Harkening back to 18^th century Pennsylvania, and rooted in ancient lore, Groundhog Day is traditionally celebrated on February  2^nd. Perhaps the most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil of Gobbler’s Knob, was immortalized in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day featuring Bill Murray.

Legend says if the groundhog sees his shadow, we’ll have six more weeks of winter. If it’s cloudy, and the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow, we’ll have an early spring. Records have been kept since 1887, and Phil has been correct 39% of the time.  Hmmm, I wonder how that compares to our local weather man….

The groundhog is actually a marmot, also known as a woodchuck or a whistle pig. (I’ve never actually heard of a whistle pig, but if you read it on the internet it must be correct. Right?) Personally, I think a holiday based on a rodent is awesome!

I’m the morale officer at work, and this year we’re showing the Bill Murray movie, and serving pulled pork sandwiches. (Ground hog, get it?) I tried to get the chef to wear a top hat and jacket like the gentlemen in Gobbler’s Knob, but that idea kind of got shot down.  I’m planning on showing The Three Amigos for Cinco de Mayo…I wonder if she’d wear a sombrero….

If you’re not familiar with the plot of Groundhog Day, Bill Murray’s character is forced to relive Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney until he learns a few life lessons. Time only moves forward when he figures out that you can’t cheat death, and you can’t fake love.

So here’s my question of the day: If you could live one day over again, what day would it be? (And you can’t pick wedding days or the births of your children – too easy.) Stretch your memory a little.

Here’s one of mine….Years ago I went to Puerto Rico with a friend. We took a catamaran off the coast, and snorkeled in the shade of the boat. I was young and poor, but I figured a little splurge was in order. One of the ship’s crew had spent time in northern Nebraska, and we shared our thoughts on the difference between our cultures. When we returned, the ship’s crew refused to accept payment from us. They wouldn’t even take a tip! I can still picture the sun sparking off the water, and hear the waves lapping against the boat. I’d relive that day, and take my family with me this time.

What about you?

A wife and mother of three, Sherri’s hobbies include collecting mismatched socks, discovering new ways to avoid cleaning, and standing in the middle of the room while thinking, “Why did I just come in here?” A reformed pessimist and recent hopeful romantic, Sherri has a passion for writing. Her books are fun and fast-paced, with plenty of heart and soul.

Her debut novel, Winning the Widow’s Heart, releases from Harlequin Historical Love Inspired in June. Visit her website at sherrishackelford.com, or email her at sherrishackelford@gmail.com.

I love romances. Really. I write them and read them. But there are some things in romance novels that just make me crazy, and I know I’m not the only one.

In no particular order these things irritate me:

1 . The heroine has tiny feet. How many people actually think of their own feet as tiny?

2 . The heroine falls asleep thinking about what’s going to happen. Yawn.

3. The heroine has “small perfect” teeth. Or pearl-like or even. Why does the writer feel the need to tell us that?

4. Jumping in and out of heads/point of view. Do readers notice or care when we know what the cab driver is thinking?

5. A couple jumping into bed before I care about them – or before they care about each other. :::yawn:::

6. The ending feels rushed, as though the author only had a few remaining pages in which to resolve everything.

7. A story that starts out with so much backstory that I feel as though I’ve missed the previous book.

8. Heroines who giggle.

9. Heroines who only need a shower and a little lip gloss to look like JLo. Yeah, right.

10. Heroes with bad attitudes and nobody ever calls them on it. He’s full of himself, bossy and arrogant. I just don’t like jerks.

11. Heroes who growl. Really? If a man growled at you would you fall all over him?

12. Heroines who purr or mewl. :::meow:::

13. Impossible dialogue tags: “He husked” How does one husk?

14. Ridiculous dialogue tags: “He barked” Excuse me? Are you barking at me? Down boy.

15. Euphemisms. You know the ones I mean. Call a body part by its name or simply elude to it,  but don’t bring pomegranates or roots into a love scene.

16. A heroine who cries. A good cry once—maybe twice—is acceptable as long as it’s well motivated. For me, the black moment or an overdue confession is a good reason to cry. But please not weeping and tearing up all through the story. A lot more emotion can be conveyed if the character holds back tears. Strength can be great characterization.

17. Characters who say the other person’s name repeatedly. I understand all about keeping story people separate for the reader, but people don’t speak to each other that way—unless they’re angry, usually.

