J.K. Rowling’s next book isdefinitely not titledWoohoo, Chips!, though fans almost needed the help of the Marauder’s Map to track down the forthcoming release’s actual name.
TheHarry Potter scribe, who created the iconic boy wizard for the series’ debut novel in 1997, engaged in a game of hangman with Twitter users in an attempt to uncover the title of her latest literary venture, eventually revealed to beLethal White.
“_ _ _ H _ _ _ H _ _ _,” the British writer tweeted Tuesday morning in response to a fan’s inquiry about the title of the fourth entry in herCormoran Strike series — three of which she previously wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith between 2013 and 2015.
After catalyzing the hunt, Rowling was then swamped with guesses, promptly nixing several of them — includingRather Sharp,Tether Chins,Anchor Chain,Rasher Thief,Eighth Child, andGothic Chain.
She also playfully shot down the idea that she’d titled her work Eighty Shoes orMashed Chips.
“No, but I would definitely read novels [with those titles],” she responded.
One reader, however, came close to nailing down the title shortly thereafter. She revealed someone had sent her “a joke suggestion that is one letter away from the title,” and that her game was merely “an exercise in sadism” when a user asked if she planned on confirming the title if someone submitted the correct set of words to her. “Of course,” she wrote. “Otherwise this isn’t so much a puzzle… ”
Further details onLethal White — other than that Rowling is, according to a tweet,writing the book’s 23rd chapter — were not immediately available. Check out more of Rowling’s hilarious responses below.