Waiting, Searching, and…
Clara Evans Book 3.
That’s been the name of this book since I started it. That’s how the file is saved. That’s how it’s written in my notes.
While it gets the point across (I am in fact working on the third Clara Evans book), it’s a bit lacking as an actual book title. Not to mention, it sure doesn’t match the first two titles in any way.
When I wrote Waiting at Jimmy’s, I had ZERO idea what the title would be if I ended up publishing it. I went through a lot of possible options and had quite a few brainstorming sessions once I decided to self-publish.
One of those brainstorming sessions with a friend turned out the name Waiting at Jimmy’s. As we discussed this as a title, I really started to like it because it had a two-fold meaning. Not only was Clara waiting for direction while working at Jimmy’s, but her actual job was waiting tables.
I loved words with double meanings.
When it came time to name book 2, I landed on Searching at Jimmy’s because there were multiple forms of searching happening throughout the story in Clara’s personal and professional life, so the title once again worked on more than one level.
Then book 3 came around, and I was stumped.
Mostly because for a long time during the writing process, I was set on one name. I had it in my head since before I finished book 2, and I figured it would work for the third book. Then, I finished book 3 and that title no longer felt right.
So, back to the drawing board I went. I did a bunch of brainstorming (shout out to the Merriam-Webster thesaurus for all the help), asked for feedback and ideas from my early readers, and generated a pretty long list of possible titles. It wasn't too difficult to narrow the list down to a handful of options, but then I struggled to decide.
One friend said, “It feels like Clara is finding her place in this book.” I loved that feedback and totally agreed, but it didn’t really help me with a title.
It took a reread of the book for me to decide on the actual title. (Believe it or not, authors totally forget the details of their own books after they’re done writing them…it’s a thing.) Anyway, I’m so excited to announce the title for the final book in the Clara Evans series.
Learning at Jimmy’s will be out this summer, and I’m sooo excited!