18. Couples who argue without good reason. This is not conflict, people, this is bickering!

19. Heroines who are too young. Ewww.

20. Purple eyes. Do you know ANYONE with purple eyes?

I doubt I’ve covered it all. Is there anything I missed that sets your teeth on edge?

Well, here I am back at the junction again to share another word of the month. I kind of like the idea, actually – it’s like each month I have something new to work on and develop and learn.  Last month I talked about productivity and how the fall gets me all juiced up for new projects.

Well, sometimes all that energy and enthusiasm has me committing to more than I should. And before I know it I’m stressed. So this year I’m making a pre-emptive strike against over commitment. In my productivity efforts the one thing I’m most proud of is how I’m trying to simplify things.

Let’s face it, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and see all there is to do. New projects, promotion, this that and the other social media, book signings, copy edits…and that’s just work. I haven’t even hit on the home thing yet.

One of the first things I did was look at my yahoo loops. Anything I hadn’t read/contributed to since the summer began I deleted. Now my groups are totally streamlined.

I also streamlined my social media. A lot of it feeds into each other, and the inefficiencies got the delete key. My hootsuite panel looks gloriously efficient now. Anything I didn’t enjoy maintaining, I’m not. There are still lots of places for readers to find me which is most important.

I looked at my commitments for 2012 and made some tough decisions. But you know, once the decisions were made I felt really good about them. It was the right thing to do and I think will cut down my workload substantially while still giving me the exposure I want. Because things need to be fun. I always have said when it stops being fun, that’s when I stop doing it (or in the case of writing, when it stops being fun and I fulfill my contractual obligations, lol!).

I simplified by putting myself and my family first. I’m far happier when I do that and miraculously I can spend fewer hours in the desk chair and be just as productive.

And while it takes a bit more time, I’m making a lot of this year’s Christmas presents. I’m enjoying it a lot. There’s something so satisfying about it – working with my hands and crafting things in the old traditional ways.

What about you? Do you ever get the urge to simplify your life? It’s not easy to do. How do you simplify?

I’ve got a few brand new stories out this month – HOW A COWBOY STOLE HER HEART and OFF THE CLOCK. Today I’ve got an e-copy of OFF THE CLOCK to one lucky commenter!  Here’s a bit about the story:

A few years ago, my hubby and I took a leaf-peeper trip throughout New England, and the blinding colors of Massachusetts’ Berkshires and Vermont’s Green Mountains still glow in my memory. But I got to thinking about the kind of autumn offering we might have out here in the West. Searching around a little, I found photographer/communications consultant John Poimiroo willing to share some of his glorious photographs of the Eastern Sierras with us!

We’ll start off with Conway Summit, at 8,143 feet, a mountain pass in Mono County, California. It’s the highest point on U.S. Highway 395 which also traverses high passes at Deadman Summit and Devils’ Gate Pass. (I don’t know about you but I LOVE these names.)

Leroy’s western adventures tragically ended in 1926 when he accidentally shot himself, and the town’s name was chosen in his memory in 1953. However, it was often called Poverty Flat for its unfavorable conditions for farming. According to the last census, 222 people call it home now, down from 398 in 1990.

Yosemite is one of those places where I sincerely believe God lives. Here’s Fern Springs in the fall.

The Ahwahneechee tribe first called this heavenly land home, until the violence of the mid 1800’s that displaced them. In 1851, the Mariposa Battalion entered this exquisite valley to remove the native people. Gold seekers disrupted the land with mining sites, lumberjacks left behind giant stumps, and people arriving on horseback and building railroads and rustic hotels spurred cries for conservation from those who loved the land. President Lincoln signed a bill in 1864 granting Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to the State of California and John Muir, the seminal environmentalist, helped to create Yosemite National Park in 1890.

At 2,425 feet from the top of the upper falls to the base, Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America  and qualifies at the sixth highest waterfall in the world.

Last but not least, the Pacific dogwood blooms here from late April into May but leaves behind a legacy of glorious fall color. The nutallii has a long life span and will often reach a height of 75 feet.

I hope you enjoyed some California color today! And thank you, John, for sharing.

Oh, sometime this fall, the fourth in my Hearts Crossing Ranch series will be available. You can click on the cover for a link to notify you.

Just north of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, atop a rocky bluff with a view of a tree-filled valley, sits an architectural marvel of unique rooms, streets, gardens and shops called “House on the Rock.” Envisioned, designed and mostly built by architect Alex Jordan Jr., this house is an amazing combination of talent and whimsy. Built, literally, into the rock, with trees in many places growing through the floor and ceiling the rooms wind around the natural landscape, creating wonderful vistas and cozy, cushioned nooks just begging for someone to build a fire and snuggle in with a good book.

