LetBirds Fly by Rhea Thomas is a magical realismshort story collection where the extraordinary sparks everyday lives towardtransformation. Connected by Ripple Media, each of the fifteen charactersnavigates personal struggles, such as an impossible itch, a mercurial thirdeye, and hallucinating coffee. They discover hidden truths, purpose, or power.With whimsy and emotional depth, these stories explore identity, passion, andself-discovery through moments of enchantment that crack open ordinary reality.Let these tales remind you: sometimes, the most magical thing is becoming whoyou were always meant to be.

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Trouble With Titles? Here Are My Tips

I enjoy the challenge ofnaming things. I love finding the perfect title for a piece of writing. Hereare a handful of examples from my short story collection, starting with thetitle I initially chose versus the title I ultimately settled on. I almost alwayschoose an easy title that easily and immediately reminds me what I’m writingabout, in the first draft of a story. By the end of the story and multiplerevisions, I usually choose a more solid title. One that is interesting butalso fits just right.

Flight of the Blue Fairy

I often give storiesself-explanatory names, such as “Shedding Skin” for the story about a woman whounzips her skin at the end. But after I completed the story, I realized thatthe title gave too much away, so I changed it to “Flight of the Blue Fairy”,referencing a fairytale that had been important to the main character as achild and became her adult pedicab persona. And this story was about herfinding her wings, in a way. It was perfect.  

Sprouting

This story is about awoman who has to get a breast ultrasound after a mass shows up on hermammogram. To her surprise, she does not have a tumor or some benign growth …it’s a superfood, a miracle bean, and it’s close to sprouting. “Boob Beans” wasthe catchy in-progress title, but the story was not just about these specialbeans … it was about this woman finding her way. Not only is the beansprouting, but so is she. She’s bursting at the confines and in a period ofgrowth.

A Fearsome Thing

This story is about ayoung man who wants to become a writer but is intimidated by his best-sellingcrime-writing mother. She seems to be actively trying to prevent him frombecoming a writer. So, he’s writing on the sly with low self-confidence andthen, a mysterious, murderous woman appears in his attic. He’s genuinelyfearing for his life. I don’t want to give much away, but that title hasmultiple meanings. I originally called it “The Muse” which was super boring andunoriginal.

To The Fairest

I originally called thisstory “Greek Goddesses”, just to remind myself what it was about and where Iwas going with it. Kind of a boring title. “To The Fairest” is the inscriptionon a golden apple coveted by Greek goddesses in mythology and in this story.And throughout the story, three Greek goddesses are vying for this apple andtitle. But at the end, without giving too much away, my main character plays onthe “fairest” bit as just, not beautiful.

The Works

This story isn’t publishedyet, but I almost titled it “Soul Carwash.” The main character is a good guywho starts committing crimes, but he doesn’t like the guilt he feels afterward,so he finds different ways to absolve himself. Eventually, a strange flyershows up in his mail for a soul wash. The main character is intrigued and goesto investigate. So, the title “Soul Wash” was a bit too obvious. The package heselects at this special soul-washing place is called The Works, and I love howthat also subtly explains his situation.

The best practice for givingyour piece its permanent title is to find something that is interesting (makesthe reader want to check it out) and has some symbolism or relation to thesubject. It’s something to have fun with. Get feedback from your writing groupor beta readers. But it’s not something you need to worry about until the end,in my opinion. Wait until you’ve told the whole story, then ideally, the storyitself will tell you what it wants the title to be.

About the Author

Rhea Thomas lives inAustin, Texas where she works as a program manager in the digital media world.Her short stories have been published in multiple publications, including, mostrecently, The Fictional Café, Toasted Cheese and Does It Have Pockets. Shespends her free time hoarding books, walking her stubborn Labrador retriever,playing games with her sons, kayaking and swimming in rivers, searching formysteries and writing short stories that explore magical moments in themundane. Her first book, a collection of short stories, is due out in August2025, and she’s currently working on a literary mystery novel.

You can find heronline at:

https://rheathomasauthor.com/

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