When deciding on a title for your novel, the challenge is to find one that fits the book and conveys its essence, while ensuring it is sufficiently original not to conflict with another work.

As in Burning Embers, I usually have a title in mind from early on in the writing process – and in Burning Embers I weave it into the text itself:

Though the afternoon sunshine was beginning to fade, the air was still hot and heavy. Coral was struck by the awesome silence that surrounded them. Not a bird in sight, no shuffle in the undergrowth, even the insects were elusive. They climbed a little way up the escarpment over the plateau and found a spot that dominated the view of the whole glade. Rafe spread out the blanket under an acacia tree. They ate some chicken sandwiches and eggs and polished off the bottle of cordial. They chatted casually, like old friends, about unimportant mundane things, as though they were both trying to ward off the real issue, to stifle the burning embers that were smoldering dangerously in both their minds and their bodies.

Once the title has fixed in my mind, it’s time to do a little research online and see whether anyone else is using it. I was delighted by what I found when I googled ‘burning embers’. What discoveries! The following are all examples of ‘Burning Embers’:

• Several wonderfully passionate songs on YouTube (see my post https://hannahfielding.net/?p=293)
• A six-piece rock band hailing from Wainuiomata
• A terracotta-like paint shade by Dulux
• Some kind of spell on World of Warcraft
• Ruby earrings
• A scented candle
• A flowering shrub: the Tropaeolum majus ‘Burning Embers’ (Nasturtium ‘Burning Embers’).

The flowers are my favourite. Aren’t the colours glorious? I think I will order some and plant them in my gardens in England and France, as a summer-time reminder of my first novel.