it’s so rare that i have an idea for a short story (err, and by short i usually mean around 7-8 thousand words, that seems to be my sweet spot) that i had to take a few days away from the novel and put one to rest. around the house it’s being described by the shorthand of “the wanking man-goat story” but it’s a little more than that. 😉 i mean, i hope it’s a little more than that . . .
titles are usually one of the hardest things for me: note that i still don’t have a decent title for the novel(s) and the two drafts are bouncing around on my computer as TGD (the gatekeeper’s daughters, from a very early idea of the social structure) and The Wolves / Malcolm (very flat boring titles for the two parts that may or may not have to be two books in the end).
but i really don’t like having things completely untitled—it feels lazy and not-done, and i very much needed this story to be Done so i could get back to tending my monster. so i started to think about aspects of the story, what’s it all about? like if i was back in grad school or something. and i came up with terra incognita but that felt a little ehhh, however the alternate Terra Ignota sounded a little better, since it had that hint of ignorance and ignoble and all things ig- in the second word. not sure if it’s final but titles are one of the things i revisit the least, so it will probably stay that way at least through the first dozen or so rejections.
the point being: so i was googling around for various latin phrases, with terra and mundi and nascuntur in them, and i tried out terra ignota, and i found an artist by the name of Ana Maria Pacheco. who has a print series with that title, but all her work is damn lovely:
i really, really want one of her paintings or prints. i also really want her work on one of my book covers. one by my father and one by her: perfect. remind me when i’m rich and famous and have that kind of clout. in the meantime, you can do as i’m doing right now and go over to her gallery and sigh a lot: