Sunday April 21, 2013 I ran a discussion for Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers (MinnSpec): "At what age are cows housebroken?  What urban and suburban writers should know about rural life before writing about it."

I started with a reference to the Cheers theme song:  "A place where everyone knows your name" isn't something country people need to search out.  Where I grew up (Ulster County NY; between Kerhonkson and Accord, which at the time had populations of a couple hundred people each), people would be more likely to want a bar where everyone didn't know your name.  And your grandfather's name.  And your great-grandfather's prison record.

Several other people were from other rural parts of the US.  I learned some things I hadn't known before.

And a couple of people had moved to the country; they had a different slant.

Other topics brought up:  Some urban neighborhoods are rather like very small towns in some ways.

Fantasy writers can get horses very, very wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kUcR4Kn0h24