Have you had to change the name of your novel? Once? Several times? When I first wrote ” It Can’t Be You” my soon to be published (December 2010) debut novel, I had only one name in my mind. The name stems from a note left by a person who dies! I thought it quite appropriate.
It could have been written in shock and disbelief. Almost an “Et tu, Brute!” kind of situation. Or it could have been written to leave a red herring to fool everyone into believing that the person was killed by somebody and did not kill himself!
I sometimes wondered, as the story went along, whether I should use ” A Spiral of Vengeance” as a title- because it was more descriptive of the story. It was more straight forward and more explanatory, I thought. Finally, I decided to settle for “It Can’t Be You” but I had some reservations still. A few days back, as the book cover was being designed, my editors asked me to provide a by line for the book. Something short and snappy which says it all.
I was ready with my answer- “A Spiral of Vengeance”.!
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 