I am not much good at naming things.

Oh, I get occasional flashes of brilliance, usually when I can be funny…but when it comes to something where I can’t use a silly pun like “Grave New World” or “R2-D-Don’t,” I wind up having trouble.

I have a new series I’m working on. If all goes well (i.e. if my writing and/or my life does not implode), book one will be out in June, followed by a new release each month. Each book will be 22,000-25,000 words, give or take a little — it’s essentially a series of novellas. You may have noticed the influx of serial novels in the indie crowd — “Season One” of this, “Season Two” of that. Basically I’m trying that. Frankly, this is what I originally wanted to do with the GNW universe, but at that time I didn’t know what to call it and I wasn’t sure what to do with it, so I just released the two books in its ‘verse as a novella and a novel.

I think the key here is to get the bulk of the writing done before publishing. And I’m almost there; about 78,000/100,000 words. The story is there. I need to do some rearranging and cleaning, but getting this thing out on time should not be a problem.

It just needs a name.

It’s got a lot of stuff in it — basically I’ve loaded it up with everything I enjoy in books. We’ve got a sci-fi/fantasy post-apocalyptic world (but with some “sweet spots” where things are Just Like Home), aliens, zombie-like creatures, starfighters, action, adventure, a little humor, a battleship, genetic engineering, menacing enemies, warring city-states, California, and all kinds of other stuff. I’m having a lot of fun writing it. The great hope is that folks will have a lot of fun reading it.

You can see why I’m having trouble naming it.

I have some basic ideas scratched out and I’m adding to them. I have badgered my family relentlessly in my efforts to get second opinions. I’m getting there, slowly but surely. Once I’ve got the title down (not to mention titles for the novellas themselves) I’ll get the cover art done and make a nice little announcement here.

But until then I’ll be here chewing my nails.

I’m also about to start work on what I think might be the first proper zombie book I’ve written in awhile, so stay tuned!