Does eternity have a taste, let alone multiple ones? Is infinity the same thing as forever? Are everlasting and eternal synonyms? These are the questions that wake me up at five in the morning — trust me, it’s not my alarm clock. I prefer to not even know that there is such a thing as two five o’clocks.
Also, why can’t my romance stories come with normal titles? Ginger Solomon and Liwen Y. Ho both have written books called Love’s Choice (That’s Ginger’s — Liwen’s is coming). It’s a great title. It doesn’t allude to anything deep and mystical. Romances should be about two people making a choice to love each other. Slam dunk. Lee Tobin McClain wrote Joy of My Heart. Yes! Superbly romantic title. Marrying Mandy (or Raven… or Chrissy) — great title from Melanie D. Snitker. You know what you’re getting. Scan through the list on our BOOKS tab and you’ll find lots of really terrific titles.
And then you get Flavors of Forever, a title that seemed somewhat genius when I began planning out the Urban Farm Fresh Romance series two or three years ago. It follows the pattern: Promise of Peppermint, Secrets of Sunbeams, Butterflies on Breezes, Memories of Mist, Wishes on Wildflowers. It’s sort of whimsical, it’s alliterative, and bonus points!!! It uses a different letter of the alphabet. That was enough??? Someone clearly didn’t get enough sleep.
Oh, right. Five o’clock. Lack of sleep is A Thing.
So for the past several months, I’ve wrestled with the meaning of this innocuous (but whimsical) phrase as I (equally) wrestled with a difficult first draft, because my titles have to mean something. They aren’t words that can sit on the top of the story like a layer of cardboard. No, their essence must be stirred in, an inseparable ingredient in the story itself. Uh… lending flavor.
Back to that, are we?
Forever. It’s something we don’t ponder enough in our busy day-to-day lives. We understand time, sort of. We don’t understand unending time, but God lives outside of the convenience of clocks. (Does that mean 5 a.m. doesn’t exist for God? Hmm.)
I began looking at the love of God, which is foundational for a romance between two believers, right? Only… what if one isn’t a believer? What if this concept of God’s unending, eternal, everlasting, steadfast, relentless, reckless, unstoppable, unfailing, forever love needed to capture the heart of one of the characters before he or she was ready to embrace the romantic variation?
My readers were introduced to Kassidy North way back in the final Farm Fresh Romance, Berry on Top. Almost four years have passed in Story Time. Yes, there’s a spreadsheet for that. She was the Waterman twins’ Sunday School teacher back then, and is now an active member of the Bridgeview neighborhood (the setting for the Urban series) and the community church. It is safe to say she has experienced God’s love on some level.
I turn my attention to single dad Wesley Ferguson, the new, unknown resident of Bridgeview. Wait… side trip… what’s with Kass falling for a single dad again? She did that in Berry on Top, and it didn’t end well. What would attract a young, single woman to guys with kids? Knowing (or believing) she’s unable to have kids of her own seems so overdone. I need a fresh flavor here. #thinkthink
And so I pour over my Bible, thinking how this forever love of God might draw Wesley in while soothing some hitherto unknown pain in Kass’s life. I plug in one of my favorite worship playlists on YouTube, keeping an ear out for songs about forever love. And slowly, very slowly (trust me… extremely slowly) the story begins to shape up. The pieces sidle closer together until, one day, months later, there’s something resembling a whole. Even though it took writing on a camping trip to accomplish it because I was too far behind to take those days off.
I finished the first draft of Flavors of Forever the end of July, and it’s on track for a mid-September release once it finishes winding its way through beta reading and editing. The cover is complete — those on my newsletter list will catch the first glimpse soon, so if you’re not among them, you can remedy that AND receive Promise of Peppermint, the prequel novella to the Urban Farm Fresh Romance series, free as a thank you gift. Subscriber link here.
Next up in the series: Raindrops on Radishes.
Seriously? What do radishes have to do with anything? Are they as mystical as “forever?” I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. I need to mull that over sometime soon. Probably at five o’clock.
Meanwhile, I’ll leave this right here. THIS is amazing grace. THIS is unfailing love.
