Themes and Judgments

Sometimes as I write, I get so focused on scenes and characters, etc., that I don't even recognize that a theme is developing until I reread the manuscript ( unless it's so obvious it bops me on the nose! ) For instance, during the recent editing process for True Son of Tartarus, it dawned on me that the inflexibility of Tartarian Law is comparable to the inflexibility of ISS regulations! ( which Malkis used to enforce to the letter while he was Executive Officer of Astrella! )

So I added a line wherein Malkis accuses Fleet Admiral Gutierrez of hypocrisy! He, like most Terrans, takes a very dim view of everything about the planet Tartarus!

Sometimes a major theme is identifiable right from the start of a manuscript. I'm finding this to be true while I'm working on the prequel, Malkis of Tartarus: the theme here---ALONE!

Early on, the marketing-analysis folks at Wheatmark ( my publisher ) advised me to change the title of Book One: Judgment on Tartarus---to use words like star or space in my title. Hmmm! Let's see: Dust-up in Space? Seeing Stars? Starring Outerspace? Lost in ---oh, wait! That's one's already been taken, as have most of the good titles using similar words! And none of them begin to tell a dang thing about my story!
I detest titles that mislead you or that don't even give you a hint of what a book's really about!

So I couldn't change the title of Judgment, I truly couldn't. One of its major themes is---surprise, surprise!---judgment! Having to make judgments, making errors in those judgments, judging other beings ( prejudice ), being judged guilty of a crime, and, yes, even facing the Final Judgment! So how the dickens could I in all honesty CHANGE the title? That just didn't make sense. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and stick up for what you know to be true, no matter what others may think, say, or do.

So stick to your guns, people! Like Davy Crockett said so many years ago: "Be sure you're right, and then go ahead!"

Amen to that!

MRTighe