Help me find the third book's title

The titles The Badness of Ballydog and Lost Dogs were both dreamed up in minutes. But the search for the title for the third and final book of the trilogy has been going on for months. So now I am asking for any ideas you might have. I would welcome and appreciate any suggestions.


The setting looks a bit like this

The last book is set in a valley high in a Northern Irish mountain range. In the valley is a lake with a village by its shore. The village is the opposite of Ballydog. Their community is a utopia, everyone is sweetness and light. The citizens are all blessed with long and contented lives. But they have a secret, revealed early in the plot. The lake is home to a monster.

Here are some titles I like, although not quite enough:

Last Days of Legend
Trial by Water
The Last Days of Lough Linger
Dark Water
Monster Rise
Human Soup
Lost Soul Lake

You could build on any of the above or be original. No suggestion too crazy. There’s a prize for the winner. Not sure what yet.

About Me (No.1)

My name is Garrett Carr. I grew up in a town a bit like Ballydog and now live in a city a bit like Hardglass. I was born in the summer of 1975. By the time I was ten I was obsessed with monsters. Day and night I would be found drawing them.


A drawing from my childhood that I discovered in the attic


This is me a few weeks ago, hunting a monster

Professionally, I come from a background in illustration. I specialised in the creation of visual tools for education in health and law, using images to reach out to the young, or across language barriers. I did that kind of work for governmental agencies in my native Ireland and for development agencies in Latin America.

There is more random information about me on my page on my publisher’s website.

At this link is a recording of an interview with me about The Badness of Ballydog. It is quite long, early 20 minutes. I am sorry to say about half of that time is me going, ‘ummm.’

Here is a video of me reading a short extract from The Badness of Ballydog.

Festival Events

Apart from school visits I have a plenty of festival events lined up for the next few months. I will be making a couple of appearances at the Children’s Book Festival, Tallaght, Co. Dublin later in the year. Those events are being organised by the library service. I am looking forward to a trip to Scotland to be part of the Wigstown Festival at the end of September. HURL, Home University Roscommon Leitrim, are going to have a tent at the Flat Lake Festival in Co. Monaghan. I will be there to give a lecture on a true monster of the deep. The last time I spoke for them I focused on the Colossal Squid but this time I am not sure what I will talk about, there are plenty more monsters in the sea.

My first festival appearance will be later this month. I’ll be at No Alibis on the 22nd of May as part of the Belfast’s Children’s Festival. It is free but places must be booked.