The house isn’t one structure. It’s a complex of buildings surrounded by gardens and forest, including the Gate House, the Organ Room, the Doll House Room, and the world’s largest indoor carousel, which boasts 269 handcrafted animals, 20,000 lights and 182 chandeliers. The most incredible (and mildly unsettling) space is the Infinity Room, a steel and glass “needle” that extends 218 feet out over the scenic valley and 156 feet above the forest floor, with 3,264 windows overlooking the valley. More than 140 of those 156 feet are unsupported, hanging in mid-air.

My husband and I concluded our recent vacation to beautiful Door County, Wisconsin, with a side trip to House on the Rock. My dh had been many years ago, but this was a new destination for me. Based on half-remembered reminiscences about the place, and a short piece on the History Channel or Discovery Channel, I expected a grand house with sweeping rooms and awe-inspiring views. Instead I was completely charmed by low ceilings with natural rock walls, the glow of dozens of tiffany-style lamps, and tiny spaces crammed full of art and books and thousands of whimsical creatures either made by Mr. Jordan or commissioned by him to fill a particular spot in the house. All the while we were walking through the structure, I kept repeating ‘I’d love to curl up right there with a book’ or ‘don’t you just want to settle in and talk or debate with friends?’

By all accounts, Mr. Jordan loved to do just that. He enjoyed company and hosted many parties.

I think my favorite spot was the room where a small organ, a harp and a piano were crowded together and overshadowed by a great winged dragon.

If you haven’t seen this delightful architectural marvel, add it to your bucket list. I will definitely be going back.

When I was a kid, I had a real thing about horses. I wanted one, but growing up on an apple farm meant we didn’t have a barn or pasture to keep one (or two). My solution was to suggest 4-H – using a horse from a nearby farm. But that meant having to drive me so I could care for the animal etc, so it was a non-starter. I had a few friends who had horses, and now and again I’d get to go to their house and go for a ride. And a handful of times I went to a local riding stable and did trail rides. I read horse books. I did “research reports” on my summer holidays. I was horse crazy.

I have a daughter who is animal crazy, so when we were looking at a special summer activity, we looked at things to do with animals. Unfortunately, the local vets and shelters require volunteers to be eighteen for liability reasons so that was out. And then I realized that there is a stable nearby who does camps all summer long.

When I asked her about it, she was over the moon. Not just to ride horses but to care for the horses. Feeding and brushing and whatever else they get to do. As the time gets closer, she’s getting more excited.

Is it sad that I almost wish I could go with her?

Okay, so neither the title or the picture are quite right since I walked about 15 miles today (not exactly REST or RELAXATION, but it was FUN ) and someone forgot to pack the fishing gear. But at least we made it out of Dodge earlier this week, minus my cell phone (how is it that I pack for FOUR, and forget my own phone?? Although I did pack the charger ), but such is the hazard with a spur-of-the-moment escape plan.

When I was whisked away to the coast I hadn’t yet planned a topic for my Friday blog day. So here I sit at midnight on Thursday, ever so thankful for the neighbor’s generous wifi signal , racking my brain for a topic while trying to ignore the radiating heat of a sunburn…….hey, how about some vacation packing tips?!

• Tip #1 – Sunscreen is a MUST. For all those pasty cave-dwellers like myself, REAPPLY sunscreen at noon. No matter how thick you slavved it on in the morning–REAPPLY.
• Tip #2 – When heading to the beach, check to make sure he who said he’d pack all the beach/fishing gear actually puts said gear IN THE TRUCK.
• Tip #3 – Always take a Swiss army knife—which has already de-slivered, de-twined and fixed a dental retainer emergency
• Tip #4 – Always pack a flashlight because power-outages happen everywhere….and they’re handy for hunting sand crabs in the dark
• Tip #5 – Doesn’t matter where you’re going, you can’t pack too much water, paper towel or zip-lock bags.
• Tip #6 – Always pack a medical kit:

• Solarcaine Spray
• Tylenol, Motrin
• Band-Aids/gauze roll
• Ice Pack
• Polysporin
• Peroxide
• Benadryl
• Visine Eye drops

And, yeah, we’ve used about everything in that kit so far! Fun can be hard on the health   But we are having a blast! After today’s marathon of adventure I’m wishing I’d packed a masseuse, and my over-baked, aching muscles are looking forward to spending Friday sprawled in a beach chair while the teenagers run amuck in the surf

Wishing everyone fun & safe vacations and a Happy Friday!!

