OK, so maybe there won't always be an England after all.

The book was originally called Dark Ages. It was Dark Ages for the entire time I spent writing it. In my head it is still Dark Ages. We - my agent, publisher, husband, even my contract - still refer to it as Dark Ages. But as my wise and trustworthy editor has pointed out numerous times and at great length, Dark Ages as a title will not sell. It will not sell because it suggests darkness, gloom, unhappiness. What's worse, it suggests history.

(Meg Rosoff, writing in the Guardian's books blog)