I don’t buy books because of their title, however there are books I don’t give a second glance to for expressly that same reason.

Ditto.

Actually LJ that does make sense (Quick another drink- he’s beginning to get lucid).

The Title/Cover makes you pick up the book and read the blurb on the back. The blurb is what sells the book of an author you don’t know.

Assuming it will get put in the ‘detective’ section people should know roughly what to expect- i.e. not a tract. They may pick it up assuming it will have a beckground/setting within the Christian Church, but I doubt they will expect Christian writing.

We’d been tracking the guy for days, but the only crime we’d come across was handing out fish and bread.  Now we’d followed him to a seedy back street restaurant just off 5th and Gethsemanie, where he and his henchmen were having dinner.

I found myself a corner booth, where I sat nursing a unleaven bread and bowl of olives.  I could hear but not see them.

It appeared to be getting heated. From above the hub-bub I heard a voice cry our “Not I Lord I would never betray you!” The paperwork called him Tango-2, his mother called him Peter, every one on my shift just called him the whiney guy.

“One of you will betray me this very day” That was numero uno. Shit, I thought, did he know we had turned one of his guys?

the whiney guy

Thanks, mate.
I just had my LOL exercise for the day. 

LH, that’s a brilliant little piece. Is that yours or a quote from some other source?

That, my freinds, is a Last Hussar original. Came to half way through typing the post.  Just something I can do- parodies and skits. Soon as I hit return the following popped into my head.  Its from about 17 pages later.

Some Pharasee from Judea had been charioted in to give the briefing.  It was nothing new, talkwise, he was just here to impress us on how seriously Command was taking the Preacher.  As I walked in he was already uttering the same nonsense the in-house scrolls gave us.
“...and defensive forces freindly to the civil power will be on hand to assist”.
I heard Levi snort a derisive laugh. The Romans didn’t like being called ‘Occupiers’, so we kept up the pretense that they did our dirty work, not the other way round.

OK that was just frakkin’ hilarious!    It never occurred to me to wonder; what if the New Testament was written by Mickey Spillaine?

It’s from about 17 pages later.

Are you saying 17 pages later in your head or are you saying you’ve written the book and that was from 17 pages later.
If it’s A: Please write the book.
If it’s B: Please send it to me for a read.

I recall a similar ‘Mickey Spillaine’ parody done for radio in the 50s or early 60s about Julius Caesar, aka Big Julie.
‘Mickey’ is interviewing Calpurnia and she’s crying: I told him not to go. I told Big Julie not to go.

“Cross to bear” is a reference to Jesus bearing (having to carry) his own cross. However, like most phrases, it is usually not used in a religious context. On the other hand, if I saw that in a bookstore, and didn’t read this post, and saw your name as the author, I would guess that your book was (anti) religious.

On the other hand, Christians are even less likely than non-Christian sheep to return something that didn’t meet their expectations.

-Bob

Bob: “Cross to bear” is a reference to Jesus bearing (having to carry) his own cross.

Thank you for that pearl of wisdom, Bob. I never would have guessed what that phrase meant without your spectacular definition. Your knowledge of scripture is inspiring.

Jeez.

On the other hand, if I saw that in a bookstore, and didn’t read this post, and saw your name as the author, I would guess that your book was (anti) religious.

I would normally just be happy that you’d recognize my name on the book but I suspect that you believe that Les wrote the original post in this thread....

LH you could really publish that!  If nothing else you should create a post here on SEB with all of your quotes in your signatures.  That way those of us that RSS can still see your ingenious creations.

Looks like the comments are leaning towards the “The title’s fine” category.  Let me add weight to that.  Worrying about what people will think from the title is not very productive when the book will carry a short description everywhere it goes.  If it helps, look at it this way.  It is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the literal meaning of the phrase “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” People need to be reminded of that so much these days.

Oh and if that fails to convince, I’m afraid the only totally acceptable logical/PC title would be: “Burdens of a totally Athiestic Nature” Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it.  Besides, your title will help sell the book.  It’s not like it’s going to bite anyone who picks it up under a false assumption. Then again.... you haven’t enlisted the help of any mad scientists… have you?