Before we get into the world of villains, desperados and scoundrels, I’d like to say how happy I am to be rejoining the Fillies at Petticoat Junction!  Thank you for having me back.   As usual, life has a way of dictating to you, rather than the other way around – I find I’m destined (gratefully so) to write strong hunky western heroes set in small towns!  It’s where I belong and where I’m most comfortable.  

Now on to the VILLAIN:

When I picture a villain, the cliché image comes to mind – a moustache-twirling, evil-eyed man wearing a sinister smirk.  

Wikipedia describes a villain this way:

A villain (also known in film and literature as the “bad guy”, “black hat“, or “heavy”) is an “evil” character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters. A female villain is sometimes called a villainess (often to differentiate her from a male villain). Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines villain as “a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel; or a character in a, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot.”

In this quote by film critic, Roger Ebert, we see how much importance he places on villainy. “Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph.”

In westerns, often the villain is the greedy land baron, the corrupt sheriff or the wicked stepfather.  Villains give a good story, conflict.  They can be the diverse opposite of the hero.  A good villain makes the hero, “heroic.”  

 I’ve certainly written my share of villains, who were evil and sometimes, murderers.  I have written villainesses as well and by far, they are the most fun to write.  But sometimes, a villain isn’t all that evil. Sometimes, they are merely, selfish, uncouth and greedy.  Not nice traits, to be sure, but those characteristic are just bad enough to make a story truly entertaining.  I really believe the success of my last Harlequin Desire, Carrying the Rancher’s Heir, which spent two weeks on the USA Today Bestseller List and 3 weeks on the Borders Top Ten List had a great deal to do with the sworn enemy theme.  Yes, it was a sexy story with an intriguing hero and heroine, but there was a villain that just couldn’t be brought down and his true appeal, to me, was that he really believed he was protecting his daughter, Callie, (heroine) the way any father would.   On one level readers could relate to him.  He was believable in his dastardly ways.   

Thank you Hawk Sullivan!

Sometimes a villain isn’t so much a person, per se, but a reputation or occurrence the hero or heroine has to live down.  That’s the case in my newly released Kindle romance, Smooth-Talking the Hometown Girl.  Kyle Warren comes back to his hometown of Bentley, Arizona to settle his father’s estate.  While there, he learns some things about his “Pop” but even more things about himself.  Wealthy and successful now, Kyle fights to change one woman’s opinion of him and debunk her wary perception about him, even if he has to be slightly devious to do it. 

I’ll challenge you to guess which of these Great Villains of the Silver Screen, holds the #1 Spot. 

The Joker -  Batman

Darth Vader – The Empire Strikes Back

Norman Bates – Psycho

Hannibal Lecter – Silence of the Lambs

Wicked Witch of the West – The Wizard of Oz

Mr. Potter – It’s a Wonderful Life

Nurse Ratched – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Did you guess?  Hang on – I’ll tell you at the end of this blog…

According to AMC these are the Top Seven Western Villains… some might surprise you.

1. Walter Brennan  – My Darling Clementine
2.  John Wayne – Red River
3. Jack Palance – Shane
4. Eli Wallach – The Magnificent Seven
5. Lee Marvin- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
6. Lee Van Cleef – The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
7. Richard Boone – Hombre  

My favorite villain(ess) from a movie is the character Kathy Bates played in Misery.  She scared the stuffing out of me.  My Western villain has to be, more recently, Russell Crowe, in 3:10 to Yuma.  So what famous villain from a novel or movie scares you the most? Who’s your favorite dastardly scoundrel and do you secretly love to hate them?  Did you guess right?  Post a comment and you’ll be entered into a RANDOM drawing for a $10 Amazon Gift Card.  

#1 Villain of the Silver Screen:

Hannibal Lecter

              
Hello folks.  Thanks for all the wonderful comments on my Honey Bee post.  I used my handy-dandy random number generator to select a winner of the giveaway and came up with Laney4. 

Laney4, if you will contact me via my website with your mailing address, I’ll get a copy of my book right out to you.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by today.

Winnie

1. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly outside or opposite the building you are visiting. This also applies to a building you are surveying in the dark to spy on someone. There is always an open spot on the street with a view of the exact window you need to see.

