Exclamation Marks in Musical Titles

by Paula Gail Benson

Before she became famous for 84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff wrote a book about her experiences getting started in the theatre. That book, Underfoot in Show Business, recounts a time when Hanff served in the press office for the Theatre Guild. She watched Oklahoma! becoming a reality. Just before the opening, it was decided to add the exclamation point to the title. Hanff spent her day handwriting on the mark on the press releases and was too tired to attend the Broadway opening of the legendary musical.

Interestingly, the original title for Oklahoma!, which was Away We Go!, also contained an exclamation mark.

Remembering the story of Hanff’s experience made me wonder how many Broadway musicals had exclamation marks in their titles. When I did a search, I found a number of people also had been curious about this question and had written what they had discovered.

In a June 30, 2022 article, David Benkof, a political commentator responsible for the Broadway Maven online messages, says his friend and mentor, critic and author Peter Filichia, examined musical titles from Oklahoma! to shows from the early 21^st century and found that 5% had exclamation marks.

You can find Broadway musicals that use exclamation marks if the title is a character’s name. Examples include: Eubie! Fiorello! George M! Hello Dolly! Mama Mia! Oliver! Sarafina!

Something Rotten! tells the story of the Bottom brothers who compete with Shakespeare’s rock star image by creating the musical. Another Shakespeare inspired musical, Play On! is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night featuring music by Duke Ellington.

A few musicals have multiple exclamation marks, including: Drat! The Cat!, I Do! I Do!, and Oh! Calcutta!

Most writing guides urge that exclamation marks be used sparingly. What does an exclamation mark bring to the title of a musical? Definitely, it’s an attention getter, but it cannot ensure success. I wondered if it might suggest a more light-hearted quality, but looking at the list, I see stories that include serious elements along with uplifting moments.

What do you think? Would you be more drawn to see a musical with an exclamation mark in its title?

Mint Chocolate Mea Culpa

By Shari Randall/Meri Allen

 

Writers of the culinary cozy mystery generally include a recipe or two with each book. Readers expect it. Making the recipes is a wonderful way for readers to enter into the world of the book. It seems cruel to describe a fabulous meal or dessert without giving readers a way to enjoy it in real life. Also, readers have told me they like to serve recipes from a story when they host their book club to discuss the book.

 

Those expectations are important. When you write in a genre that has firm reader expectations, you ignore  them at your peril. Woe to the author who doesn’t give the readers what they want.

 

Reader, I am that woeful author.

 

My most recent book, MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER received many positive reviews. I know this because my daughter reads them for me. I don’t read them myself because stumbling on a bad one can squelch writing mojo. She does share feedback when she thinks I need to hear it. Readers were generous with their praise of MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER, but two complaints rose to the top like cream on a bottle of milk and I have to take ownership.

 

There’s no recipe for mint chocolate ice cream in MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER, and even worse than that,  there was scarce mention of mint chocolate in the book itself. Readers demanded answers. How could that be, when the title of the book was MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER?

 

True confession time – and a peek behind the curtain of the publishing process.

 

When I turned in the manuscript for Ice Cream Shop Mystery #2, also known as the one with the haunted castle, I’d originally titled it THE COLD ART OF MURDER. The killing (no spoilers!) takes place at Moy Mull, Penniman’s art colony, during a fantasy ice cream social. I thought the title worked well and rather liked it.

 

But…my editor thought we needed a naming convention to tie the titles of the series together, like Sue Grafton’s alphabet titles, or “The Cat Who” series, etc. That, dear reader, is why we have editors. This great idea never occurred to me. So after some trial and error (MURDER A LA MODE) we hit on having a flavor in every title. We both loved the sound of MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER and the publisher greenlighted it.

 

But..all this happened after the editing process was completed and the manuscript went into production. Small copyediting mistakes are easy to fix, but any substantial changes to a manuscript that’s already been through the production process are too expensive to make.

