The Title

Who Nicked the Dog? has been given the flick. Sounds like a title for a quirky, fluffy sort of story without a lot of depth. Which this book is not. The plot, subplots, themes and characters in this story need a more substantial title to sit on the front cover.

See – I should pay more attention to my nearly-fourteen-year-old-daughter editor.

The new proposed title is Lucky or Not. It works on a number of levels: Was Mum lucky, after all, to win the competition, when she ends up in hospital, instead of riding camels around Mongolia? Is Brody’s new dog really Mr Ironclad’s Lucky? Will Ish and Molly get to the farm in time to save Lucky from Uncle Vinny’s schizophrenic rampage?

The big question is whether Lucky or Not is enough of a hook.

The questionnaires are coming back with very positive responses from my group of ‘readers’. So far, people have told me they can’t put it down. Yippee! That the ending works. Yippee! That there is enough depth. Yippee! That they like the characters; the humour works; the themes are relevant; authentic, consistent voice. YES!

Looks like not much more revision needed. But it’s got to get past the BIG GUN yet!

The synopsis? Not a lot of progress there. But I’m still trying. In the olden days my waste paper basket would be overflowing and I’d be typing in a sea of scrunched up balls of —

THIS IS SO ORDINARY!

I want peppy. I want grabby. I want outstanding!

Sigh.

Does Lucky or Not work as a title do you think?

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