Today is Tales of Rydding Village Status Update day, it seems.

I’m just about done with editing book 2, so I’ll soon start getting the publication part lined up. One thing I need to settle on is a title, so I can get a cover made. I thought I had one that I came up with when I was outlining it, but I’m wavering on it.

So, I’m looking for feedback from readers. This isn’t a vote, and I retain the right to decide for myself, but I am looking for opinions that might help me make the decision.

This book focuses on Lucina, the baker, and Nico, the new apprentice smith who came to town at the end of the first book. He’s from the same land as Lucina, which brings back some bad memories for her, since she didn’t leave her homeland in the best of circumstances. Things get more complicated when there’s a wave of burglaries in town, and since Nico is new in town, he’s the most obvious suspect. Lucina worries that if he’s accused, she’ll be tarred with the same brush, as the only other person the villagers know from that land, and she’ll be a refugee all over again. She and Elwyn set out to solve the mystery.

So, my working title has been Bread and Burglary. That follows the pattern of the X and Y title established in the first book (which also seems to be a trope in the cozy fantasy genre). I imagine some of the little symbols on the cover might include something like a loaf of bread and a smith’s hammer.

But a pivotal part of the story takes place at the village’s midsummer revels. There’s a lot of talk about “midsummer madness,” which leads people to take leaps they might not otherwise take. That’s made me wonder if I have to stick with that same title pattern and if Midsummer Madness might make a good title. Though, to be honest, there isn’t much actual madness, just some temptation and a few magical things happening.

Which do you think would be more interesting/appealing? Or do you have other ideas? I generally hate coming up with titles. If I don’t have one that pops into my head at the very beginning, I usually struggle with titles until the last second, then just stick whatever comes to mind then on the book so that I can get it published.

In other Rydding Village news, Tea and Empathy is now available on the hoopla library system. If your library offers this service, that means you can check the e-book out as a library book. It doesn’t cost you anything, and I get paid if people check it out, so win-win. It’s a good way to try out new authors or series at low risk. It’s also on the Overdrive library system, but in that one each library has to purchase a book to add to their e-book collection, so you’d have to request it from your library, and then they can decide to add it, either as a one-time thing (so you can check it out, but it doesn’t become part of the collection) or just as a permanent part of the collection so everyone can check it out.