It’s finally here—The Relic Spell, the first novel in The Phyrian War Chronicles, is out today! If you haven’t pre-ordered it, you can find all the links to get it here. Don’t forget to rate and review it!

To celebrate the release, I thought I’d share a bit of an inside look into my writing process. Specifically, how I came up with the title of the book. It was a long and painful process, and I’m glad to be on the other side of it!

Working Title

My first title for TRS was simply Relic. All through writing the first draft, that’s what the book was called. I thought about giving each book in the series punchy, single-word titles.

As I did more research into book titles, though, I realized that single-word titles tend not to give the reader enough information. There are exceptions to the rule, but I decided Relic wasn’t one of them. It simply didn’t say enough, didn’t convey the mood or the genre or anything I wanted it to. So I started brainstorming other titles.

Two-Word Titles

Inspired by The Dresden Files series, most of which have two-word titles, I decided to try it out for myself. I knew the city of Port Monica, where the novel was set, was one of the most important aspects of the story, so I tried to center the title around it. I also wanted to convey the fantastical elements of the story.

I came up with the title Magic Town. Everyone, without exception, hated it: my beta readers, my workshop partners in my creative writing class, even my boyfriend. Looking back, it’s a pretty bad title, but I’m still irrationally attached to it for some reason.

It was tough for me to go back to the drawing board again. I felt discouraged by everyone’s vehement hatred of my previous attempt and obstinate about the whole thing.

Brainstorming

Here, the real brainstorming began. Following book title advice that had helped me before, I listed the keywords and key terms of the book:

• Ephemerid / Ephemerides

• Admiral

• Demon / Demons

• Orion / Orion Tamura

• Grimoire

• Sorcerer

• Phyria / Phyrian War

• Port Monica

• Circle

• Sacrifice

• Greenview Park

• Father / son

• Spell

• Confluence

• Veil

• Void

• Energy

• Fog

None of these terms gave me any straightforward title ideas, so I tried throwing out titles.

Titlepalooza

One of my first ideas was Shadow of Halo. My critique partner, who had read the book several times, was confused by the title, so I knew it was a no-go, though I liked the sound.

Demons of Greenview Park seemed promising, but it had a bit too much of a lighthearted feel to it—kind of an echo of Wizards of Waverley Place. I tried adding the main character Orion’s name to it: Orion Tamura and the Demons of Greenview Park. Orion and the Demons of Greenview Park. That only made it sound lighter and younger, not at all what I was going for. The book is aimed at older young adults, and the title didn’t fit.

I tried out various iterations of titles containing the word “grimoire,” which is the spell book Orion and other sorcerers use in the series. Orion Tamura’s Grimoire. Grimoire of Orion Tamura. Grimoire of Orion. Orion’s Grimoire. Grimoire of Tamura. Tamura’s Grimoire. But as one of my critique partners pointed out, my book wasn’t a grimoire itself, and Orion’s spell book really didn’t play a large enough part in the story to merit being in the title, anyway.

I went for titles involving “relics.” Relics of the Phyrian War and War Relics both got tossed out, and my critique partner said I was getting closer to the meat of the story. Neither one felt right, though. Relics of the Phyrian War felt like epic fantasy rather than contemporary fantasy, and War Relics didn’t feel like fantasy at all.

Thinking about the father/son relationship central to Orion’s character, I tried incorporating it into the title. However, my critique partner pointed out that The Last Sorcerer and The Sorcerer’s Son would probably not stand out from the crowd of books with similar titles.

I posed a question on Twitter at one point, asking what the title The Relic Ward conjured up for people. I intended the word “ward” to refer to protective magic, but everyone I asked, on and offline, thought it referred to a hospital. That wouldn’t work.

Finally, I settled on The Relic Spell. It was simple and catchy. It took me a while to warm up to it, though my critique partners encouraged me to use it. After deciding on the title for the first book, the series title came easily: The Phyrian War Chronicles included all the important information I had left out of the first book title and encompassed the theme of the entire series.

The Rest of the Series?

Now that I’ve established a pattern for the titles of books in The Phyrian War Chronicles, the rest of the books should prove a little simpler to name. I actually already have a name for the second book—I settled on it before I even settled on The Relic Spell—but I’m going to hold onto it for a bit. The Relic Spell needs its time in the limelight.

The Relic Spell

This book has taken up so much of my life for the last five-plus years, and I’m so, so ready for it to be out in the world and out of my hands. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

If the people of Port Monica are terrified to face their past, how can Orion protect their future?

Magic rolls through Orion Tamura’s history classroom like a tidal wave of golden light that only he can see. The spell is deadly, and Orion has no idea who cast it or what they want.

Answers are scarce—all of Port Monica’s sorcerers vanished fourteen years before, including Orion’s father. Armed with his limited knowledge of magic, Orion is the only one left in the city who is strong enough to investigate the origins of the spell.

But the city’s leaders will stop at nothing to censor and sabotage anyone who gets close to the truth. Invisible otherworlders watch every move Orion and his friends make, and a mysterious sorcerer who knows the answers haunts Orion’s dreams.

Find out more!