2. If you suspect your boyfriend is cheating on you, simply go to any restaurant with your girlfriends to catch him. He will never see you there, so slip out and walk home.

3. Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment it’s aired. If you need to catch a breaking news report, try stepping out of the shower and flipping on the TV.

4. Creepy music (or satanic chanting) coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated.

5. Any lock can be picked with a credit card or paperclip in seconds. UNLESS it’s the door to a burning building with a child inside.

6. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps. This phenomenon can be seen in high school hallways and classrooms as well.

7. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red digital displays so you know exactly when they are going to explode. Try as you will, you will never get the bomb diffused until 3 seconds away from detonation.

8. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to learn to speak German. Simply speaking English with a German accent will do. Similarly, when they are alone, all German soldiers prefer to speak English to each other.

9. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off. Even while scuba diving and kissing. Makeup looks as fresh in the morning as it did the night before and hair is only becomingly mussed, never ratted or all bunched up on one side.

10. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window of any building in Paris. And the windows and balconies have no glass or screens. AAaarrr…

11. Any police officer about to retire from the force will more often than not die on their last day, especially if their family has planned a party. (Caveat: Detectives can only solve a case after they have been suspended from duty.)

12. Getaway cars never start with the first turn of the key in the ignition. But all cop cars do. (They will also slide to a dramatic stop in the midst of a crime scene.) If you’re trying to escape a maniacal killer, you will drop the keys as soon as you get into the car and then fumble with them. It will never occur to you to roll up the window and lock the doors.

13. If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate all strange noises while wearing their most revealing underwear. Walk backwards a lot and don’t look behind you.

14. On a police stake-out, the action will only ever take place when food is being consumed and scalding hot coffees are perched precariously on the dashboard . . .

15. All grocery shopping involves the purchase of French loaves which will be placed in open brown paper b. When said bags break, only fruit will spill out.

16. Cars never need fuel, unless they’re involved in a pursuit.

17. If you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts, your opponents will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around you in a threatening manner until you have defeated their predecessor.

18. If a microphone is turned on it will immediately feed back.

19. Guns are like disposable razors. If you run out of bullets, just throw the gun away. You will always find another one.

20. All single women have a cat.

21. Cars will explode instantly when struck by a single bullet.

22. No matter how savagely a spaceship is attacked, its internal gravity system is never damaged.

23. If being chased through a city you can usually take cover in a passing St Patrick’s Day parade – at any time of the year.

24. The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. Nobody will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building undetected.

25. You will survive any battle in any war UNLESS you show someone a picture of your sweetheart back home. If you want to live, don’t get out a photo.

26. Prostitutes always look like Julia Roberts or Jamie Lee Curtis. They have expensive clothes and nice apartments, but no pimps. They are friendly with the shopkeepers in their neighborhood who don’t mind at all what the girl does for a living.

27. A single match is usually sufficient to light up a room the size of a football stadium or an underground cave.

28. It is not necessary to say “Hello” or “Goodbye” when beginning a telephone conversation. A disconnected call can always be restored by frantically beating the cradle and saying “Hello? Hello?” repeatedly.

29. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at once.

30. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your room will still be visible, just slightly bluish.

31. Plain or even ugly girls can become movie star pretty simply by removing their glasses and rearranging their hair.

32. Rather than wasting bullets, megalomaniacs prefer to kill their enemies with complicated devices incorporating fuses, pulleys, deadly gases, lasers and man-eating sharks.

33. All beds have special L-shaped sheets that reach to armpit level on a woman but only up to the waist of the man lying beside her.

34. Anyone can land a 747 as long as there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.

35. During all police investigations it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once, and the most important conversations happen at the urinal in the restroom.

36. You can always find a chainsaw when you need one.

37. Most musical instruments, especially wind instruments and accordions, can be played without moving your fingers.

38. In Middle America all gas station attendants have red handkerchiefs hanging out of their back pockets.

39. All teen house parties have one of every stereotypical subculture present, even people who aren’t liked and would never get invited to parties.

40. When paying for a taxi, don’t look at your wallet as you take out a note. Just grab one out at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare. This works at restaurants as well. If your girlfriend gets in a huff and runs out, just throw money on the table or at the girl at the counter.

What did I miss? Can you think of anything else that happens only in the movies?

I’ve been on hiatus, recovering from a knee replacement. It’s good to be back in touch!

Smooches!