How Proper Soul Got its Name

I started with:

Midnight Urbanites and the Sparkly City. It was the name of the blog I sometimes wrote on while living in Baltimore. I love the title, but not for this book. But the title was something I wanted to write about. My Baltimore ghosts exhumed for fiction...

I made a quick stop at Midnight Urbanites. Someone said it sounded like a cult, so I scratched it. Didn't feel right anyways.

Then I think it was Take Me Home. Mostly because I had John Denver on repeat. Take Me Home will always be the name of that draft-- the one that is only Bekah's POV, would offend Muslims and the Nation of Islamists everywhere, and the reader is totally, 100% in the dark the entire duration of the book.
Yep. Thank goodness for excellent, gracious, and kind beta readers.

For a long time, while undergoing major revisions, it was Needs A Title.

Then it became, Still Needs A Title.

Finally, I hit on what felt like a placeholder, but a good placeholder-- Black Mountain Ash. I combined the Black's (protagonists), their chunk of mountain and "ash" plays a significant role. It felt good. Very good. So good I could definitely query with it if I couldn't find anything better. A variation I hit on, with more literal punch, was Black Mountain Crank. I thought crank was much more kick-ass. Ash more subtle.

The only thing I didn't like about it, was it made me remember Cold Mountain was sitting on my bookshelf unread for the last two years. Boo.

But it was good. I figured it would get changed later on though...

Me and J were talking about climbing one day recently. We'd just gotten back from New River Gorge and Prana had posted this video on their facebook, where Chris Sharma (the best climber in the world right now) is talking about the how climbing is a combination of finding the right strength, the right line and the right mental strength to climb at higher levels.. it's very similar to a piece of climbing lore about a climb, Proper Soul

Back in the nineties, Steve Cater wrote a guidebook for the New, which said

 "undoubtedly a 5.14 line will go up here, it's just a matter of the proper soul, finding the proper line."

When Brian McCray put up the line on Endless Wall, that would become the first 5.14 in the Gorge, and an instant classic, he remembered this line and named it Proper Soul.

But the quote will always be remembered with the name. And it sums up everything climbing is and everything life is for a climber.

the proper soul, finding the proper line.

This line especially sums up  Bekah and Logan's story. And it became Proper Soul, which feels exactly right.

(I know editors may change this, but that's fine and I understand it's part of the business)

Here is Chris Sharma's onsight of the actual Proper Soul (5.14a) at The New River Gorge:



And my creative time wasting while revising:

P.S. I actually have a copy of the guidebook Steve Cater said this in-- and on the back it has a little stamp that says it's Y2K approved. Bahahahaha.