It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I wrote a suspense novel with crows.
Scary, violent crows.
What more reasonable, more noticeable, more memorable, than to call such a novel “A Murder of Crows?”

So very reasonable. So very memorably noticeable.

So incredibly common.

“Murder of Crows” is to novel titles what ‘Jennifer’ was to baby girls’ names in the 1970s.
Now you can’t turn around at a Duran Duran revival without tripping over a dozen or so of the one, or search Amazon titles without an overwhelming glut of the other.

Maybe I should have changed the spelling, like Jenifer, Genifer, Jennyfur.
Murder of Krows?

But I’m sticking with the original.
Because my cover is the ultimate in cool. It makes me feel so…dangerousish.

Because I have this pillow. My hero Vincent inspired me to keep my crows flapping and cawing and scaring my heroine witless.

Because it’s set in North Dakota and (after intense research for several minutes) I came to the conclusion that though “An Unkindness of Ravens” is also a super-cool title, ravens are rare in that part of the world. So are readers of my books, but I refuse to alienate even one Peace Garden State purchaser by a misplaced avian.

Did you know North Dakota’s nickname is the Peace Garden State?
And has advertised it on their license plates since the year I was born.
Either North Dakota is so wonderful no one wants to leave, or there aren’t enough residents to make a ripple, but I’ve seen so few North Dakota plates I had to confirm Google’s result of the official nickname with an image search.

It’s also known as the Sioux State. ( Strong, descriptive, alliterative. I like it.)
And the Flickertail State. (North Dakota is admirably secure in its unique robustity to be identified with a coy ground rodent’s backside.)

Oh, and Roughrider Country, which would also be a great name for a book.
Remind me to see how many other hundreds of books have that title before I buy a pillow with Teddy Roosevelt and his boys on it for writing inspiration.

*************************************************************

In spite of its shivery title and awesomely menacing cover, “Murder of Crows’ isn’t too creepy.
It’s available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble as an ebook.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-murder-of-crows-anita-klumpers/1141064023