It’s not that your wife is wrong.  It’s just that it doesn’t matter.  The only question you need to ask is “Will the title make sense AFTER one finishes the book?” Personally, I like reading books who’s title is sort of an ‘in-joke’ that one only really gets after reading It get’s one thinking before one opens the book.  Yours doesn’t exactly qualify since it’s a common phrase, but it’s in that same vein.

Yeah, I know… a lot of words for a small question, but I’m one of them writer critters too, and I usually have 4c or more when everyone’s only putting in 2c… you may have noticed

God.. that last post was atrosh-- atrotio-- er.. bad…

Gotta remember… Coffee.. THEN post..

I’m terrible about judging a book by its cover. Titles don’t really influence me either way, but there’s plenty of Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels I’ve never read because the cover art just turned me off.

I know I’m not supposed to, but I do it anyway.

Titles do matter to me, but they can be abstract and still work.  What else would you call Grapes Of Wrath?  “On the migration of displaced agricultural homesteaders”?

Cross to bear is a culturally common metaphor with a religious origin.  If the story is about guilt and regret then how the protagonist handles it will have religious implications because religion is our society’s prescription for that ailment.  If the protagonist approaches the problem non-religiously, that is a conflict that will matter in the story.  Seems appropriate to use an ambiguous title.

But if you like, call it a “working title”.  Something better may come up, a real forehead-slapper.

You could just slash the original by saying “Something To Bear.” It’s marginally less pretentious as “Something To Bare” and doesn’t sound like a self-help book. Something also sort of sets the tone in a detective/mystery, because it arises a question - what thing? You get to evoke the imagery of “cross to bear” without explicitly directing the reader of the front blurb to any assumption that it has something to do with Christians or Christianity.

If I saw a book titled “A Cross to Bear” or “Crosses to Bear” in the detective section I wouldn’t automatically assume that it had much to do with the author’s Christian leanings, but I might come to the conclusion that the killers/good guys/setting might have something to do with religious overtones like a church money, monastery murders, nuns, pedophile priests, religious serial killers, etc. Something though, that automatically means that the author would be getting rid of the original context. It couldn’t be a cross, because if it were then the proper thing would be to say that.

Its interesting to watch the angle the USians come at this from- religeon is so prevalent that the assumption is that there will be religeon in any book with a religeon derived total. Interesting the same isn’t thought of Steinbeck, borrowing from Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Nobody over here would assume religeon.

Are you saying 17 pages later in your head or are you saying you’ve written the book and that was from 17 pages later.
If it’s A: Please writethe book.
If it’s B: Please send it to me for a read

In my head, well not even there- as I said about the first bit came to me as I wrote the preceeding para’s. Writeit - oh bugger! Gonna have to read the Gospels and some Ed McBain to get the rhthym of the genre!

what if the New Testament was written by Mickey Spillaine?

I was thinking about it as I drove between calls today- It’s more the point of view of someone who is observing one of THE defining moments of civilisation, but because you never know until afterwards, just thinking of this as another trouble maker. I was quite proud of this idea

“...and defensive forces freindly to the civil power will be on hand to assist”.
... The Romans didn’t like being called ‘Occupiers’, so we kept up the pretense that they did our dirty work, not the other way round.

Anyway- don’t want to steal KPG’s thunder- he wanted an opinion, and I’m usurping him. So to finish

What MM said.  Perhaps if you could work in the central characters rejection of religeon because of the ‘crosses’ that would throw a contrast to it.

The Onus Decipher

Unraveling Burdens

Resolution of Burdens

Get a thesaurus and play around.

With a title such as “Crosses To Bear”, I would assume that its plot was a religious one. That being said, this could be a positive marketing strategy. Nothing better than the next generation of book hungry, rabid, new-lifers who made the “Left Behind” series a success. I’m currently writing a book myself and I’m thinking of taking on a new title now that I think of it. Originially, it was going to be “The UAP Field Research Guide”, but maybe I can go with something like “Boobies Inside!”.

