Developing a concept.

I'm kicking around an idea. No, I haven't written it on a piece of paper or shoved it into a can. Nor, have I put it on the ground to heave my foot at it. Instead, I have this idea rolling around in my head and like a bulldog with an attitude, it won't let go. So what's a writer to do when something like this happens?

Well, this writer pulls out a notebook and begins to make some preliminary notes. I've written down the title, the description as I see it now of hero/heroine. I've even gone so far as to draw the map of the town, so I'll know where the square is, the Methodist Church and the Baptist Church, beauty salon, and from what my characters are telling me they shoved the Catholic Church out on a country road. Do I know why? Er-no and yes, I'm afraid to ask. I have to let my characters dictate what they want before I start asking too many questions.

These guys have gone so far as to have me make up a mock cover. While their personalities like it. I'm not so sure it will fly. You see, my story will take place in the south. My characters think a faded wood painted like the Confederate flag should serve as a backdrop for each cover. Which brings me to my quandary, how insulted would folks be if that flag was on a cover? Yeah, yeah, I know Bo and Luke Duke had it painted on the top of their car, but would such a flag keep readers from picking up this contemporary romance?

No radical whites would be portrayed. It's just a small southern town with a southern reference. How do you feel as readers? Would the backdrop of the rebel flag be a deterrent to you reading this southern romance?