Original Series

Okay, so introduction. I've had this character bouncing around in my head for a while. It has taken some time to get her from there to the paper (or computer screen) but I've finally started. Her name is Vancouver "Van" Brown. She's a comic artist and avid reader of comic books. She has a little brother named Aden. Her dad is Charlie and her mom is Elli. And...she's an Elemental - a legendary guardian of the four elements. In specific she is what is known as a sylph - an air guardian. Aden is a salamander or fire guardian and her mom is an undine or water guardian. The stories will follow her from ages fifteen to eighteen-ish through her training and work as an Elemental. Her mentor, or trainer, is named Bren and Aden's is named Jack. The main villian is known as the Phantom Angel.

I think that covers most of the background. I had an ephiphany tonight when it came to the titles and structure of the books. I'm a title person. If I don't have a title for something - I can't write it. And my titles are almost always my starting point. I'll think: "That's a great title. I can make something out of that." And titles are almost always what I'm first drawn to when looking for books. So... I'm going to give you the titles to the books and that's really what I want feedback on. I'm pretty excited about this idea and I want to know if you are too. If they sound like the kind of book you would pick up and read. They are going to geared toward upper elementary/middle school readers. But ultimately I want everyone to find something they can identify with in the books - regardless of age.

So - each book will be broken down into three sections and there will be three books in total. Think structure similar to Hunger Games or Gregory Maguire's novels. I think names are cool - I name everything. I tell you this so you understand why I knew this information in the first place. Did you know that groups of birds have different names? They aren't all called flocks. Perhaps you've heard the phrase "a gaggle of geese?" That phrase comes from the name for a group of geese: a gaggle. My personal favorite is a parliament of owls. If you read C.S. Lewis, in The Silver Chair he has a chapter where Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb meet a parliament of owls. Another favorite is a murder of crows. It just chills the blood. Awesome name.

Today, on my way to pick up my shrimp fried rice, I started thinking about a murder of crows. And then I thought - ravens. Dang...what are they called. And of course, I couldn't remember. My new phone has internet so pulled it out and googled it. Up pops my favorite website - Wikipedia. I spent a while on there looking over all the different kinds of birds and there collective nouns. And it hit me. There are my titles. Van is an air guardian. She has wings and flies. It would only make sense that her story be told by birds. So, here are the book titles and the parts they each contain. The third part of each book has the same title as the book itself. So, don't get confused.

Book 1: An Unkindness of Ravens
     A Cast of Hawks
     A Watch of Nightingales
     An Unkindness of Ravens
Book 2: A Murder of Crows
     A Flight of Swallows
     A Siege of Herons
     A Murder of Crows
Book 3: A Venue of Vultures
     A Parliament of Owls
     A Charm of Goldfinches
     A Venue of Vultures
     Epilogue: An Exaltation of Larks

So - if you saw that book sitting on a shelf...would you pick it up? If you read the back...would you be interested? Am I on the right track? And yes - those are all the correct terms when refering to a group of that specific bird. Next time you're in Florida and you see a bunch of herons sitting/standing together - they are called a siege. Pretty awesome right?