“Inside This Book Is A Crisp 100 Dollar Bill” and it’s sequel “Reading This Book Makes Your Penis Larger”. Great book titles.

Since a lot of you of commented that it would depend greatly on the cover, I’ve made a mock up for you to judge by. This isn’t the kind of cover I’d do, given free reign, but rather the kind of thing the publishers are likely to use, based on a study of current bookshelves in the mystery section. Also, it’s a quick mock up so obviously the fonts aren’t perfect or anything.

Now, the big problem is figuring out how to code this in here. Wish me luck....

Okay, that’s attractive enough to make me want to pick it, turn it over and see what it’s about.

The line “A Nick Kellerman Mystery” gives it away to even the most hardcore of True Believer.

That cover is awesome!

KPG- If I tread on your toes here please feel free to let me know.

The opinion seems to be 50% USians think religeous over tones, the rest not. Non USians- no religeous overtones, apart from being a obvious quote that is used in every day context (eg about bunions).

Given that all that can usefully be said has been said I claim the ancient right of Diverging the Thread (as agreed at Runnymead when the blog http://www.magnacarta.com was set up). 

I have started to writesaid ‘Gospel Noir’ (hey I just invented a genre, when was that last done?!)(this bit may get a bit ‘Eddie Izzard’- 2 glasses of Amaretto, just on the 3rd) and emailed bits to LJ.

Opening

You cultists, you always ask the same question. Was I there? If you mean when he died, then no, I wasn’t there.  But I saw the rest of it.

Ending

I’ve seen enough crucifixions, so no, I wasn’t there.  But I know what it would have looked like.  The nails go through the wrists, not the hands.  The bones in the hands just are not stong enough to keep a man up there.  The ones on the feet are driven in from the side of the heel, so the whole weight can rest on them.  And if you survive that long, if the shock doesn’t kill you, then you go so crazy that you shout out any old crap, like a mad man.

And now? I got my own farm, a wife and kids, and I see the rabbi once a week. What else does a man need. Hell, what more can he ask for?

The first section sets the narrator up as some sort of undercover policeman/collaborator, and possibly not the sort of person who is the ‘hero’.

Would this work? The way the first 500+ words have gone is more of a black comedy along the lines of Catch-22, rather than a Marlow pastiche, though the Dragnet parody is still bubbling under. I’m still using modern language to give that immediacy, even modern slang (’Tango-2’ SAS speak for Target #2). 

I have a scene in my head where the Narrator (provisionally called Joseph) is questioning someone (possibly Judas) He is being aided by another- for the purposes of this post Levi- who has already been described as bald with a beard.

Levi had him over the counter, holding his wrists and pulling them up his spine. I leant on the counter next to him, my forearms in the stale vinegary wine. “Listen Judas, we can do this the hard way, or the easy way. Now I’m a humanitarian, I’d prefer the easy way, and I’m quite sure you would too.  Trouble here, is that Levi likes the hard way, and he really hopes that you give him the excuse to use it”
“He’s a stupid evil bastard, arrrrg.” The last scream was because Levi had taken exception to the epithet, and applied an inch more of pressure.  I was impressed. Not every man with his wrists being forced towards his shoulder blades would have refused, let alone insulted his tormentors.
I pulled the small leather pouch from my belt and dropped in onto the counter inches from his nose.  It made a soft ‘chink’ as it landed.  Levi took this as the signal to lessen the pressure. There were times I would have agreed with Judas’ description of him, but he knew that a man in pain tended not to negotiate honestly. 
“How much?”
“Thirty”
“Gold?”
I laughed derisively. “Silver.  Now, are we talking?”

Shit bugger fuck. Sorry. Double dip. Well more of a Post Script. What I wanted to say is that the narrator doesn’t know that at the time he is witnessing one of the defining momets of modern civilisation.  As far as he is concerned, he is just arresting another trouble maker.