Wanted: Your input on Novel #2

It's been said, "Love is in the details."  And yet, as I venture further into writing my second novel, I'm not loving the details!

So, I'm turning to you, my blog friends, for a little direction.  Just think, if ... I mean, when ... I make it big, you can say, "I was a part of the writing process!" 

Okay, so here goes:  The working title of novel #2 is "Secrets, Lies and Apple Pies".  And here's a one sentence synopsis (notice that I haven't named the main character):  After a devastating car accident on the day she learned of her husband's affair with a close family friend, the main character, broken and defeated, returns to live with her mother on a far removed apple orchard seeking solace yet searching for answers.

You guessed it:  Help me name the main character.  Should I name her after an apple, such as Braeburn or Cortland?  Or should she have a more common name like Meredith or Candace?  Or something a little spicy like Scarlet?

And I need your input on one more matter.  The love triangle in the novel begins with a friendship forged during their college years.  Where would you enjoy reading about?  Here's the choices:  Ivy League like Cornell in Ithaca, NY or my alma mater, Elizabethtown College, PA or maybe a more urban setting, such as Georgetown University, Washington D.C. ?

I appreciate your input.  And, I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
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Thanks!

Wild like the Ponies of Assateague Island

There they were, an usual and amazing sight: wild ponies simply hanging out on a beach like nobody's business.  I had been down to the bustling seaside destination of Ocean City, Maryland, many times.  In my visits, I had learned about Assateague Island directly to the South and the wild ponies that inhabit its quiet stretch of shores.  I had read brochures featuring nature tours and sight seeing excursions of the over 300 ponies roaming wild there since the early 1600's.  I had found it interesting to learn of the theory that a Spanish galleon ship containing a cargo of ponies had shipwrecked offshore.  I had considered someday making the long voyage down to Chincoteague, Virginia, to see the Annual Pony Swim where, in order to control the population, some 150 ponies are rounded up and herded across the narrow channel to be sold for auction.  And yet, for one reason or another, be it the Ocean City boardwalk or the draw of cocktails on the bayside, I had never ventured to see the ponies.

You would think on a bachelorette beach getaway weekend, the ponies would be the last thing I'd be seeing.  And yet, on a boating outing intended for more of a bayside bar tour, we ventured across the inlet to Assateague ... and there were the ponies!

What struck me is that when I think of ponies, the image isn't anywhere near of them roaming wild.  Rather, I recall buying tickets for my children to ride a pony around a ring at a local fair.  In the same way, when I think of the fine ladies partaking in last weekend's bachelorette beach getaway, the word "wild" doesn't necessarily come to mind.  Many of us are wives, many of us are mothers, many of us are professionals, spending our days caring for the needs of others in some capacity. 

Today, we're all back to the lives we temporarily left behind.  But for one weekend, we were a pack of wild ponies hanging out on the beach like nobody's business.  And, besides feeling mildly hungover, I think we're all better for the experience.

Share your getaway stories and destinations. 

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School's Out For Summer

Good-bye school bus for the next three months!  No more hectic mornings of packing lunches and repeating the words, "Get dressed.  Put your shoes on."  School's out for summer!  Hooray!

Oh, how I remember the lazy days of summer.  I remember sleeping in, running through the sprinkler, riding my bike, eating corn on the cob and fresh picked strawberries, country fairs and catching lightning bugs.  It was all so relaxing.

Only, now I'm the mom.  And now, I've got three sets of eyes fixed on me asking, "What are we going to do today?"  Hmm, the word, "relaxing", just melted like a sticky popsicle in the sun.  Now, I'm repeating a new phrase for summer, "Come here so I can put sun block on you!"  What is it about sunblock that so repells children?  It's like I could threaten them with, "Clean up your room or I'm spraying you with sunblock," and they'd clean their room.

Anyway, unlike the Phineas and Ferb song that states, "There's a 104 days of summer vacation," there's actually somewhere around 75 days to do it all.  So, I better enjoy all this summertime insanity while I can. 

Here's the hot topic:  What are your memories of summer vacation?  If you have children, do you have a secret countdown until the first day of school?

At least I won't be as busy as these guys: 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoV2adaRBWU  (Phineas and Ferb Theme Song)

Roasting a Weiner on a Hot Topic Fire

This summer as the temperatures heat up, I thought I'd post a hot topic for discussion each week.  I invite your comments and look forward to your opinions.

This week's hot topic:  Liars, Cheaters and Semi-Happy Marriages

Once again, another high profile scandal takes over the news.  Anthony Weiner's sexting debacle has everyone talking.  And it's all pretty much the same old story, except for one fact.  Weiner's wife was missing from the press conference.  Good for her, I say.  What are your thoughts?

Interestingly, this week has included coverage of a thought-provoking new book, "Marriage Confidential" (the shortened title) by Pamela Haag.  The book takes a look modern marriages from children to cheaters to the semi-happy.  The term semi-happy caught my attention.  I think everyone can feel semi-happy about pretty much any part of life, not limited to marriage. 

Perhaps Anthony Weiner was only semi-happy with his marriage, so he sexted rather than actually have a full affair.  Got an opinion?  Let the discussion begin ....

Here's the link for more info about "Marriage Confidential":
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43197697/ns/today-books/t/semi-happy-marriage-youre-not-alone/