HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Here is the world’s most difficult task for all you Reds and Readers today!
I need a title for my new book. Can you help?
Here is a little bit about it.
A mysterious plane crash with two teenaged sisters as the sole survivors. They are dear friends and pals, they are in it together, they bicker, but they adore each other.
Many years pass, and one of the sisters, our heroine, becomes a newbie literary agent and specializes in sooks with happy endings… Since she did not have one herself.
The other sister, the older one, got married, and now has a precocious and adorable pre-teen daughter. The sister is divorced, however, and has become a famous fashion influencer.
The agent-sister and the preteen daughter are very close, and as the story opens, she and her niece have just finished spending a wonderful fun week together while the mom is taking a little break, and they are waiting for the mom to come pick her up.
But the Mom does not arrive.
Thing is, it’s the 11th anniversary of the plane crash. The crash that ruined their family and took their parents from them. And now the sister is missing. Definitely missing.
And it seems like the two things must be connected – – plus, there’s a mysterious manuscript, an iffy ex-husband, a series of grisly murders in the Berkshires, and a literary agent who perhaps knows more than she’s saying.
I am being deliberately vague here, for obvious reasons, but:
It’s about mothers and daughters and sisters, it’s about family, it’s about the power of storytelling, about how a story is supposed to end, it’s about a serial killer, and justice, and flying, and it’s about vengeance from the past.
Throw around some words for me, OK? Any ideas?
Some titles come easily, you know that--ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS had a title before it had a story. (And now it is an instant USA Today best seller!)
And now that’s up to you.
Wow! What an intriguing story; I cannot wait to read this, Hank . . . have to think a bit about a title . . . .
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. Survival is Not the End
ReplyDelete2. To Live Another Day
3. Survival's Expiration Date
Hmm, I can’t wait to see what everyone suggests. I’ll throw in Unwritten Endings. I was trying to think of something that would initialize to HEA (aka Happily Ever After), but couldn’t.
ReplyDeleteWHEN THE STORY FINALLY ENDS. Or, if you are looking to sell a lot of books, I'd go with proven title such as, HUCKLEBERRY FINN, WAR AND PEACE, THE JOY OF SEX, GONE WITH THE WIND, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, or any title used by Lucy Burdett. On the other hand, if you wish to target a small, ever-shrinking yet steadfast, group of people who may or may not read, you could title it EVERYTHING DONALD TRUMP HAS EVER SAID WAS RIGHT.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why these popped into my head - maybe because you mentioned eleventh anniversary and a serial killer - but ... "Expiration Date" and "Shelf Life" popped up. Maybe way off ...
ReplyDeleteI vote for Shelf Life!
Delete1. Death is your Inheritance
ReplyDelete2. Deadly Family Ties
3. Family History on Repeat
4. Once Upon a Crash
Ooh, intriguing, Hank. I'm terrible at titles. But how about Happily Never After?
ReplyDeleteNEVER ENDING FLIGHT
ReplyDeleteFATEFUL FLIGHT
Keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteSister Dear
ReplyDeleteProbably a no no in writing, I named my 2nd children’s book before finishing book . My pick for this is Now it’s Our Turn.
ReplyDeleteStory sounds intriguing. Trying to think of titles. Looking at other suggested titles....
ReplyDeletePerhaps a play on the words CRASH LANDING ON YOU (thinking of the K drama).
SHELF LIFE
DEADLY FAMILY TIES
HAPPILY NEVER AFTER ?
ONCE UPON A CRASH
FATEFUL FLIGHT
NEVER ENDING FLIGHT
ONE UPON A CRASH
UNWRITTEN ENDINGS
TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY
SURVIVAL IS NOT THE END
SURVIVOR'S GUILT
I’m voting for “ Survivors Guilt “ and “ Flight Risk “ or “ Unwritten Endings” ( Mary from VA )
ReplyDeleteHow about:
ReplyDeleteWhat Really Happened Was...
or
Stranger Than Fiction