Still Need a Title!

I’m two weeks from the deadline for the book formerly known as The Waif and still have no title for this poor story! There are a few titles my editor and I are considering (one of them suggested by one of you the last time we brainstormed!), but we still don’t think we’ve found the right one. So I’m opening it up to you again to see what we can come up with. This time, I’ll tell you a little more of the story, which is set in three areas in North Carolina: Raleigh, Carolina Beach and Beaufort.

Thirty-four-year-old Erin is separated from her husband and grieving the loss of her four-year-old daughter when she meets a young guy, Travis, and his four-year-old daughter, Bella,  in a coffee shop. Bella is a sweet little charmer with big gray eyes. She carries a stuffed lamb in one hand and a little pink purse in the other. Erin is drawn to Bella in a way that both frightens and thrills her. She’s known Travis and Bella only a week when Travis asks her to watch Bella while he gets something from his car. He goes to his car. . . and doesn’t return. 

Travis has raised Bella since she was an infant and she’s his world. He’s worked in construction to support Bella and himself, but a fire has destroyed his home and belongings, and the poor economy has left him without work. In desperation, he takes a job that turns out to be not what it seems and that puts both Bella and himself in danger.    

In another town, twenty-two-year-old Robin is engaged to marry Dale, who’s running for mayor. When Dale’s teenaged sister has a baby, Robin begins thinking about the baby she never had a chance to know. . . the baby she’s kept a secret from her fiance.

There’s a lot more going on, but I don’t want to give anything away. It’s a story of a little girl who changes the lives of three people who love her, and it’s both poignant and suspenseful–I hope!

Let’s see if we can find a the right title for this title for this title-less book. I welcome your suggestions.

29 Comments

  1. Dina Veiga on April 4, 2011 at 10:54 am

    “Essence”

    “Tied To My Heart”

  2. Dina Veiga on April 4, 2011 at 11:11 am

    Did my suggestions get to you?

  3. Debbie hearne on April 4, 2011 at 11:22 am

    Child of Wonder, Child of Light

  4. Diane Chamberlain on April 4, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    Yes, Dina, I needed to “approve” you since you’re a first time commenter to the blog. Now you’re all set.

    NOTE: the publisher wants to emphasize the title to emphasize the suspense element in the story, so we need to keep that in mind.

  5. Margo on April 4, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    An Unexpected Turn
    Changing Light
    Remembering Her
    A Glance Back
    Fallen Branches
    Divided Paths
    A Second Glance
    A Glimpse Of Light
    Labor Of Love
    Tangled Threads
    A Glimpse of Thunder
    A Glimpse of Shadow
    Matter Of Innocence
    Chance Encounter

  6. Diane Chamberlain on April 4, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    Helpful brainstomring, as usual! I thought I’d share some of the titles I’ve come up with to maybe jog your own thinking
    The Risktaker’s Daughter
    Everything to Lose
    No Way Home
    That Night on the Pier
    The Gray-Eyed Girl
    The Good Father
    The Reluctant Thief
    Just for Tonight
    The Note
    When He Left Her

    • Judith Barnett on April 6, 2011 at 10:05 pm

      In The Footsteps of Angels or
      The Inocense of Angels

      I can’t wait to read it. I have enjoyed your novels very much!

      • Diane Chamberlain on April 6, 2011 at 10:24 pm

        Thanks Judith. Sorry it took a day to okay your post. My blog was down!

  7. Rose Balan on April 4, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    A Father’s Love
    Take Good Care of Her
    What He Left Behind

  8. JoAnn on April 4, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    I think I like the Gray-eyed Girl. But I also like the word “ragamuffin”

    “The Little Lost Lamb”

    I love your description of the story, captures my imagination right away. Love, Jo

  9. JoAnn on April 4, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    I love the word ragamuffin. is that just as hard as waif?

  10. Gail Salewski on April 4, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    Love’s Child

  11. Diane Chamberlain on April 4, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    Yeah, Jo, I don’t think ragamuffin will fly!
    Gail, that’s beautiful! I don’t think it’ll work either because it’s not suspenseful, but I’m going to pass it along to my editor with several others here. thanks everyone!

  12. Iris on April 4, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    A Father’s Gift

    Borrowed Daughter

  13. Rose Balan on April 5, 2011 at 12:15 am

    After rereading the description, the aspect of the storyline that grabbed me is that Bella is a replacement for the child Erin has lost. So, what about focusing on that relationship with something like:

    The Surrogate Child

    This may seem kind of lame. Better words might be used, to convey the notion that Erin is given a daughter that, sort of, takes the place of her own.

  14. Margo on April 5, 2011 at 8:53 am

    BEFORE DAYBREAK
    I REMEMBER HER
    LOST IN THE NIGHT

  15. Barb on April 5, 2011 at 9:00 am

    The Soulful Child

  16. Margo on April 5, 2011 at 9:36 am

    WATCH OVER HER

    Sorry Diane…I keep thinking of things so will continue to send them your way (-O:

  17. Diane Chamberlain on April 5, 2011 at 11:10 am

    Thanks everyone. I’m sending them in as you send them to me. Haven’t heard from my editor yet, but between the ones here and the FB responses, I think there are some good choices.

  18. JoAnn on April 5, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    Could you use this picture of the little girl? Her look seems perfect to me. Photoshop a lamb and a pink purse, and remove the rose? What do you think?

  19. Jo on April 5, 2011 at 6:47 pm

    Forgotten Daughter

    Left Alone

    Lonely Daughter

    Must be hard to choose!
    Hope you find the perfect title Diane 🙂

  20. Diane Chamberlain on April 5, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    She is perfect. . . except I’ve actually been using a different image as I write (too expensive to buy for the blog, so I settled on this little girl, who IS adorable). I’d have to change hair color and a few other things. I don’t know. We’ll see what the pub says!

  21. Margo on April 6, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    Gone In A Moment
    Looking For Her
    Lost

  22. Diane Chamberlain on April 6, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    Thanks Margo! And my apologies to any of you who had trouble getting on the blog today. It was down for maintenance.

  23. Lisa on April 8, 2011 at 2:07 pm

    I would like to suggest the title “Twice Loved”

  24. Wanda on April 10, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    My first thought was simply “Bella”
    The Secret of Bella
    Bella’s Secret
    Bella’s Touch
    A Child of the Heart.

  25. Donna on April 11, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Abandoned Angel…

  26. ANN WAGNER on April 11, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    How about “Changeling” ?

  27. jonnye rose pierce on May 4, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    1) “That’s Me” I instantly am drawn to this title ~
    if you had lived my life, you’d understand;far more,
    and I use to swim at Carolina Beach; attended school ~
    in Wilmington with many who came by bus from the
    ~beach,of shells.
    2) “Rose”

    even may use together ” That’s Me,”
    Rose

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