When I was trying to sell an earlier version of my first novel, Clown Girl, the manuscript was a more subtle, moody draft of what it would later become, but to my mind it was still what I wanted it to be. Initially I’d called it Silverfish, (misguided! Ha!) because I liked the mix of beauty and nightmare involved in those words, and those pretty little grotesque insects that showed up in damp houses, damp climates…something slightly scary and surprising about creatures that can fit in tiny, almost nonexistent spaces, but also creatures which sound so dreamy, in name.
It was an unworkable indie title.
Changing the title to Clown Girl cheered the book up and helped me highlight what I was aiming for while trimming away some distractions.