An Alternate Title

by Russell Dyer

published: dec 8, 2015; revised: dec 8, 2015; readers in past month: 114

The Loneliness of Lena

• author: Russell J.T. Dyer

• published: 2018

• publisher: A Silent Killdeer

• isbn: 978-0983185468

• pages: 295

The title for my upcoming novel, I Have No Friends is a difficult one for many people to like. I chose it based on some encouraging marketing statistics from an article I wrote and published on my site by the same name (see post here called, Explanation of Title). From the very beginning I realized that for some readers, that title might make it difficult for them to recommend the book. So I’ve thought about having a second or alternate title for the book.

In discussing it with one of my editors this past weekend, I’m thinking of using this as a second title: “No Greater Sin: Prophecy at a Time of Despair.” The main part ties to a quote at the beginning of the book from Thomas Merton about love and friendship. The subtitle relates to the pivotal chapter in book in which the protagonist encounters an oracle who predicts events which change her life.

In an earlier post, related to my novel’s opening quote by Thomas Merton, the phrase, ‘No Greater Sin’ is mine based on the Merton quote. That short phrase is a play on the phrase, “there is no greater love than to give your life to a friend.” That’s not the exact wording from the Christian bible, but that’s roughly it.

However, in looking at the quote more closely, I could extract a phrase, “the pattern and prototype of all sin.” I could use that as the title of the book.