Poll

What should the name of the next book be? (With brief synopsis of meaning)

Other (post below and I'll add it)
1 (3.4%)
TWELVE MONTHS (Title originally announced, but lacks pun and deeper plot meaning)
3 (10.3%)
SPELL BOUND (The year before Harry is bound in marriage)
1 (3.4%)
HEAD CASE (Harry's therapy and trying to help Justine and Thomas)
2 (6.9%)
FAMILY MATTER (Harry helping Justine & Thomas, repairing things with Eb, and dealing with Raiths)
0 (0%)
COURTING DISASTER (A year of wedding planning with the White and Winter Courts)
11 (37.9%)
TIED KNOT (Harry is twisted up in drama before tying the knot with Lara)
0 (0%)
VEILED THREAT (The unknown dangers of the White Court's machinations during wedding preparations)
3 (10.3%)
DEATH MATCH (Lives are on the line when two powerful factions are joined)
0 (0%)
SHOTGUN WEDDING (Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something cold steel blue)
2 (6.9%)
DRUG RING (You've got to keep watch when the in-laws might slip themselves into the punch)
1 (3.4%)
BLOOD SPORT (When the ceremony seating is split by predator and prey)
1 (3.4%)
LOVELESS MARRIAGE (Guaranteed when the alternative would kill more than the mood)
0 (0%)
CAST AWAY (Expelled from the White Council, Harry must survive on his own)
0 (0%)
COURT CASES (On the eve of an alliance, the White and Winter Courts face a conflict of interest: Harry Dresden)
1 (3.4%)
LADY LOVE (Just, you know... Molly, Sarissa and Lara stuff maybe. Harry might not even be in it)
0 (0%)
COLD FEET (Harry's reluctance might cause Mab to get literal)
1 (3.4%)
WEDDING JITTERS (Deviations might derail an alliance before it begins)
0 (0%)
INDECENT PROPOSAL (Molly wants a night with Mr. Lara Raith)
0 (0%)
DOWNER ENDING (The odds of this going well are slim to none)
1 (3.4%)
SLOW BURN (When the groom can't touch the bride, a rushed engagement can move like a glacier)
1 (3.4%)

Total Members Voted: 29

Author Topic: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)  (Read 9912 times)

Offline Griffyn612

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Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« on: September 25, 2021, 02:08:39 PM »
Conspiracy Theorist suggested Butcher might not be settled on the name of the next book (described as spanning the year after BG as Harry deals with the fallout of recent events).

CT suggested SPELL BOUND, which got my brain thinking.  I came up with HEAD CASE, FAMILY MATTER, and COURTING DISASTER, but I thought it might be fun to open it up to everyone to propose their ideas.

The Rules:
  • Two word title, each with the same number of letters.
  • It should be a pun off a common phrase or idiom.
  • It should relate to the proposed plot.
  • This is definitely not official so nobody should expect to win anything; it's just for fun!

Just post your ideas, and I'll add them to the list. Votes can be changed as more options are added, but you can only vote once.

Offline Mira

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2021, 02:53:22 PM »


  Well, as first up to the plate so to speak I'm for "Courting Disaster."   I think that is how it is going to be in more ways than one. 

Offline morriswalters

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2021, 04:42:45 PM »

  Well, as first up to the plate so to speak I'm for "Courting Disaster."   I think that is how it is going to be in more ways than one.
Practically perfect in every way. ;)

Offline Second Aristh

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2021, 04:42:56 PM »
I voted for Spell Bound, but how about Tied Knot?  Drug Ring?  Veiled Threat?  Dresden titles are fun.
We shall not fail or falter, we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.--Winston Churchill

Offline Conspiracy Theorist

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2021, 04:53:20 PM »
Sorry HEAD CASE is taken for Bob’s origin story, with Harry on a paternity case tracking down Bob’s parents. I hope.

The skull is literary a container for a talking head, and very neurotic (Bob’s second favourite ‘rotic’)

We need it at least as a novella, and Jim loves writing for Bob.

