Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt

“Book #3 Now Has a Title!”

This Friday, I return to Spain for the second part of my research trip for book #3 – although this time I’m trading in the peaceful and pastoral Camino de Santiago for the louder and more libertine Ibiza (along with Mallorca and Gibraltar).

The other difference in this trip is now I also have a book title!

Usually titles are the last thing on my mind until I’ve completed the first draft of the book. But a chance encounter during my last day of the Camino suddenly inspired its formation.

Obviously, I have a method to my madness. I need two metaphors (with an alliteration) and a location…

Bullets, Butterflies, and Italy: “Bullets” refers to the threat of violence and murder while “butterflies” symbolize the feeling of new love and the sensation you get in your stomach when you’re attracted to someone new. (I don’t think I have to explain “Italy”…)

Bulls, Bands, and London lacks some subtlety but does do the trick: “Bulls” embodies the sacrificial bulls from Pamplona’s San Fermin Festival while “bands” alludes to Neil and Jordan’s love for Britpop, Jordan’s rock music website, the Blur reunion show at Hyde Park, and Neil’s rock ‘n’ roll pub crawl in Camden Town. (And “London” was chosen over “Pamplona” because, well, I knew I was heading to Spain for book #3.)

Now we come to the third adventure. As already indicated, a significant amount of the story will take place on the Camino. And yes, there will also be some sort of twisted love story. While I walked, I referred to my book as Roads, Romance, and Spain – but that was far too obvious bordering on boring and a further regression from the title of Bulls, Bands, and London.

So I walked and allowed inspiration to call – and it answered me on Day 22 on my approach to Santiago de Compostela.

It was early morning and the sun was behind us as we pilgrims walked through the Santiago suburbs creating long shadows on the Camino trail. Nearing an older American woman, she stepped aside and said to me with a smile, “Go ahead. I’m tired of chasing shadows.”

“Chasing shadows.” I loved that phrase and it bounced around my head for awhile. Then suddenly it occurred to me that my main characters in book #3 were sort of “chasing shadows” as well. One of my upcoming themes in the book was how mistakes of your past can sometimes haunt you in the present, especially when it comes to failed relationships. Your past mistakes make you flawed and vulnerable and it’s not always easy to learn from them and grow as a person. Not right away, at least.

So I stuck with “shadows” for the moment. However, now I needed another word that summarized the Camino and sounded the same as “shadows.” And it couldn’t just start with an “S,” it had to start with a “Sh.” So while I started to formulate “Sh” words in my mind, I stumbled upon one of the many symbols that dot the entire Camino trail and point the way.

And no, it’s not the yellow arrow. It’s the “shell.”

I mention the significance of the shell symbol along the Way of St. James in Bands, Bulls, and London:

“Why a scallop shell? In one legend, the dead body of St. James was covered in scallops when it washed ashore in Spain. In another legend, a groom and his horse rode into the ocean when they saw the boat carrying the body of St. James and came back to shore covered in scallops.

Either way, it’s now a modern-day metaphor with the many grooves in the shell arriving at a single point representing the many routes the pilgrims journeyed to get to Santiago de Compostela.”

“So I Now Had My New Title: Shadows, Shells, and Spain!”

I immediately wrote those words down in my notebook and waited for that American woman to catch up to me. When she and her husband neared I said, “I just wanted to thank you for giving me the title of my book!”

“What?”

I explained my use of metaphors and place names and how I used them in my previous titles. Without missing a beat the fellow pilgrim nodded and repeated, “Chasing shadows…”

I then showed her my notebook with the new title etched across the front page. She had once co-written a book as well while her granddaughter had just self-published her first novel. So they were sympathetic to my excitement.

Before they walked away, I asked, “Wait, what’s your name?”

“Pamela.”

I wrote some more notes before rejoining the trail, satisfied that I was now approaching the end of my 22 day journey. And I had my new book title. However, I soon had more than that.

I soon caught up to Pamela and her husband again and I shouted out, “You know what, Pamela? I’m also going to name my main female character after you too!”
 
For more inspiring stories about the Camino experience, check out:

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/bulls-vs-camino/

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/title-cover-trailer/

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/top-4-enemies-of-the-camino/

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/why-you-should-walk-the-camino/