Today on the blog I’m hosting debut author Kourtney Heintz whose novel The Six Train to Wisconsin is getting rave reviews and was a 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Semifinalist. This book has really captured me (I’m about 1/2 way through!) and I can’t wait to finish it! Read on to get a glimpse of the evolution of the title for The Six Train to Wisconsin (cool, right?) and scroll down to find out more about Kourtney and her amazing blog tour.
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Kecia, thank you so much for letting me take over your blog for a day. I really appreciate your support with my debut novel!
The Six Train to Wisconsin wasn’t my original title. It started out being called The Killing Lights. That was only for a few weeks back in 2009. I needed something to call the short story I was working on. I hated referring to it as “it” or “the short story I’m writing”.
The Killing Lights sounded cool to me. Intriguing. I wasn’t quite sure how it related to the story, but I didn’t have anything else, so I went with it.
But I wasn’t really satisfied. I wanted a title that captured the story. I wanted a title that made people wonder and then have that a-ha moment after they finished reading it.
Back then I lived in Manhattan. My daily commute was on the 2 Train from Wall Street to Time Square every morning. I returned home via the R or W Train to City Hall or Rector St. One day, I forgot my reading materials. So I had nothing to occupy my mind for that 30-minute ride.
It’s always when my mind is wandering that I have these moments of inspired clarity. Often when I’m doing laundry or taking a shower, something amazing will just come to me. This was one of those times.
I was seated across from the subway map they plaster on the wall of each car. I started thinking about how Kai and Oliver live and work on the 6 Train. The local green line. Something about Six Train grabbed me. But Six Train was too nebulous. It didn’t get to the heart of the story.
My mind turned it over. They go from living on the 6 Train in the East Village to Butternut, Wisconsin. Hmm. There was something there. I knew it. And a few minutes later, The Six Train to Wisconsin became my title.
It was catchy and intriguing. It made me wonder. It summed up the physical and emotional journey of the book. The 6 Train doesn’t run to Wisconsin. So the idea of taking the 6 Train to Wisconsin hinted at a journey of conflict. A journey that wasn’t meant to be and wasn’t easy to take. I wanted to capture the difficult shift the characters experienced.
It just felt right for the book. During the next 3.5 years of working on the manuscript, not once did I think to alter the title. It’s like when you find the perfect sandals. They just meld to your feet and you can walk for miles in them without considering switching to anything else.
The Six Train to Wisconsin Back Cover:
Sometimes saving the person you love can cost you everything.
There is one person that ties Oliver Richter to this world: his wife Kai. For Kai, Oliver is the keeper of her secrets.
When her telepathy spirals out of control and inundates her mind with the thoughts and emotions of everyone within a half-mile radius, the life they built together in Manhattan is threatened.
To save her, Oliver brings her to the hometown he abandoned—Butternut, Wisconsin—where the secrets of his past remain buried. But the past has a way of refusing to stay dead. Can Kai save Oliver before his secrets claim their future?
An emotionally powerful debut, The Six Train to Wisconsin pushes the bounds of love as it explores devotion, forgiveness and acceptance.
Author Bio:
Kourtney Heintz writes emotionally evocative speculative fiction that captures the deepest truths of being human. For her 
characters, love is a journey never a destination.
She resides in Connecticut with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, her supportive parents and three quirky golden retrievers. Years of working on Wall Street provided the perfect backdrop for her imagination to run amuck at night, imagining a world where out-of-control telepathy and buried secrets collide.
Her debut novel, The Six Train to Wisconsin, was a 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Semifinalist.
Connecting with Kourtney Heintz Online
Website: http://kourtneyheintz.com
Blog: http://kourtneyheintz.wordpress.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/kourtneyheintzwriter
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KourHei
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomkourtney_heintz
Amazon Author Central Page: http://amazon.com/author/kourtneyheintz
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/kourhei
Paperback available from:
Kecia's Blog 