Over the next few months, as I'm writing my third novel, I'll be asking readers to help me formulate the plot. The polls will start with general, high-level questions that will have broad reaching implications, and then, as the plot becomes more concrete, I'll ask more specific questions. Please vote and let me know what you'd like to see in the next book!

Meanwhile, if you'd like to take a look at an excerpt of the new story (incorporating the results of the first poll question), click the link below.

Excerpt From Next Novel
(still untitled, since I have no idea what to call it)

Question #1: Poll Results

So we came up with a near tie for this month's question...  

    Lainey, the novel's protagonist, is asked by her former best friend, Janie, to keep her young daughter safe from Janie's abusive husband.  Lainey falls in love with the baby, and after Janie betrays her, Lainey runs away with the baby and begins an entirely new, secret life. 

How old should the baby, Molly, be?

Newborn (less than 3 months...): 9%
Between 6 months and a year: 47%
Between 12 months and a year: 45%

Because the results are so close, I've decided to make the baby exactly 12 months old, which probably would've been my choice anyway.  This'll allow her to develop a ton of new skills over the few months of the story timeline (walking, first words, etc.), which'll be fun to write.

Thanks so much for all of you who participated in the first poll!  And now for the next question:

After running away from home, Lainey meets a young man, Alex, who takes pity on her.  Seeing she and Molly have nowhere to live, he invites her to stay with him until she gets her life back on track.  As with most stories that involve a man helping a helpless woman, the two begin to fall in love.  (You knew that was coming, right?)  So...

Where should Alex and Lainey's first kiss take place?
On a midnight walk in the woods (which, coincidentally, is where my husband and I first kissed.)
In the backseat of a car (which, also coincidentally, was the location of my first kiss ever.)
Inside a closet (which-egads!-will be tough, but if it gets chosen I'll find a way to make it happen!)