Young Writers Society

*sighs loudly**again*

As you may remember, about four years ago I asked for help retitling the Chosen Grandma story.

And then, several months ago, I asked for help retitling GroundskeeperWIP.

Well, I need help again...again.

I am just so tragically bad at coming up with titles.

ANYWAY. This time, the title is for a short fantasy story about a secret necromancer and the plant witch she loves. It's for a Secret Santa exchange for writers although I also plan to submit it places after we do the gift exchange and my prompt was "I love you because you're a monster."

The Plot

When Hester goes to the market that day, the streets are abuzz with gossip. A little boy who fell off a ladder and broke his neck is alive. But the townspeople don't think it a miracle: they think it necromancy, and that Hester's wife Annie, a known witch, is to blame.

Only Hester knows the truth. It was necromancy. But it wasn't Annie; it was her. No one in town, not even Annie, knows about Hester's powers. It's safer that way. She can't bring herself to tell the truth even when the townspeople threaten to run the two women out of town.

When Annie loses control during the confrontation, her magic explodes, scattering the townspeople and killing the women's dog. Aware that they'll now have to leave town anyway, hoping Annie will accept her as no one ever has, Hester uses her own powers to bring the dog back to life.

She risks a glance at Annie. Her skin prickles all over; she feels exposed. Flayed and bare like she’s laid out on a dissecting table. She’s never done this in front of anyone before. Not on purpose. Whenever she’s caught, that’s when she leaves.

the tone

A little on the dark side, a little creepy, a little soft. Vaguely horror-adjacent but firmly in the fantasy genre. Small town setting where everything unsettling comes from the creeping horror of knowing your neighbors could turn on you at any moment. For all that, it's a (relatively) happy ending in that Hester still has Annie as far as we know since we don't really see Annie's reaction to her powers and the dog is alive again.

Key terms for this story would be: necromancy, plant magic, small town, man vs society, secrets, exposure

any questions?

If you feel like more information would help you come up with title suggestions, let me know what you need!

They say bad ideas may spark good ones so I will suggest the title I thought of:

Life's Deathly Kiss

@TypoWithoutCoffee can I just say how much I love that you yeeted yourself in here like "so here's a bad idea for you" XD <3

Blue said she wanted titles, so TITLE TIME??

Wilted Roses and Broken Bones
There's Solace in Silence??? idk, it came up in my head
The Necromancer's Unlife and Unlies, or Two Necromancer's Unlifes and Unlies?

I am similarly bad at titles xD

@Omni fr me asking everyone for help like



hmmmm I feel like maybe I could do something with The Necromancer's Unlife and Unlies? this might get toyed around with

in the meantime, purely for me (but look if you want, idc), here's a list of the brainstorming I've been doing so far (as I did for Gwip)

update

After some brainstorming with a Twitter friend, I'm going with The Raising of Hester Macrae. Thank you for your help, everyone!