 

Frankly, I didn’t give the title a second thought until I heard the reviews: “Where’s the mint chocolate ice cream?” “Loved the book, but no mint chocolate!” “Why call it MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER when it’s all pumpkin spice?” (There’s a pumpkin spice recipe in the book – maybe we should have called it PUMPKIN SPICE PERIL? Nah. )

 

Mea culpa. So to make up for it, here’s a recipe for mint chocolate ice cream. And a promise – the next book, FATAL FUDGE SWIRL, will have plenty of fudge swirl ice cream.

 

Readers, do you have expectations for the mysteries you read?

 

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 cup granulated sugar

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp peppermint extract (or add a drop at a time until the flavor is the way you want it)

pinch of salt

3/4 cup miniature semi sweet chocolate chips

In a medium sized, chilled bowl, whisk (or use a hand mixer on low) to combine the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Stir in the heavy cream, vanilla, and mint flavoring.

Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Whisk the mixture well then pour into ice cream maker.

When the mixture starts to thicken, at about 40 minutes, add the chocolate chips a little at a time. When you use an ice cream maker, the mixture is the consistency of soft serve when it's done. You can serve it right away, or put it in the freezer to harden if you prefer (use an airtight container).

If you'd like a little minty green color, go ahead and add a few drops of food color. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Punderful Titles

by Shari Randall AKA Meri Allen

I’ll never forget the moment I opened the email from my editor announcing the title of my cozy mystery debut in the Lobster Shack Mystery series. I was sitting across the breakfast table from my daughter who was enjoying a bowl of cereal when I read the title.

 

“Curses, Boiled Again!”

 

We both fell into gales of giggles, and yes, she laughed so hard milk did squirt out of her nose. It was hilarious – and perfect. What else would you call a book about an injured ballerina who works in her kooky aunt’s lobster shack and solves murders? 

 

This was my first cozy title, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Those who don’t read the cozier end of the mystery spectrum also find the titles baffling, but I soon learned that cozy readers are in the know. 

 

Cozy titles – with their humor and puns - are a little wink, and cozy readers are in on the joke. The titles are fun but they serve a purpose beyond humor, too. They’re clues that a reader will have a particular experience reading a cozy. A promise of danger and mayhem, with a nod to the hook, and a signal that the book is fine for the whole family to read. Murder with a side of whimsical wordplay lets the reader know what to expect: a book that’s more Gilmore Girls than Gone Girl, more Murder, She Wrote than Goodfellas.

 

How did we get from The Mystery of the Blue Train or Murder at the Vicarage to 

Ho Ho Homicide? Hard to know exactly when the cozy titles got so punny. Some say the magnificent MC Beaton’s Quiche of Death kicked off the trend in 1992. All I know is, I get a kick out of them. Here are a few particularly clever, fun, and groan-worthy titles:

Wonton Terror (Vivien Chien)

Owls Well that Ends Well (Donna Andrews)

Last Wool and Testament (Molly MacRae)

Cheddar Off Dead (Korina Moss)

Dewey Decimated (Allison Brook)

 

So when I needed a title for my upcoming Ice Cream Shop mystery, I started brainstorming with friends, family, readers, and my editor. Before my publisher decided each title would have a flavor in it, I’d come up with THE COLD ART OF DEATH for book two (fantasy ice cream social plus death of a much-reviled avant garde artist at a castle owned by a reclusive former super model) You see the problem. The title’s not cozy or ice creamy enough. So after many delightful detours, we hit on MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER.

 

Book Three in the series is done, but has no title (the set up: murder of the wealthy, cold-hearted bride at her Halloween themed wedding). Here’s the scoop on the contenders so far. What do you think?

 

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE DEATH

MOCHA AND MURDER

PUMPKIN SPICE AND NOTHING NICE

PUMPKIN SPICE ICED

PUMPKIN SPICE VICE

PISTACHIO PLOT

FATAL FUDGE SWIRL

 

Feel free to suggest a title or share one of your favorites in the comments.

 

Shari Randall is the author of Lobster Shack Mystery series with the punny titles CURSES, BOILED AGAIN!, AGAINST THE CLAW, and DRAWN AND BUTTERED. As Meri Allen, she writes the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries. The debut title is THE ROCKY ROAD TO RUIN (because what else do you call a murder mystery about a former CIA librarian who runs an ice cream shop?) Book Two, MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER, drops on July 26, 2022.

