noun: true north
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north according to the earth's axis, not magnetic north.
tell me all about it
College freshman Ian Taylor has been in love before, but never with another guy.
High school labeled Ian as part of the in-crowd, the jocks, the popular kids. College was supposed to be a fresh start, but being roommates with his boorish high school BFF Jase brings high school demons to their dorm suite. Intent on a fresh start, Ian befriends their suitemate, the snarky smart-ass Dakota. There's a significant side-effect to being in awe of Dakota; Ian picks apart the prescribed labels he's always had and questions what truly makes him happy.
Friendships with antithetical Jase and Dakota shift rapidly, corroding with Jase and tempering with Dakota. Finding out Dakota is bisexual pushes Ian into questioning how deep their friendship—and his affection—go. Ian has to decide whether to push Dakota away in favor of the safe labeled life he's always lived, or follow the compass of his heart to find his true north.
College is protection from the harsh realities of the world off-campus, but not the insidious things inside people. Ian must face the hatred and damnation inside friends and family, and a clandestine mystery inside Dakota. Facing these new wars, Ian hopes to god he's not fighting losing battles.
TRUE NORTH tastes the flavors of Rafe and Ben's budding relationship from Bill Konigsberg's Openly Straight, and flavors of self-discovery and second-half plot bomb drop from Nicholas Spark's A Walk to Remember. TRUE NORTH clocks in at 70,000 words and is a YA/NA contemporary LGBTQ+ work.
Working Names
This story has been growing in my brain and on paper since 2004/2005, with a main character named Alaska. Enter, the fabulous John Green. With a book called "Looking for Alaska". Every beta, some query responses, and all conference sessions cried out in unison that I had to rename my character. There are thousands of other names out there, just find one that suits him.
Well, I had invested a lot of time with some creative remarks and jokes and jabs revolving around him being named after a state, so there were not in fact thousands of other names. There were only 49 left. Technically, 47 left as his brothers already took 2 states. Out of principal, I was not going to choose a US Territory.
Don't ask me how because I don't remember exactly how it happened, but North Dakota was the winner.
While it was just a fledgling baby thought it was just "The Alaska Story". Once I finished the first draft there was a need for a 'real' title. Here is where it batted back and forth among titles of equal worth (I give them all a 'C'). "State of Mine" "A Year of Alaska" "A Year With Alaska"... none of them made me completely happy. Changing it to "A Year of North Dakota" had the same dullness. When discussing it with an editor friend I believe my words were "it needs a better title but I can't think of anything"... pshhh if I can get it published they'll probably change the title anyway. NBD.
Oh, hey, wait, I'm trying to sell myself as a writer who has my shit together when I can't even figure a creative title for my work. I better revisit that title issue.
In the end, the name "True North" popped up out of nowhere, has popped up everywhere in my life since then, and I'm taking it as a sign. I have 'True North' scented hanging air freshner in my truck. I've seen businesses named 'True North'. It happened to work out eerily that a small detail that has been part of the story since its infant days directly ties into the idea of 'True North'.
So, you know, a good title might take you a decade.