattern I follow, you’ll be able to guess the first letter!

Atlantic Split and At Liberty To Live, the first and second books in The Luke Bright Series are available to purchase NOW! An Undercover Dream – the third book in the series will be released on MONDAY 26th AUGUST 2019! 

Please follow me on my blog and social media links below, and use the links on my website to purchase a copy of each if you have not done so. Don’t forget to leave a review! Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog post.

N.A.K.