The Evolution
of a Book Title
Everyone tells me they love the title Dragonflies at Night, right along with the book cover. How did I "come up" with it? Well, like all things in the realm of creativity, it didn't just happen!
When I first began writing, the story was just about Savannah and Ben. The characters were talking to me (and each other!), and I thought I was writing a regular romance. At the beginning, when I wasn't even sure it would become a "real" book, I was calling it Ben and Savannah: A Love Story.
After more listening to their stories—particularly Savannah's—I realized that the story wasn't just about their romance (as you will find out). I reached out in written dialog with Savannah's mother who died when Savannah was 15. Hearing Deirdre Rose's story brought in the importance of dragonflies and I heard that her last words to Savannah were "You're going to have a splendid life." So then the working title was Her Splendid Life. (I know... what was I thinking?)
And then. . . well, the dragonflies and their meaning kept working their way into and though the story. There's one scene at the beginning where dragonflies are showing themselves at night, and I wondered about that. Do dragonflies ever fly at night? It seems that they do, only rarely, and only when they are heading towards a light source of some kind. Aha! Dragonflies... flying towards the light... leading us all to a new title Dragonflies at Night!
