The Holidays Already?

Huh? What happened? I feel like Rip Van Winkle. Wasn't it just summer?

I say this every year, but this year the holidays REALLY crept up on me. I was walking around a local mall last weekend and saw the Santa house going up! It gave me that little roll of anxiousness in my stomach, knowing that (1) I haven't done any shopping (2) I need to work on Highland Guard #6 through the holidays or I'll be way behind (3) parties and parenting obligations will be multiplying (4) all kinds of travel plans to coordinate (5) someone has to pay for all this (6) OMG, I feel ill...

Anyway, the holidays officially start for me tomorrow. My kids will be off all of next week for Thanksgiving. I really like having the whole week off, it makes travel much easier. Last year we went to London, and I was suffering serious withdrawals early today reading my buddy Candice Hern's FB page (she's there this week). I do have some fun things planned that I'll tell you more about later, but basically the whole clan is getting together on my side. My parents, sister, brother and both of their families. In total there will be 16 of us.

What about you, any big plans for the week? Does your holiday start tomorrow? Have you done your shopping yet? (And if anyone has actually finished I don't want to hear about it! :)

So Where's the Honeymoon?

Honeymoons are a big part of getting married nowadays, and although it was a long time ago, I remember one first questions I would be asked after learning I was engaged was, "Where are you going on your honeymoon?"

But it's funny, honeymoons don't figure much in romances. I can count on one hand the books I recall that have a honeymoon epilogue. If anything it's usually the wedding. Maybe readers find them anticlimactic (LOL!).

I was fortunate enough to have a dream destination honeymoon, a place that I doubt we will ever top in terms of luxury. We went to a private island in Fiji, and it was amazing. If I was doing it again, I think I'd still go for the beach destination. Although my preferred "normal" travel destinations are more sight-seeing type places, a honeymoon feels a little different. Private, relaxing, pampering, that kind of thing.

So I thought it would be fun to pick your ultimate honeymoon destination. If you were planning a wedding (cough, cough, Julie) or doing it all over again and money was no object, where would you go?

Me? I'm thinking Tahiti or the Pitcairn Islands. Can you tell I'm a MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY fan (Clark Gable or Marlon Brando version--doesn't matter)?

The Red-Headed Hero

An interesting discussion on Twitter (is that what you call it?) came up a few weeks ago about the article in the paper stating that red-headed sperm donors were no longer needed--not enough demand. Now, as a mother of a red-headed girl, I can tell you that I LOVE my red-head and am very jealous of her hair. But I must admit, it's almost always the first thing people comment on when they see her.

We started going back and forth a little about whether red-headed guys were "hot." We came up with a short list of actors: Kevin McKidd, Max Martini, Damian Lewis, and a couple others.

I must admit, I've never contemplated doing a red-headed hero. I'm not sure why, but I've probably steered away partly because of fear that readers wouldn't like it. About the closest I got was Jamie Campbell, who had dark brown hair with some lingering red/auburn from boyhood.

But I do think there are some "hot" red-headed guys. The guys listed above, and my new discovery the guy who plays Mike on Homeland (Diego Klattenhoff) pictured above.

So what about you...what would you think if you read the back of the book and it said the hero had red hair. Would you put it down? Be honest, and I promise no stones will be thrown and no names taken, LOL.