Originally posted on Livejournal on 30/6/11.

The Archangels novel has gone through so many title changes, it's ridiculous. So, as it FINALLY has a title, thanks to the genius 4am brain of meredith_shayne, here's the thirteen titles it had before achieving it's current title. (I'm sure there were more than thirteen, fyi, just that these are the ones I kept a record of!)

In order, from oldest to what it is now, finally, fixed! And I bet both meredith_shayne and jerusalemorbust breathe a sigh of relief, as I've been bemoaning titles to them both for... um. Months. >_<

1. Silver and Gold.
Chosen because Gabriel's power manifests as silver light and Michael's manifests as gold light.

2. Unexpected Destinies.
Yeah... no.

3. Craving to Entwine.
Saying it out loud made me cringe. A blog that my Noble editor Bonnie linked to had a piece about how if you can say your title out loud without wincing or cringing, that's the one to use. And it's true. This... was not the one to use.

4. Masquerade of Stars.
Doesn't fit this first novel, but it does fit the final novel in the trilogy so at least there's that.

5. The Coming War.
Which sounds good, but the story is about more than an approaching war.

6. Flying for Lovers.
Also made me cringe, but might be reused for a short story or something. Something that isn't so plotty as this.

7. Hope Remains.
Cringeworthy.

8. In Silver and Gold.
I recycled and added a word and decided... no.

9. Uprising.
This was a solid contender for quite a while. I actually went back to it after discarding title #10.

10. Wings of Desire.
Which is a really awesome German film, and I love it, film and title both, but it didn't really feel right to me for this book.

11. Genesis.
Suggested by meredith_shayne, while we were brainstorming, and I liked it but it still didn't really feel right.

12. Angels Speak in Dark and Light.
Too close to one of my all time favourite novels, Creatures of Light and Dark by Roger Zelazny for me. So, no.

13. No Quarter.
HALLELUJAH. It immediately resonated with me. This was meredith_shayne's 4am brainstorm, and her thoughts matched mine as soon as I saw it. No quarter is given in wars/battles between angels and demons; no quarter is given in love, when it's the possessive, primitive sort of love that Michael and Gabriel have. It's also the title of a Led Zeppelin song covered by Tool, the first verse of which fits *perfectly* the whole tone of the novel. And I quote:

Lock all the doors, and kill the lights.
No one's coming home tonight.
The sun beats down and don't you know?
All our lives are growing cold, oh...
They bring news that must get through.
To build a dream for me and you, oh.

So, a million thankyous, meredith_shayne. I shall build a temple in your honour.

Oh, and also, the word count of No Quarter is currently 52465 words. I am so close to finishing the first draft. I'm aiming to have it done by the end of the weekend. Then I will ignore it for a week and work on City of Jade, then go back to it and start fixing it into a readable second draft. But being so close... it feels awesome. I'm quite pleased with how the feathery kids have turned out!