Next on the list is The Falconer’s Lure. Keith, my editor at SMP, really liked this suggestion of mine. So much so that he took it to the Fall meeting where they discussed the book coming out in a year’s time. The trouble was this: while it looked great on the page, it was difficult to speak aloud. And you don’t want a book that is unpronouncable. If customers can’t say it, they can’t ask for it. So, just a month ago, that title was dropped.
(Side note – there’s a new young adult novel out called THE FALCONER’S KNOT, which sidesteps the speech problem nicely. Wish I’d thought of it, but it’s taken. Not that there can’t be two books with the same title, but within a year of each other? That’s bad)
That brings us to the final two. The Falconer’s Voice is based on a line from R&J, where Juliet is basically saying "psst" to Romeo at the end of the balcony scene, trying to get his attention. She says, "O, for a falconer’s voice to lure this tassle-gentle back again." Being a quote from the show that inspired the series, and touching on falconry, which is so prevelant in the novel, it seemed perfect.
My agent, Michael Denneny, proposed an alternate phrasing: The Voice of the Falconer. "Sounds grander," he opined.
After a month of letting it stew, Keith came back with the opinion that Voice of the Falconer was better. Which is perfectly fine by me. Still echoes Juliet’s line, without slavish devotion. Kinda like the books themselves.
So there you have it – Mercutio, Book 2 – VOICE OF THE FALCONER.
Tomorrow – the titles for books 3 & 4.
