Did you Remember?

So...it's March, and I'm sitting here with 5 pretty copies of The Wild Queen in print form. It's a great way to usher in a new month.

Last Friday I asked for your help with today's post. Did you remember? Are your brains sharpened and ready? I hope so, because, for me, nothing has changed. I'm still totally perplexed by the title of this particular project.

Here goes: Synopsis--15-yr-old Ruby's life was shattered when a distracted driver cut off her family's car--and ended the lives of her parents and older sister. Now she lives with her aunt, uncle and their kids, 1200 miles from home. Torn between depression at her loss and guilt for being the lone survivor, Ruby struggles with every day moments, including the perpetual bubbliness of her cousin, Merrilee. Add to that Ruby's new-found fear of driving and irrational hatred of cowboy boots, and you'll find yourself wondering--like Ruby--if life will ever be balanced again.

Okay, so the synopsis still needs work. I didn't have the time this week to fine tune it like I'd planned. But you get the point. Ruby is struggling in a strange town with family she hardly knows, fighting her own memories and her innate resistance to talk about the things that truly bother her. Her aunt, Lisa, well-meaning but poorly equipped, tries to help her by getting her into an art class. There she meets a boy who helps her see that life isn't as bad as she thinks.

Though I caution you, this is not a troubled-girl-finds-boyfriend-and-all-is-well kind of story. They do become friends, and they may eventually pursue a relationship, but it's his take on life that helps her, not "finding a man."

Now, about that title. At first, I wanted to follow one of the current trends of one-word titles, and was going for something that had to do with the point in her life where everything changed. I was thinking Intersection, but the accident doesn't happen at an intersection. So, Intersect--the point where two lines meet. My husband suggested simply Ruby, but I'm still on the fence about that one. I also thought about the phrase "Into everyone's life a little rain must fall" and took Rain Must Fall from that, but this is a YA story and I don't know how many YA readers even know that phrase. I also considered the geography changes. She goes from Orem, UT to Duncan, OK. Never heard of it? Good. I live less than 30 miles south of it. And we did live IN Duncan several years ago. My 3 sons were born at Duncan Regional Hospital. I've scouted out the area of town her aunt and uncle live in, and picked a style of house. Duncan, OK is so geographically different from UT that it's a perfect for the story. It's also part of Tornado Alley, and is an area of the US known for brilliant rainstorms and high winds (without the mountains as buffers).

I'm ready. Give me your title suggestions, please!