I’m well into the process now of reimagining and reconstructing the book: shifting structure, adding action, peppering in pretty prose (I like alliteration), and there is still so much to do before my soft deadline of getting it ready to submit to an agent by the end of the year.

Through my scholarship at Goldsboro Writing Academy, I get the chance to have a ‘practise run’ at the agent querying process. They will read my submission package and manuscript, and then give me feedback to take forward to next year, when I hope to begin querying in earnest.

Part of what I’m working on at the moment is coming up with a new title. My book has always been called ‘The Button Tree’, and that’s where I started from. That was the image I had in my mind, before I had anything resembling characters or plot. Throughout the course, the idea of its sounding too ‘middle-grade’ for my age category of YA (young adult) consistently came up, and I have been trying ever since to think of something new that would sound more grown-up, while conveying the central themes of my book: loss, sisterhood and identity.

I turned to fantasy books whose titles I enjoyed, and it was the one-word composite titles that really jumped out at me: ‘Bitterblue’ by Kristin Cashore and ‘Silvercloak’ by L.K. Steven. There is something so magical to me about two familiar words being combined to make an intriguing new one. In the case of ‘Bitterblue’, the reader doesn’t really know what it might mean, but their attention is caught by it. It conjures up such vivid and unusual imagery, the idea of bitterness being combined with blue, usually a serene colour.

I am looking again at the mythology contained within my world, particularly as it pertains to twins: my main characters are twin sisters, and the book has now shifted to a dual narrative. I need a word suggestive of both of them, possibly linking back to the importance of the elements and the sun, moon and stars within my world. It also needs to feel like me (ideally), though if I’m lucky enough to be traditionally published, I’m unlikely to get the final say on the title.

For the moment, I want something strong to take forward as I continue working. Here’s hoping the answer will come to me as I knit it all together.