 

 

 

Insert Title Here (Please!)

by Julie Tollefson

I’m putting the finishing touches on a short story this week, and I’ve run into a huge problem: The title.

Specifically, I haven’t been able to think of one and the deadline is imminent.

There’s so much pressure on those few words. A title has to hook readers and give a hint of the flavor of the story. I sometimes think I expect so much more from the five or ten words in a title than I do from all 3,500 in a story. It’s scary.

Three decades ago, as a copyeditor for a daily newspaper, I wrote headlines every day. I never felt the kind of pressure for them that I feel for story titles, but I suspect my headlines were more utilitarian than witty. I have a friend, a fellow editor, who is adept at wordplay in headlines. She writes compelling serious headlines when the situation warrants but is quick with a pun when the opportunity arises. Maybe I should recruit her to write my story titles for me.

In an effort to kick-start the title brainstorming process, I re-read the story several times and highlighted meaningful words and phrases. Prairie. Cactus. Sand. Heat. Science. I’ve used them alone and in combination. I’ve twisted myself in knots trying to strike just the right tone. 

Nothing.

Among other titles I’ve tried and discarded:

“What Lurks Beneath”—Sounds familiar and stale, but more importantly nothing in the story really lurks.

“Cherry Vodka Kisses”—It’s a mystery, not a teen romance.

“Past and Present”—Not bad, if I were writing a D- quality high school essay.

“Erasure”—Um, that reads like thriller or sci fi to me.

So tell me, what’s the secret to finding the perfect title? The clock is ticking.

The Tricky Business of Book Titles

Giving a title to a book is a tricky business. What phrase will not only give the reader a taste of the plot but also reflect the novel’s theme? What few words will entice the reader to choose your book over another? A book title must be memorable, fit on a book cover, and perhaps, set up a naming convention for a series.

And what to do when the chosen name is not right for the work? Sometimes when the baby arrives she looks more like an Edith than a Mirabelle.

That’s what happened to me. My WIP has gone by the working title Temptress Moon which my beta readers informed me was wrong, wrong, wrong.

“The title sounds like a romance novel which it is definitely NOT,” one beta wrote.

OK, so time for a new title.

As I started brainstorming titles, I decided to research what others think is a good title. No, not a good title, a great title.

What did I find?

All the good ideas are taken.

That A to Z thing that Sue Grafton has going on? Sweet. Would anyone else look like a total copycat trying it? Absolutely.

The number thing? Janet Evanovich has that sewn up over 21 books, from One for the Money to Top Secret Twenty-One.

Colors have worked for several authors from Walter Moseley (Devil in a Blue Dress, Little Green) and John D. MacDonald (A Deadly Shade of Gold, A Purple Place for Dying).

Many mystery writers have turned to other writers for title inspiration. Several of Agatha Christie’s titles were inspired by great writers: William Blake (Endless Night from Auguries of Innocence), Tennyson (The Mirror Crack’d from The Lady of Shalott), and Mother Goose (A Pocket Full of Rye, And Then There Were None, Five Little Pigs (also known as Murder in Retrospect), Hickory Dickory Dock, Crooked House, and Three Blind Mice).

Biblically inspired titles are as numerous as the stars in the sky: Dorothy Sayers’ Clouds of Witness (Hebrews 12:1), O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King (Psalms 137:5), and  A Time to Kill by John Grisham (Ecclesiastes 3:3) are just a few examples.

Shakespeare’s work has inspired scores of titles if the Wikipedia page of Titles Inspired by Shakespeare is anything to go by.  Hamlet alone has inspired Perchance to Dream by Robert B. Parker, And Be a Villain by Rex Stout, Put On By Cunning by Ruth Rendell, Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde, and Murder Most Foul by several authors.

Goodreads has a list of the best book titles. Coming in at number one is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick. This list is a good reminder that a great title is no guarantee of a good read. Judging from the reviews, number seven, The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse does not live up to the sheer joyful genius of its title, though that is one terrific title, isn’t it?

As I mull options, two wonderful writer friends discussed my title ideas. Their input? Don’t worry about it too much. Publishers have a way of changing titles.

How did you decide to name your novel?