Southern Fried Chicas

I’m thrilled to welcome our guest blogger this week. I’ve known Linda Winfree for OMG years. Since I was a baby writer. Since our e-harlequin days. Her, Vanessa Jaye, Raine and I all used to hang out in the Survivor Writers thread with folks like Anna Scamans (GH finalist), Suzanne McMinn (harlequin author), and Sasha White (erotica author) just to name a few! OMG the fun times we had, the poodles we kidnapped (okay RAINE kidnapped–we just watched). Anyway, Linda writes two of my favorite genres–Southern Fiction and suspense and she’s here promoting the latest book in her Hearts of the South series, Hearts Awakened (now available from Samhain Publishing) and to talk about being weird — heeh!

Envision a Monday afternoon after lunch, a sunny November day, and twenty ninth graders (fourteen of them rambunctious boys) in my English classroom. I’m trying to walk them through differentiating between Scout’s adult commentary and her childlike perception in To Kill a Mockingbird when I hear, “Hey, Ms. Winfree, someone wrote on the back of this desk. It says you’re weird!”

 

Ah, the desk. Justin Perry’s scribbled statement in black Sharpie remains, distracting a new group of kids every year. Sure enough, that’s what the missive says: Ms. Winfree is weird.

 

I smile, nod, agree I’m weird and move on.

 

I’m pretty sure a lot of my students think I’m weird. The seniors who’ve had me for English since middle school can articulate all of my strange habits:

 

1)      I have to have two cups of coffee in the morning, before second period.

2)      When I write on the board, I tuck my left arm behind my back.

3)      I eat cereal for lunch every day.

4)      I tend to use “okay” as a filler word and general transition – they counted once and ascertained that I said “okay” forty-three times in one class period.

 

At home, it gets even worse:

 

1)      I can’t get back into an unmade bed. The bed must be made every morning. If it doesn’t get made, I have to make it up before I can get into the bed at night.

2)      I wear socks in the house, all the time.

3)      I walk around turning lights off, but the bedside lamp has to be on in the bedroom once the sun goes down.

 

I have plenty of other odd quirks, but I’m not alone. Monster #2 eats his food once item at a time (all mashed potatoes, then all green beans, etc.) just like his dad. Monster #1 won’t sleep on the left side of his bed, only the right. My sister can’t stand for her food to touch, and she doesn’t like to touch her food.

 

My biggest quirk? When book-buying, I read the last page first.

 

What about you? Are you normal? Or wonderfully weird like me?