What about DEATH MATCH? Harry is marrying an apex sexual predator and is likely to end up in a fight to the death/duel leading up to his nuptials, better yet a wedding morning duel by someone from the White Court or White Council trying to derail the wedding, or something else Raith had already promised his daughters hand to.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2021, 05:20:59 PM by Conspiracy Theorist »

Offline Griffyn612

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2021, 05:26:31 PM »
I voted for Spell Bound, but how about Tied Knot?  Drug Ring?  Veiled Threat?  Dresden titles are fun.
I'm picking up Knot and Veil and even Ring, but how does Drug fit in?

Sorry HEAD CASE is taken for Bob’s origin story, with Harry on a paternity case tracking down Bob’s parents. I hope.

The skull is literary a container for a talking head, and very neurotic (Bob’s second favourite ‘rotic’)

We need it at least as a novella, and Jim loves writing for Bob.

What about DEATH MATCH? Harry is marrying an apex sexual predator and is likely to end up in a fight to the death/duel leading up to his nuptials, better yet a wedding morning duel by someone from the White Court or White Council trying to derail the wedding, or something else Raith had already promised his daughters hand to.
I hadn't considered that as a Bob story, but that sounds fun! We will have to self-actualize it into existence.

Death Match sounds more like the wrestling book, but could fit.

Offline Mira

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2021, 05:42:19 PM »
Practically perfect in every way. ;)

That's "Mary Poppins!"  Hmmmm... Now that I think of it she may have a lot in common with Lara Raith. ::)

Offline Second Aristh

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2021, 07:36:04 PM »
I'm picking up Knot and Veil and even Ring, but how does Drug fit in?
The addictive nature of whampires?  Idk, it's definitely the weakest on its own of those.  Depending on what else is happening in the book, it might fit better.

We shall not fail or falter, we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.--Winston Churchill

Offline The_Sibelis

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2021, 07:55:59 PM »
Shotgun Wedding. Hey, it has equal letters so it fits the naming convention lol.

Offline Mira

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2021, 08:24:21 PM »
Shotgun Wedding. Hey, it has equal letters so it fits the naming convention lol.

Marriage is a Blood Sport? ::)

Offline Griffyn612

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2021, 09:00:03 PM »
Updates made!

Offline Avernite

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2021, 10:53:38 PM »
Now  suppose these probably could run into some copyright, but...

Vampire Diaries
White Satin

Others:

Cast Away
Dated Diary
Chicago Wizards
Foul Fall
Winter's Warmth
Sweet Spring
(we already had Summer Knight)
Court Cases
Lady Love/Lust
Demon Dates

Or a bit negative:
Trauma tracks
Fears Alone
Downer Ending
Sweats Sorrow


I think I like Lady Love most, of these - even if obviously Lara is not much a lady not very loving... but I'm sure Molly can be woven in to make it fit :p

Offline Con

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2021, 01:15:21 AM »
DATING DANGER

Offline groinkick

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2021, 02:42:07 AM »
DANGEROUS PROPOSALS
COLD FEET
WEDDING JITTERS
Stole this from Reginald because it was so well put, and is true for me as well.

"I love this place. It was a beacon in the dark and I couldn't have made it through some of the most maddening years of my life without some great people here."  Thank you Griff and others who took up the torch.

Offline Griffyn612

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Re: Name the next book! (Unofficial Fan Contest begins!)
« Reply #14 on: September 26, 2021, 03:22:40 AM »
Now  suppose these probably could run into some copyright, but...

Vampire Diaries
White Satin

Others:

Cast Away
Dated Diary
Chicago Wizards
Foul Fall
Winter's Warmth
Sweet Spring
(we already had Summer Knight)
Court Cases
Lady Love/Lust
Demon Dates

Or a bit negative:
Trauma tracks
Fears Alone
Downer Ending
Sweats Sorrow


I think I like Lady Love most, of these - even if obviously Lara is not much a lady not very loving... but I'm sure Molly can be woven in to make it fit :p
Most of these aren't really idioms or common phrases, though, right? I'd say Cast Away, Court Cases, Lady Love are, but the only one of those that gets close to plot adjacent is Lady Love, and that'd have more to do with Molly than Lara. I could see Court Cases being about issues between the courts, a la Lara and Molly, but Molly is playing ball as far as we know.

DATING DANGER
I don't think I've heard that as a phrase or idiom.

DANGEROUS PROPOSALS
COLD FEET
WEDDING JITTERS
These are apt phrases, although I'd argue INDECENT PROPOSAL is more common and still apt than DP.