I am almost unique among authors I know in that – so far – I’ve titled every single one of my books. However, the YA science fiction novel I have coming out in fall 2014 — that one’s special. Because I got to title it three times!

First, let me remind you guys about this book (because it is SO AWESOME and I love it and therefore can’t talk about it enough):

Marguerite, the daughter of two brilliant scientists, is chasing her father’s killer through alternate dimensions. In every new world, she leaps into another version of herself — another person she might be, if circumstances were different. Some of what she finds startles her; some of it scares her. But as she runs, not only does she discover all the infinite possibilities within her, but also within her parents – her friends – Theo, the guy who’s on this quest with her – and Paul, the killer himself. Marguerite discovers that the truth about what happened to her father is more complicated than she ever thought … and that the danger has only begun.

So, I submitted this book under the title CAN’T GET NEXT TO YOU. Catchy, right? I still think it’s a great title. However, I think it’s a great title for a contemporary. There’s nothing in there that suggests the science fiction element, which is a pretty critical part of the goings on. While I meant for the phrase to refer to Marguerite’s chase through the dimensions, it’s not quite on the nose enough. I gave the book that title knowing it wouldn’t be final.

Then, as you may have read here a month ago, we came up with a title I adored: THROUGH A MIRROR INFINITE. Awesome, right? I won’t lie; I still think so. So did my editor and all sorts of other people.

But this is why you can’t get too attached to any one title when you’re in publishing: Lots of people get to weigh in before all is said and done. Ultimately, some people at my publisher felt like it wasn’t memorable enough. True or false? We shall never know. Because I floated one more title to see if they’d like it, and they do, so finally, finally, finally this book has its final title:

A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU

To me this captures the way Marguerite is struggling to understand herself — and Theo, who’s on the journey with her — and even Paul, the man she’s hunting — through the many variations on each of them she encounters in every dimension. Plus it has that romantic feel that is necessary to really, truly describe this book, which I think is probably my most romantic yet.

What do you think? Which one of the three is your favorite? (Gosh, I hope it’s A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU.) Do you have any questions about how the other books got their names?