Robin Layne's Blog: From the Red, Read Robin - Posts Tagged "titles"

What should I Name this Blog?

I started brainstorming titles, and came up with a veritable kaleidoscope of them! I thought I’d throw them out here because they show various facets of myself, my interests, aims, and writings. I might come up with more in time, but for now, I welcome thoughts on these—or combinations of them. You can see I’ve already eliminated some of these, but I hope that seeing why is informative and entertaining. I plan to write on subjects for book lovers and writers alike.

Red Robin’s Bloggin’—could mean either the process of blogging or the fact that Robin is blogging. The color red has significance to me on a number of levels. Downside: could be confused with the restaurant. (How do you trademark a color and a bird? But they did.) Also sounds like “noggin,” and that’s where these thoughts come from.

Red Robin Bloggin’—rhymes, and so is more poetic than the former idea. Still could be confused with the restaurant.

Red Robin’s Bloggin’ Toboggan—a wild ride, to be sure.

Robin’s Red Blog—reminds me of the Portland Red Book, but it’s not a very similar name.

The Little Red Blog—sounds like a children’s book blog—not appropriate for most of what I will talk about.

Robin’s Big Red Blog—possible.

Little Red Robin Hood—now that’s a mixture of tales!

Little Red Bloggin’ Hood—too cutesy, I think.

Robin’s Blood-red Blog—this is okay, although it reminds me of “The Blood-red Pencil” (a writing website). But I like “blood-red.”

Robin’s Blood-read Blog—a little cleverness thrown in for readers with eyes sharp enough to see it, and would be especially appropriate when my book comes out.

Blog Blog Bloggin’ Along—a play on my name but nothing more.

A Walk Down Robin La(y)ne—another play on my name, but what does it mean to walk down me? No, I think not.

Robin’s Song—lame, unoriginal.

Herald of the Eternal Spring—this is a name for my spiritual identity and purpose, and also sounds like the name of a newspaper, perhaps. But I don’t know that people would connect a blog with a newspaper. A robin is a herald of the spring; I am a herald of the spring of Christ’s blood and God’s Spirit, and of the eternal spring they will bring.

My Night-blooming Series—a blog is a series of posts, and my books are expected to be a series as well. I usually bloom at night, like the night blooming cereus flower (pronounced “series”), and in the morning feel wilted and half-dead. I also might still have some graphics from my old web domain picturing a red-toned night-blooming cereus. . . . Just checked all over the computer. Nope; I don’t have the picture, except for part of it with “Robin’s Nest” written on it. But anyway, I wrote a poem in my younger days called “The Night-Blooming Cereus,” expressing the value of fleeting beauty and life. This poem will appear in the novel I’m working on, as written by one of the characters. And since my novel and its planned sequels concern vampires, the name is appropriate on that level as well. A discouraging thought is that people making the connection with the flower may think I misspelled its name.

I think I like this last name best, but I would like to sit on it a while. Still, I hope you have found this fun to read. What do you think?

Welcome to my blog!

This morning, a variation on the first theme came to me:

From the Read Red Robin
or:
From the Red Read Robin

Today I have broken my pattern by waking up early . . . but I don't want to get worms. I would rather get ideas. I was told that some writers prefer to write early in the morning when they are half asleep, in a semi-dream state. Perhaps that is the same reason I like staying up late doing fun or creative things. I actually enjoy pushing myself into the night. Some nights, I am so tired I think I will go to bed early, but some little thing interests me, and the next thing you know, I've got my second wind. But in the morning, I feel like a zombie for hours--lately, even after I've had my caffeine. I prefer tea to coffee, as my system doesn't like the acid in coffee.

I know it looks strange having a book I'm published in on my "To Read" list. It's just that it's been a while since Medley of Fiction was published, and while I know I read at least some of it, I can't remember if I read all of it. I may have finished it back then, and even written a review of it on another site. Are we allowed to mention other sites here? Perhaps even to transfer reviews from them? If it's kosher for both sites, I could import quite a few. And earlier, I did reviews in on MySpace, where my blog was called "Hatching My Eggs." I lost interest in MySpace when I couldn't view everything on it. Facebook became the new space for visiting with people, but it's different. And I've never ventured into Twitter yet--not sure what my place in it will be yet (bird though I may be). A person's got to spend some time away from the computer sometime! (Which reminds me, I think I made a mistake in ordering a color computer version of a local writer's newsletter when I could get it in black ink in the mail; sure, it probably comes a little sooner this way, but I don't want to print out something that extensive in color, so reading it requires even MORE time at the computer. Remind me to change my subscription to a copy I can easily take with me to ride on the bus.)
In addition to my writing, I am also an editor. I am currently taking an online editing certificate program from UC Berkeley. In June, I graduated from Portland State University with a BA in English, minor in writing, and part of that minor allowed me to be on the editing staff of Ooligan Press, the only student-run publisher of trade books in the world. It was an exciting experience, editing fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and being part of the general publishing process. The university offers a Masters program in publishing. After all the years I have been in college, and also away from college doing other things, I was still an undergraduate when I was there.
But about Medley of Fiction: From what I remember, it's a great collection, from what was a great website, AuthorsByDesign.com. My contribution is a poem called "Eros at My Window." You may know this already, but Eros is the Greek god of romantic/sexual love. Our culture knows him more commonly by his Roman name, Cupid, but I don't like that name as much because it conjures images of adorable baby angels. Eros' darts are real, and they hurt when you wake up from your daze of infatuation. Don't get me wrong, I think erotic love can be wonderful, but in its place, in the balance of the other loves, with agape (unselfish divine love) at its core. For more of a sense of what I mean, I recommend reading C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves, or looking up "love" in a good Greek Lexicon.

I think Medley of Fiction had a very small run, but it does have an ISBN, so I was able to add the book to the site and so get this author page. I have published other poems and short stories, but not in books with ISBN numbers. (Just found out another book in my portfolio has an ISBN; I'm going to add it to the site as well. It has fiction, nonfiction, and poetry of mine in it.) The poems were mostly in newspapers and in a newsletter I used to edit. The short stories are in other small-run books and online; one was in The Lamp-Post of the Southern C.S. Lewis Society. I have also enjoyed doing what is misleadingly called desktop publishing--creating a book of poems, lyrics, and stories, and making a number of smaller booklets to give away, trade, and sell. I have also had stories and poems in literary journals that don't have ISBNs, including two Write Around Portland anthologies and the literary journal of Portland Community College Cascade campus (Pointed Circle). I might write about my experiences with some or all of the above. You can give feedback on what you'd like to read about.

Thank you to my new friends on this site and to the advice and camaraderie you have provided already! One friend has helped me see ways I can improve the short story posted in my writings called "Blood Ties." The version I posted is the one that won an AuthorsByDesign contest, but we can always improve our writing with time. I am thinking of making improvements and re-posting it, but for now I will wait and see if more improvements come to mind. There is also the consideration of time juggling.

Now I feel like going back to bed. Just not a morning person! I tried.