Morpha blood Morphaglobin Shiftatonic Shaipatonic Elixir of change Morphatonic Shiftalixir Tempashift Tempamorph It really does depend on the tone of the novel and how they name things. If it was Disckworld, perhaps it would be something like "Change Me UP" potion. I like Marina's idea of using mask.
Wow, I've seen some really neat names. You guys are brilliant. And I thought that I was good. I'm thinkin'. . . Cameotion (Cam-ee-oh-tion) Potion/Camouflage Kinda sounds Latin. How about-- Fuddle Mist. (Befuddle/mist) Mistfog. I like that. Simple. Sweet. Sounds epic. Though maybe it's not a 'camouflage' enough name. Aniblend. (Animal/blend) Hmmm.
She really didn't give a reason. I think she just wants one. But I havent been too fond off a lot of her comments. Some of them are right on the mark, but others seem to have no reason or aren't nearly as much of a problem as she claims they would be. And she was worried that too many mentions of drugs would cause problems in the children's market, despite the fact that I submitted it as a YA novel, and there have been many of YA novels that have gone very far when it comes to that kind of subject. I mean, we're talking about a book meant for people in high school, not little children.
It almost sounds like she's trying to edit it to a book for middle schoolers. I wonder how knowledgeable she is on the YA market. Well, I'm sure she is, but it's odd about wanting to omit the drugs bit.
Especially considering the in the non-fantasy part of the story, everyone thinks she has some sort of mental illness. Sure, the MC is 14, but it's not meant for anyone younger than that. I don't have a problem with younger kids reading it, but I'm not going to censor myself because of what some people believe is okay for kids under 13. Heck, a lot of publishers seem to over-censor the books meant for high schoolers, despite the fact that they are doing all those things that are being kept out of the censored books.
I find that highly unlikely. Besides, how would she prove that it's me, even if she did read it and guess. She doesn't know what I look like, and I don't think I put any earlier drafts of the book here. Okay, aparently I did post one very early version of my first chapter, which was removed from the version I ended up submitting, but I still don't see a problem.
This reminds me of a girl who got an agent a few months ago and wrote about things to be careful about saying on the Internet, such as complaining about your agent, etc. Her agent ended up commenting online to her post.
Worst case, she dumps you. No proof needed. As for the other stuff, why don't you talk to her. Ask her about the things that are frustrating you. Make sure the two of you are on the same page because if you have different expectations, it's going to cause problems. For example, if you're focused on high schoolers and she's not, then that's a problem in communication. Also, perhaps she is trying to make the book more marketable. By removing drug references and adding spice like magical sounding potion names, she may be trying to increase the book's chances. Obviously I don't know the details of your situation and I have never been in your shoes, but I seem to recall you saying that she is a professional. If she is successful at her job, then she must have reasons for asking you to make these changes. She wants the book to succeed too, I would imagine.
How about calling it the featherleaf elixir? Or *google* chandnaphistumpermationscred, althydraggistamblion, or maelect? Sorry, just some random words from a random word generator there...
If you look on book selling sites such as Amazon etc. Young Adult is bracketed after the age group of 9-12. That is, 12/13 year old's is theoretically where young adult starts and if you have a look around many books classified as Young Adult have very "young" content still. So it would be completely understandable if the editor expected it to be for children not quite in high school yet. It just depends how you explained the book to her in the first place. I would however suggest having a nice chat with her to clear up who exactly your target market is. It could be nothing more than a simple communication error.
Raptors Veil Bloodlust Assassins Claw What will the potion be used for, roughly - simple mischief or something more serious? The name I would finally choose would depend on the context of your story. For example I wouldnt call it assassins claw unless there were likely to be actual assassins in your stories world, etc.
