The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 7

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

Chapter 7

As the story line developed, and Walt was to head up a new division of senior citizens in the police department, the idea of a catchy acronym began to develop. Acronyms need to spell something, right? So I started to play around with various word combinations that would convey the nature of the new patrol and grab one’s attention.
Then, there it was, The City Retiree Action Patrol also known as C.R.A.P.!
It was one of those “Eureka! I’ve found it!” experiences, like Euripides in the bathtub.
I rushed into the kitchen to share my moment of inspiration with my wife. I handed the page to her and watched expectantly as she read the title. A big grin spread across her face. “I love it!” she said, and Lady Justice Takes a C.R.A.P. was born.
After the initial euphoria wore off, we began to examine the pros and cons of such an unusual title.
The main attraction was that you couldn’t miss it.
Every year thousands of new books are published. You walk into a bookstore and hundreds of titles are staring you in the face. We wanted something that would reach out from the shelf and grab you by the collar. Our title certainly did that.
The negative, of course, was the possibility that the title would be offensive to some. We did not want to convey the wrong impression. While my novel contains a few expletives and some adult humor, there is no blood and gore or gratuitous sex scenes. If it were a movie, it probably would be rated PG13.
We live in rural Missouri in what is known as the “Bible belt” and we are certainly sensitive to the mindset of our neighbors.
How offensive could it be?
On TV, one of the longest running family comedy shows is “Everybody Loves Raymond”. In almost every episode, the father, Frank, finds a reason to shout “HOLY CRAP!” In fact, on another TV show, this line was rated among the 25 funniest lines of all time.
We began counting the number of times we heard “Crap” on primetime TV were surprised at its frequent use.
So after much thought, we decided to go with it.
After the books were published, the results were amazing.
People either love the title or they hate it, but they can’t ignore it.
The vast majority smile, giggle or snicker just looking at the cover. That’s what we wanted.
Unfortunately, there are also those who roll their eyes and look away. That’s OK too. It’s a free country. You can’t please everyone.
Our title certainly gets attention. Later on we found maybe more than we wanted.