awson took a bullet on D-Day, which is too close to the heart to be removed and will eventually kill him. And so he fights on, wanting to take as many of the enemy with him before he himself falls.I wanted to use that premise for a western and after a chat with Dr Keith Souter AKA western writer Clay More and finding out that not only was the premise possible but it had indeed happened and was documented medically, I decided to go with it.
Now the main character in the book, Delta Rose was a drifter and a gambler and so I hooked on the title Dead Man's Hand. There is still a final revision to do on the book and the lovely people at Robert Hale LTD like the book very much. However they won't be able to use the title as it's been used before.
In the editor's own words - "The book is eminently suitable for us but I would evolve the title as it has been used in the past."
Damn and drat.
So while I complete the revisions on the book, I thought I'd throw the problem of the title out to Archive readers. Please leave your title suggestions in the comments of the blog and if I use any of them, the reader who dreamed up the title will be credited in the acknowledgements for the eventual book.
17 comments:
How's about:
NOTHING TO LOSE
GO DOWN FIGHTING
THE HEART OF TEXAS (or wherever)
VIVA DEATH!
ALWAYS AN INCH FROM DEATH
SHADOW OF DEATH
Inspiration strikes again!
THE BULLET WITH MY NAME
MY NAME ON THE BULLET
ONE FROM THE HEART
ONE WRONG MOVE ...
ANYONE HERE GOT A SPARE SCALPEL
CAN I HAVE A SECOND OPINION PLEASE?
No, I'm only being silly now.
Guns'n'Roses. No wait, that's been used.
I'll think of something.
How about DEAD MAN RIDING
Bullet For A Rose
Knocking At Death's Door
Death Sentence For Delta Rose
Keith - that same title occurred to me about thirty minutes ago. Also:
BORN TO DIE
ONE WAY OUT
NO WAY BACK
MAN WITHOUT A FUTURE
DEATH-BRAND
BRAND OF DEATH
HEART-STOPPER
I like that - CAN I HAVE A SECOND OPINION - pity couldn't use that.
Knocking on Death's door is also very good.
A lot of good suggestions here!
Of course there's nothing stopping you using DEAD MAN'S HAND AT DRY GULCH (or wherever it is); I did similar with Blind Justice (been used) so it became Blind Justice at Wedlock.
Other suggestions:
DEATH ROSE FROM THE CARDS
DEATH'S A GAMBLE
PLAY YOUR CARDS WRONG
FIRST CHANCE SALOON
BORROWED TIME FROM DEATH
DEAD MAN RIDING is the title of my BHW August release, so might avoid that, lol.
Maybe:
The Devil You Know
Six Degrees from Death
Heart of Lead
#1 with a Bullet (Kidding!)
Death in the Cards
Death by Degree
How about I'M READY FOR A BIER
Hand of Death
Ace of Death
Drifter's Revenge
Death of a Drifter
Death Deals The/An Ace (or 'a spade' if you get the humour of that...)
Aces And Eights (as in Dead Man's Hand - Wild Bill Hickock)
I'm shutting up now!
Aces And Eights - titles for both a film and a book.
Could use 'A Time To Live' but I used that one.
ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
RIDE ON
SINS OF THE PAST
Heart of a Hero (or Lawman, or Cowboy, or Killer, or Whatever)
A Heartbeat from Death
Death Sends a Bullet
Death Can Wait
The Heart of Delta Rose
Postponed Death
Cowboy's (or Whatever) Bullet
Revenge (or whatever the plot calls for) for a Bullet
{and since my wv is Chess) The Bullet Game
I'm sure you've already considered this but I think for a mainstream western you need to avoid anything with heart or rose in the title as it makes it sound like a romance...
Post a Comment