Guest Blog: Why I am a Closet Southern Belle by Dianne Castell with Give-away!

One of the reasons I wrote Hot and Bothered and Hot and Irresistible was I wanted to set a book in the South, the real South. It has a flavor all its own from the way folks talk...How’s your mamma and daddy?...to the food...anything that has a stick of butter and cup of cream has got to be delicious! Just ask Paula Deen...to the way gals and guys behave.

So my question today is... Are you a closet Southern Belle? Now you ask, Okay what the dickens makes a Southern Belle? Well, I just happen to have a little list...

Do you never wear white after Labor Day or before

Easter

Do you own a strand of real pearls and wear them

with pride

Always drink sweet tea and love it when they

have it on the menu

A part of you truly believes in those Yankees

Civil War? What Civil War? Now that unfortunate

Northern Occupation...that you know about

Have Lee as part of your name or your children’s

Fav movies are GWTW and Steel Magnolias and Fried

Green Tomatoes

Actually read GWTW and reread parts from time to

time. Wish you had the name Scarlet

Have a tiara hidden in your panty drawer and

know how to twirl a baton

Have an umbrella that looks a bit like a parasol

Make sure your children know manners and use them

Love Red-eye gravy, grits, country ham and make

your own biscuits

Know that prime real estate is The Mall,

The Country Club and The Beauty Salon

Buy more then one can of hair spray at a time

Have actually said Y’all come back, Bless your

your heart, Drop by when you can, How’s your

mamma?

Love white gloves and wear hats

Have a subscription of Southern Living or ripped

a recipe from that magazine at the doctor’s

office

Have a pineapple decoration somewhere in your

House

Think the magnolia is a piece of heaven on earth

And what about the food? Do you own a Paula Deen Cookbook? Catch her on TV whenever you can? Actually copied a recipe and made it and know how to make cream gravy from scratch and would rather poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick than put cool whip on your homemade pumpkin pie! Is there anything better than southern cooking? Well maybe Italian but that’s another blog.

So, how do you measure up? Is a part of you a Southern Belle? Know someone who is? I really tried to keep these characteristics in mind when writing Hot and Bothered. A gal in NY city is way different than a gal in Savannah and I sure wanted it to feel that way.

I am definitely a closet Southern Belle! I do make fried chicken and bathtub gravy. That’s what my kids call my cream gravy because they could eat a bathtub full of it. I do make my own pies, have white gloves, crab at my kids if they don’t use their manners, buy extra-hold hair spray, subscribe to Southern Living, have a fancy umbrella that I’ve been known to twirl from time to time and do know how to twirl a baton for real. Even took lessons.

On the Southern Belle scale I’m about a 7. What about you? What is your Southern Belle Score?

Thanks for being here!

Hugs, Dianne Castell

Thanks Dianne for visiting my spot today!! You can read my review of Hot and Irresistable here. I'm giving away an autographed copy of Hot and irresistable to one winner!

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Answer Dianne's Question: What about you? What is your Southern Belle Score?

Winner will be announced on November 9th.