Bet you didn’t know it…but Mobile (my home) has its own leprechaun.

Guess what I’ll be looking for today? Because, dude, I want that pot of gold, too.

My dad would so be the guy in the camo gear–he’d be ready to take out that leprechaun!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Lately, I have been in the mood to re-read books.  When I have a few minutes, I snag one from the shelf and plop down on the couch for some nice, relaxing time. And when I am particularly time pressed, I like to re-read novellas.

Here are a few of my re-reads:

Angela Knight’s “Blood and Kisses”  novella in Secrets, Volume 3 (Angela’s work later inspired me to write for Red Sage)

Sherrilyn Kenyon’s” Dragonswan”

Kresley Cole’s “The Warlord Wants Forever” in Playing Easy to Get

Linda Howard’s “Lake of Dreams” in Everlasting Love

Jill Barnett’s “David and the Angel” in A Holiday of Love

Since I am trying to finish up the rough draft of my latest novel, free time is at a minimum for me, and these novellas are perfect for that time pinch!

Do you have any favorite novellas that you’d like to share?

So today is the second Friday the 13th of 2009.  I don’t know about you, but my bad luck began early.  🙂  I hope everyone else out there has a good day. Meanwhile, I’ll be taking my broken glasses, torn contact lenses, and heading to the eye doctor! Ah!

Some people I know really get worked up about Friday the 13th. Cause some of them, yep, they are very superstitious.  Growing up, there was one superstition that my family literally thought of as death’s kiss. If anyone in my family–my mom, any of her sisters, my grandmother–dreamed of water, then the phone calls started.  They had to check to make certain that everyone was okay. Because to them, water equaled death. The really creepy thing?  Sometimes, they were right.

Do you have any superstitions that you follow?  Or that your friends follow?  Despite me being, well, a paranormal freak, I don’t really have any.  Sure, I try not to break any mirrors but I’m not the salt throwing type. I guess if I have a really bad dream,I don’t talk about it before breakfast (another lesson learned from my family), but that may be it.

If you’ve got a superstition you follow, share it with me. I am so curious about these things!

I found out yesterday that I am a double finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. I finaled with HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT (paranormal category) and “Spellbound” (novella category).  Thank you so much to all of the judges–and to the wonderful coordinators of this contest!

Last night, Nick and I were talking about the fact that, particularly in movies, we see the same southern stereotypes. (Big note–I’m southern. 🙂 )

With men, there are two main southern versions in the movies:  The hunk and the hick.

The hunk, well, he’s like the estranged husband from SWEET HOME ALABAMA.  Drawling voice, smooth-talking, sexy.  Maybe he comes off as a bit lazy, but hey, that’s okay.  He’s generally amazingly good-looking (think Matthew McConaughey) and can charm just about anyone with his drawl and tanned flesh.

The other guy, um, he’s not so charming. The hick usually has a drawl that is much,much harder, not full of sexy rolls. He likes to dip. He carries his shotgun just about everywhere. He has way outdated views on the world. And he often has a rebel flag, somewhere (on his car, at his house…).

For the women, there are also two main stereotypes:  The vamp and the tramp.

The vamp–well, she’s sexy (the equivalent of the hunk). Her voice and drawl are soft, husky.  She doesn’t usually wear a lot of clothes, because you know, it’s hot down here.  She’ll steal her best-friend’s lover. She’ll scheme, she’ll plot, but she’ll rarely do actual work.  (Again, I’m guessing cause it’s so hot and she doesn’t want to tire herself.) Sometimes, the vamp does slide into tramp land a bit.

But the tramp–well, she’s usually shown in movies wearing clothes that don’t fit. She has very bad hair. A voice that is close to a screech.  She smokes like a chimney. She drinks–oh, the woman can drink. And she has an assortment of children, often all with different fathers.

I promise–for those of you not in the south–we are not like this!!

And one more stereotype about the south that has been driving me crazy lately…there are so many movies (and television shows) that feature southern people, indoors, sweating.  Sweating inside. Whether it’s inside a courtroom or an office building.  I promise–we do have air conditioners down here.  Unless the air conditioner is broken, we have no need to walk around the house, icing ourselves down with um, ice (vamp style).

Sorry. Stereotype rant over.

And if you’ve got a stereotype that is driving you crazy, feel free to share it with me!