Originally posted on The Writers Vineyard

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

What’s in a name? Good question Shakespeare, thanks for the segue.

When I wrote The Gender Divide, the title came to me very early on in the process. Thanks to the input of the main characters, the book didn’t turn out exactly as I had originally envisioned but there was never any wavering on the title. It has also gone through two publishers and various test readers along the way and never once did anyone suggest changing the name.

I’ve also written a few other novels that I have to go back and edit before submitting for possible publication and I’ve always been able to come up with a title. I even have a sequel to The Gender Divide* planned with a couple of possible titles already and I haven’t written a word.

However I have a novel that I am almost 40K words into and I still don’t have a title. I don’t even have anything that I don’t like or am so-so about. I have nothing, nada, zip, zero, zilch. Hopefully something will come to me in time but until then I am just going to keep working on ‘Novel template (saved).docx’.

Here’s a little snippet for you in the meantime - if you think of a title, be sure to let me know.

“Open the damn door or so help me God I’ll kill you.”

“I could question just how much you mean that, but instead I’ll focus on the impossibility of that statement.” With that Vaughn stood up and walked through the station commander’s desk.

Stephanie cursed. A bloody hologram. No wonder he was so trusting.

“Before you overreact Princess, I wasn’t lying to you earlier. I really am just around the corner. However it didn’t take a genius to plot this one out. Once Carman calms down, I’ll be more than happy to join you in person.”

Carman continued to glare at both of them for a moment longer and then she sighed heavily.

“Shit, I hate this. I know you’re right Stephanie, and I trust you implicitly. It just hurts that you didn’t trust me in return.”

Stephanie resisted the urge to apologize. “I wanted to but I couldn’t risk it. This is too big.”

“I know, but what I said earlier still holds true. You need to let your father know where you are and what’s happening.”

“I can’t. Then he’ll know where I am and he’ll force me to come home.

Vaughn coughed theatrically. “I have a possible solution for that. I have a small program I’ve written that we can upload to the central communication hub. It will access all major planetary comm systems, each of which will send him a message. By this time tomorrow your father will receive a message from every major system telling him that you are all right and not to worry. If you include the necessary markers and code signals it should provide some reassurance for him without revealing your location.”

“You mean a virus.” Stephanie fought hard to keep the distaste out of her voice.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Princess. It’s benign, as these things go. The ‘virus’ will even bill you for the comm charges. It’s a one-shot deal and will erase itself once it’s done, so no one will know where it came from.”

So much for keeping the distaste out her voice, she thought wryly. Then again Vaughn had always been able to read her better than anyone else, even Carman.

Vaughn glanced around. “There, everyone happy?”

Stephanie looked over at Carman, who nodded grudgingly.

“Good,” he replied. He flickered briefly and then disappeared. Seconds later the door opened and he strolled through. He walked over to Stephanie and pinched her on the butt.

“Ouch,” she exclaimed, slapping his hand away. “What was that for?”

“Just so you know I’m real this time around,” he replied breezily and Stephanie scowled at him. She looked over at Carman, who was struggling to keep a grin off her face.

“You’re not helping matters,” she said grumpily but Carman only shrugged.

“No point fighting the wind,” she replied philosophically.

“Good, now that that’s settled let’s get down to business. Why are you here, and what did you need me for that you went to such lengths to track me down?”

“War,” she replied simply.