No–not that kind of ring!

All right, I confess, I’m reprising a blog from July 1, 2014 regarding rings.

I’m in the thick of the third book in my Ring series. This manuscript I had to put down to address other priorities, but my goal is to have a solid draft finished by the end of the month so I can start fresh on a new NaNoWriMo story. And yes, that will be an historical also, probably a ringless one, since this is proving to be a very challenging prop.

Anyway, in spite of my declaration at the end of my earlier post, I’ve settled on using a puzzle ring:

This is a six-part puzzle ring. My story’s ring will be a simpler affair.

So without further ado, and without revealing the name of this next book (because I haven’t decided yet) here is my earlier post, reprised:

I’ve been working on the third novel in my Ring series, and I can’t decide what to call it. In the first two stories I’ve used alliterative titles. Rosalyn’s Ring was released by Soul Mate Publishing on July 24, 2013, and the sequel, Bella’s Band, is due out in the autumn of 2014.

When I mentioned to an author friend that I was working on a third story she said, “Better get out a thesaurus to figure out that title!”

Oops! I hadn’t planned for a third book when I wrote Rosalyn’s Ring.

Actually, deciding on a type of ring helped with plotting–this story will involve a ring with interlocking bands. The problem is, I have too many choices.

There’s the Claddagh,

the Fede,

and the Gimmal (also spelled Gimmel, which has a not-so-nice meaning in the urban dictionary).

These pictures from Wikimedia Commons are obviously not the best, but PippaTree Curated Treasures has some lovely photos and descriptions.

It’s likely that Gimmal and Claddagh rings derive from Fede rings, (from “mani in fede” or “hands in faith”), which date to antiquity. The motif of all three is usually the same: a pair of clasped hands, sometimes encircling a heart, symbolizing love. The Claddagh is a traditional Irish ring. The name Gimmel or Gimmal derives from Latin “gemelli” or twins, referring to the two parts of the ring.

There are also puzzle rings, but I really like the clasped hands of the Fede, Claddagh, and Gimmal.

Right now I’m leaning toward using a Gimmal ring. What do you think?