Thursday, September 25, 2025

YOUR TITLE HERE


 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!)


Now this book, publishing in 2026  is essentially finished! But--it does not have the title :-) 

And now that’s up to you.


49 comments:

  1. Wow! What an intriguing story; I cannot wait to read this, Hank . . . have to think a bit about a title . . . .

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  3. 1. Survival is Not the End
    2. To Live Another Day
    3. Survival's Expiration Date

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  4. Lisa in Nice (aka LB)September 25, 2025 at 5:25 AM

    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.

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  5. WHEN 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.

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  6. I 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 ...

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  7. 1. Death is your Inheritance
    2. Deadly Family Ties
    3. Family History on Repeat
    4. Once Upon a Crash

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  8. Ooh, intriguing, Hank. I'm terrible at titles. But how about Happily Never After?

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  9. Keep them coming!

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  10. Probably 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.

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  11. Story sounds intriguing. Trying to think of titles. Looking at other suggested titles....

    Perhaps 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

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  12. I’m voting for “ Survivors Guilt “ and “ Flight Risk “ or “ Unwritten Endings” ( Mary from VA )

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  13. How about:

    What Really Happened Was...

    or

    Stranger Than Fiction

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  14. Of those already proposed (and several were pretty good!) my clear favorite is Unwritten Endings. Below are a few I was able to come up with, but I kind of think they pale beside Unwritten Endings.

    To Cheat Death Twice
    The Surviving Sisters
    And Life Goes On
    The Happy Ever After
    No Happy Ever After
    Sister, Mother, Daughter, Gone
    That's Not How It Ends

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    1. Unwritten Endings sound good to me too.

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  15. Hank, big congratulations on all your well-earned success--and for having a draft finished!! Are you sure there aren't a couple of Hank clones busy busy busy?? As for titles? I got nuttin'.

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  16. Other possibility: What are the sisters' names? Perhaps the titles could include both sisters' names?

    Rose Red and Snow White ? (Just throwing out made up names here)

    or the SAGA OF TWO SISTERS ?

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  17. How bout UNHAPPY LANDINGS or TOUCH AND GO (touch and go is a term pilots use when they are practicing take offs and landings)

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  18. Oh Hank, your book sounds sooo good! A couple thoughts: Tragedy Continues; Everlasting Consequences; Some Things Just Never End

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  19. Titles are so hard! Especially when you have a rich complex plot and also don’t want to give too much away.

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  20. Trying to come up with something that fits with your other titles, Hank. The Chosen Ones. Left Behind. (Possibly in my mind because of yesterday's non-Rapture.) Her Sister's Secret. Her Sister's Sorrow. "Her sister", being ambiguous, can refer to either. Flight Patterns.

    Or, getting silly in a Jerry House kind of way: Fifty Shades of Sorrow.

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  21. These are so great and imaginative! And a few are close to the titles we're already considering--which is amazing. Keep them coming--think OUT of the box, too, thematically, not specifically. Ans we want it to stand out, not sound like a typical suspense title. THE LIES ABOUT THE SECRET LIES. Or whatever.:-) Going for unique and easy to remember and differentiate. Cannot wait to see what you come up with!

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  22. I love "HAPPILY NEVER AFTER" first mentioned by Edith. Great book title! And I'll toss the title "SISTER SECRETS" into the ring.

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  23. I have no idea if any of these work… but here you go…
    Missing, presumed dead.
    Never coming back
    Dying to know
    Flight risk
    Truth and consequences
    Truth and deception
    Crash and burn
    All is lost
    Let them go
    Never forgotten.
    Just when you think…
    The wrong one.
    Holding pattern
    Dead air
    Joyce.
    Oh and there’s an unusual call on flights indicating a slight issue… they use ‘Pan-Pan’.

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  24. Wow, Hank, I want to read this book right now! It sounds fantastic. One suggestion: GROUNDED BY GUILT. I'll keep thinking.

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  25. LIFE AFTER DEATHS

    DebRo

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  26. You all are amazing! Yes, Happily Never After is so cute! But this book is very serious, so no puns. Flight Risk, that's great..but may lean into airplanes too much. Although maybe that's fine. Keep them coming!

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  27. I love doing this!! From those above, I really, really like SHELF LIFE and HOLDING PATTERN
    Here are a few others:
    The Anniversary Effect
    The Last Chapter
    The Other Side of Silence
    The Vanishing Hour

    Can't wait to see what you choose! And really can't wait to read this one. Intriguing!!

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  28. SHELF LIFE and HOLDING PATTERN are absolutely terrific titles! But see how they are "soft"? And sound almost...kitcheny? THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE is cool...Hmm. And again, I cannot tell you which ones, but two of them in the comments are very close to what we're already thinking. Keep them coming--I KNOW one of you will nail it!

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    1. The other side of silence title may make readers think that this story will include a deaf character.

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  29. Perhaps a line from a nursery rhyme or a song for a title?

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  30. I got nothing, but I'm loving all the suggestions! Can't wait to see which ones strike a chord with you.

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  31. I like Valerie's The Vanishing Hour. Also, Susan's That's Not How It Ends, which sounds like a Hank Ryan title to me. I think I'd avoid "sisters" as it feels a bit overused at the moment. Still contemplating!

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    1. AGREED! (Susan's is one of the close ones...:-))

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    2. Susan's THAT'S NOT HOW IT ENDS sounds good to me. THE SURVIVING SISTERS was another idea from Susan, which sounds good too.

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  32. I'm no good at titles so I can't help you there. It sounds great and I'll definitely read it.

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  33. GROUNDED BY GUILT sounds good to me too.

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  34. I’m not sure if it fits but Flight Risk is a brilliant title!

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  35. All that comes to mind is NOT AGAIN.

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