Friday, March 30, 2012

FATAL ERROR

The naming of a book

It's not easy to name a book and it took me a long time to find the perfect title for the second novel in my BackTracker Series.

For the first book, it was a natural and easy choice to use the compelling, unique name of the motorcycle gang, THE TRAZ. I had to look deeper to find a title that summed up the essence of Book II.


Because THE TRAZ was written as a prequel (a designation I dropped upon advice of my marketing coach), my draft manuscript of what would become the second book in the series carried the working title BackTracker I.  When THE TRAZ became Book I, it left BackTracker I bereft of a title.

Eventually, though, I brainstormed a great title: FATAL ERROR.

"Fatal Error" is the message that appears on your monitor when something absolutely terrible has happened to your computer. It is also known as "the blue screen of death". It means you've lost the use of your computer and also,very likely, lost lots of data.


"Blue Screen of Death"

FATAL ERROR is the title I chose for the second book in my BackTracker Series--due out later this year from Imajin Books.




It is in FATAL ERROR that we start to understand where Katrina's obsession with computers will lead her. We are with her when she develops her powerful software, BackTracker, from which the series gets its name.  In this book, we also start to realize that BackTracker symbolizes how the past and future intertwine in Katrina's life--how we can understand her present decisions and emotions only by tracking back through events in her past. We also glimpse how her life today will feed tomorrow's reality.

We learn how Katrina's fledgling BackTracker software causes a Fatal Error, compromising her chances to pursue a dream career in computer technology.

The title FATAL ERROR also symbolizes Katrina's errors in judgement while she was with The Traz, errors that led to a gang murder.

In Book II, she must deal with the legal, emotional, and financial consequences of her time with THE TRAZ--she must recover from more than one FATAL ERROR.

 
Eileen Schuh, Author
Schrödinger's Cat
THE TRAZ
Web site: http://www.eileenschuh.com
Blog: http://eileenschuh.blogspot.com