Let’s start with the first real book ever written. It is ascribed to Homer who lived, according to Herodotus, in the 9th century BC, four hundred years before him. In those days, calendars were kept differently than today. If you ascribe to the politically correct and nondenominational version of history, then “Homer,” according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is described as having “(flourished 9th or 8th century BCE? Iona? [now in Turkey]),” and was the “presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.”

Boy, that’s a noncommittal mouthful. I never understood the aversion to using the life of Jesus Christ as the pivotal point for the modern calendar. So the Trojan war, as told by Homer, took place around 1200 to 1300 BC. That was around the same time as the life of Moses.

The Bible’s title, and not the content, comes from the Greek word, Biblio, the Book. We can assume this because if any individual had wanted to claim authorship, he would have his name on it, like Grimm’s fairytales, or anything written by Shakespeare. The difference between the two masterpieces is, one is a story of war and passion, and the other is a story of war and passion. But I digress.

We’re talking about book titles. In most cases, it is easy to guess how they got their names. Wuthering Heights, A Farewell to Arms, Huckleberry Finn, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, Smiley’s People, Farenheight 451, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Plague, The White Nile, and yes even Oliver Twist.

Or like my own books, Fatal Snow and The Mask of Minos. The former takes place during a terrible Blizzard in which people die. The later is about finding the legendary mask worn by King Minos’ son, the half-man/half-bull Minotaur.

The third novel, Wish to Die, is taken from a John Milton quote about William Shakespeare and goes like this – “And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie, That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.” This I took to mean that men are willing to give their lives for riches, or perhaps in Shakespeare’s case, fame? I chose it because it sounded really cool.

This brings me to my point. What do I call my latest Harry Thursday novel about rubies found in the San Francisco Peaks of Arizona where rubies do not grow. And, while the hero tries to solve this puzzle, people are being murdered. I gave it the working title Pigeon’s Blood, (look it up). I like it, but it doesn’t seem to capture the depth of the story, which is more than about finding things.

I think soon, I will post a chapter or so of it as a tease.