Wanted: One Intriguing Title

Yes, it’s that time again! My work-in-progress, which I’ve been calling The Waif, needs a permanent title. My agent and editor and I are putting our heads together to come up with just the right title, but in the past you all have added some great ideas to the mix so I thought I’d ask for a little input. We have the added task this time of coming up with a title that will work in the United Kingdom and Australia as well as in the United States, because I’d like to put an end to duplicate titles for the same book. I’m discovering this is quite a challenge!

The story involves four people: four-year-old Bella, her twenty-three-year-old father, Travis, a thirty-four-year-old stranger to them both named Erin, and Bella’s mother, Robin, whom Bella has never seen. (I know…it’s already complicated!). The main thrust of the story is that Travis feels desperate and has to make a very difficult decision out of love and caring for Bella and then everything goes wrong. I don’t want to give away too much here!

Some of the ideas we’ve come up with, none of which I really like yet, are:

Somebody’s Child

Nobody’s Child

The Decision

The Plan

Leaving Bella

The Girl without the Dragon Tattoo (joking!)

The Choice

The Forgotten Child

My editor suggested possibly using a line from a nursery rhyme or fairy tale, so that might be fun to play with.

So, in addition to writing very, very fast, thinking about titles is how I’ll be spending my weekend. Feel free to join me!

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