20 May 2008

Name That Novel

My friend (and fellow writer) Mark needs your help. He's finished with his novel and currently in the process of sending out queries, but... he doesn't have a (good) title. He's burned out on brainstorming (and completely unimpressed with ALL of my suggestions!), so he's turning the wheel over to you. If you come up with a winning title for Mark's novel, he promises to buy you "many expensive Belgian beers and/or overpriced coffee concoctions."

About Mark's novel:

Seven years of bad luck, seven years spent touring in a van held together by duct tape and coat hangers, rehearsing in a loft infested by incontinent rodents, causing shallow pings in the vast music machine, and just before giving up, one last chance to make it.

Finnegan is a blink away from thirty-three, the talented lead singer/songwriter for indie rock band The Babylon Sonic. A last gasp demo snags the interest of a label, luring them from New York to snow-plagued Chicago. The show is three days away and nothing is going right. Sullen lead guitarist James disappears from a hospital after overdosing on absinthe. Cranky English manager Shemp paces the frigid loft threatening to quit. Longtime girlfriend, neurotic fringe theater actress Holly, abandons him without explanation. And dodging the smothering blanket of depression seems impossible with each sleepless night. What’s that one shot in music really worth? Can Finnegan recapture the intensity he had when adolescence was still winning the battle and everything was sharp inside, buzzing and humming with the strange electricity of youth?

YOUR TITLE HERE is a 130,000-word novel for anyone who loves music or songwriting and imagines what it might feel like to climb on that stage, and anyone whose compass has ever spun wildly out of control while chasing that dream they’ve had since childhood.


If that's not quite enough inspiration for you, check out Mark's music page, featuring music similar (and in some cases identical!) to that of The Babylon Sonic.

Submit your suggestions in the comments here, or email them to info@storystudiochicago.com. Have fun!

14 comments:

Unknown said...

what has he nixed already? i was drawn to the phrase in the description, "Shallow Pings".

i'll keep thinking.

kel

Unknown said...

Kerosene, after the Big Black song.

Courtney Sherwood said...

Ooh, this is fun.

Honestly, why not "Babylon Sonic"?

Other ideas:
Babylon Sound
Reigniting Babylon
Finnegan's Groove
Finnegan's Last Shot
Last Shot at Babylon
Last Chance at Babylon
Babylon's Wake
Finnegan's Dream
The Band
The Demo
A Long Time Coming

Is the bulk of the book comprised of Finnegan's long journey, with the climax coming as he takes to the stage? Or is the description we have here the set up, with the bulk of the journey not laid out in detail?

M. Molly said...

The bulk of the book is indeed the journey. It's kind of a coming-of-age novel with a thirty-something protagonist. And its original title was "The Babylon Sonic" but that seemed too scifi-sounding.

Natalie said...

1. Demo Tape
2. Shallow Pings
3. Finnegan Begin Again (haha)

'sall I got for now

Tony said...

Somehow my comment got eated, but I was also going to suggest "The Babylon Sonic," or something along those lines. "Fall of the Babylon Sonic"?

Tony said...

To bolster my argument for "The Babylon Sonic," no one's going to mistake it for science fiction if it's got a big ol' guitar on the cover, and sitting in the general fiction section of the bookstore.

Rory Cobb said...

Riverrun
Recirculation
Bend of Bay
-Music references:
The Interval (or Finnegan' Interval)
Finnegan's Refrain
Finnegan's Burden
(Babylon Sonic is good, even if it's a little sci-fi- not to mention it conjures up images of the Babylon Rogues from the Sonic the hedgehog game. But I think it's kind of clever that-though having a scifi sounding name- it's not a scifi story. I liked a lot of the suggestions from Courtney. Anyway... those are my thoughts....)

Natalie said...

I still like The Babylon Sonic - even if Mark doesn't.

Like I said before - anything with a music pun is going to be retarded.

Anonymous said...

REVERB

Anonymous said...

confessions of an aging indy rocker: one man's quest for stardom

confessions on a demo tape: one aging indy rocker's quest for stardom


...or something similar

Anonymous said...

Old Dudes Still Rock

Y Kant Finnegan Rock

How I Quit My Day Job

Mid-Album Crisis

Rock & Roll for Old Folks

Anonymous said...

Finnegan's Ache.

Anonymous said...

Finnegan Awakes