“Forever” images from Pexels and Pixabay.
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Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
You’re delightful, I like how your mind works! :)
It is always a pleasure to wake up to your wonderful posts in the morning!
I do love how you process everything!!
Radishes?!? Cannot wait!! ?
Hi Valerie! Intriguing, inspiring blog. I totally get 5 am. While teaching, in the evening after reviewing my next day’s lessons and then teaching the lessons all night in my dreams, I sometimes woke up at 4 am with a great lesson idea. Now as a retire after finishing reading a book during the night, at 5 am I often formulate the book review. As a reader, I love your book titles. I am drawn to titles with alliteration and that are whimsical. I am looking forward to Raindrops on Radishes. I love radishes. My mom grew them when I was a child. I enjoy eating radishes whole, in my salad and on crackers with cream cheese. You definitely have me thinking about Flavors of Forever. As a reader, I always try to discover how the author weaves the title into the story. I try to figure out whether the title came first or the story. Thanks for sharing. Happy writing.
Hi Valerie, love the Flavors (weird with no u!!) of Forever concept. Reminds me of a Chris Rice song called Smell the Colour Nine- worth listening to at 5am!! We like radishes in our family:)
Blessings:)
Valerie… what fun to read about your creative process. I love your honesty about how hard writing can be. You definitely have interesting titles–they are NEVER bland! Thanks for the shout-out about Joy of My Heart. And I just said a prayer for restful sleep for you… I know how important that is.
Dear Valerie,
I love reading your books and ABOUT your books. So excited about Kass’ story and looking forward to seeing the new cover soon. I like all of them, but especially little Finley on Brent’s shoulders on the Dandelions for Dinner cover.
I love your insightfulness. Thank you for sharing.
While I may not have any idea what Flavors of Forever means, I still love the title. Raindrops on Radishes? Hmm…. sounds deep! ;-)
Aw thanks! It’s a messy place in there!
Thank you. Also, radishes are pretty weird, albeit tasty. I think I’ll focus on the raindrops part of that title!
Thank you, Renate! I’m not fond of the bite of a fresh radish, but I do love them cooked. They’re like a different vegetable with a little heat! Wait… that’s SO going in the story!!!
I think every author works differently, and even then it’s not always the same. I have my titles first. They come with a mustard-seed-sized story idea, and then I have to figure out what it all MEANS. I write “to” the title, if that makes any sense. Which means there’s no hope of writing without a title. It’s aimless wandering.
Some authors write first and discover the title hiding in the manuscript somewhere. And other times (here’s looking at you Elizabeth Maddrey) the story might be written and even through edits before the title appears.
The creative mind is a strange creation!
Yes, as a Canadian, skipping the ‘u’ in Flavours/Flavors was strange. And my lovely Canadian cover illustrator put it in in the first version of the cover!
I’ll look up the song! It sounds intriguing.
Thanks… but I notice you posted that comment at 5am! Seems ironic… At any rate that was 2am here, and I was awake. Thank you for petitioning the Lord on my behalf for a good remainder of the night. He granted it.
Thanks Anke! Oh, yes, I loved that cover, too. Also, I love Dandelions for Dinner! Now that’s a title that could have been held over for the Urban series. :)
I’m glad to share with you! That post truly was written at 5 am a few days ago…
You have a much better idea now with Flavors of Forever means (if anything LOL) and even more when you’re reading the book. Just a few weeks now! As for raindrops, yes, they need to penetrate deeply into the soil. #thinkthink
I’m looking forward to Flavors of Forever!! To me, 5 am is just a time to get up, go to the bathroom, and then go back to bed, preferably with a purring cat cuddling next to me :-) If I can’t get back to sleep, I start praying for family.
Oh wow. YES I have felt this way, over and over! https://youtu.be/fmgUa-nrlrA
That doesn’t sound like a bad way to meet five in the morning! purrrrrrrrr
I love your titles and that you found words to match that start with the same letter, lol. Sounds like it may be time for me to read these soon. :)
Definitely! Welcome aboard!!!
Love your writing and your titles. They are intriguing. Looking forward to new releases whenever they get done.
Thank you so much!