Monique Polak

So, after a great deal of deliberation (e-mail consultations with my editor Sarah Harvey in B.C., phone consultations with my parents, and several chats with my husband and daughter) the main character in my historical novel has had her name changed from Lotje (deemed too difficult for North American readers to pronounce) to Anneke. Hope you like it!! One of the funny things about deciding on hername was that people who've read the manuscript (like Sarah Harvey, of course) said things like: "She seems more like an Anneke than an Izabel." It's as if we were talking about a REAL PERSON or naming a baby!! 

The manuscript's working title was "Lotje's Story." All along, I knew that wasn't a very good title, but I was too busy writing to worry about it. So now, we've settled on a new book title, too. It's going to be "What World is Left" -- and that title comes from a line of poetry I quote in the story. It's from a poem by German poet Heinrich Heine.  In the poem, someone who has been through a terrible time, thinks to himself: "What world is left us still." To me, that means that despite all the misery any of us have endured or will ever endure, there is still "world" -- there is still a future, there is still hope. 

Now I'm working on what publishers call "track changes." That means Sarah has e-mailed me a copy of the manuscript with her suggested changes. All I have to do is read it through, make any adjustments that I feel are necessary... and adjust a few spots. For me, this polishing stage is one of the most fun parts of the process. Also, the book is becoming more real. What World is Left should be in bookstores by fall 2008. And if I want that to happen, I'd better get back to those track changes!!