Julie James has arrived!

((Shannon runs in breathless))

Oh man. I am SO sorry.  I'm late again.  I swear I will be late to my own funeral.  This is really a habit I need to break.  I will work on that... later.

Right now I want to say that I am incredibly excited to welcome a fabulous author and local gal, Julie James!  ((Jumps up and down, does a little dance, and pass a glass of full bodied slightly spicy red wine))

First of all, let me start by saying how thrilled I am to be here, hanging out with the DIK ladies for the next three days. My first time on the island! Okay, so here's the basics on me:

Favorite Reading Position: In the bathtub with a glass of red wine.

Best love song: I'm kind of partial to "It Had To Be You," the Harry Connick, Jr. version from "When Harry Met Sally."

If you could be in one book/series/world which would you pick: Since it's one of my favorite books, I'll say Pride and Prejudice. I'd love to be a part of that world-- for about a week or so. Then I'd miss my modern comforts, like television, hair dryers and Reese's peanut butter cups, and I'd have to come home.

Author everyone loves but you don't: Ernest Hemingway. I've tried and tried, and I know I'm not supposed to admit this, but he does nothing for me. My friend, an English teacher, convinced me to give Hemingway another shot with "The Sun Also Rises" (she raved about it), so I did and... meh. We got into this big debate when she asked me what I thought, and I may or may not have had a couple of glasses of wine at the time, and I also may or may not have told her that I thought the book was "dull as sh-t." Whoo-ee, did that comment ever cause quite a bit of an uproar...

How old is your inside voice: Thirty

Favorite sex song: "Know Who You Are At Every Age" by Cocteau Twins

What heroine would you like to be: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But in my version, I would find a way to get rid of that sex-curse Angel had going on, and we would ride off into the sunset together (in some way that doesn't burn him to dust, seeing how he's a vampire and all).

If you could be a hero who would you be: Indiana Jones

Boxers, Briefs, boxer briefs, kilt, commando: Boxer briefs. With commando, I can't help but think there might be some chafing of the bits. And that's not good for anyone.

What heroine is most like you: When my first book came out, Just the Sexiest Man Alive, my friends joked that they pictured me as Taylor, the heroine, while they were reading it. Apparently, they see a lot of similarities between me and that character. But I don't know about that... I really doubt I would have my act together one-tenth as much as Taylor if I ever met the biggest movie star in Hollywood. I suspect there would be a lot more stuttering, and possibly some drooling, on my end. Personally, I think I'm more like Payton from Practice Makes Perfect-- her views on working at a large law firm are very similar to mine and we've even got the vegetarian-thing in common.

What hero is most like your significant other: A less conservative version of J.D. Jameson from Practice Makes Perfect.

What hero would you like to be your significant other: Well, of course I wouldn't choose anyone other than my husband... and that answer has nothing to do with the fact that he may be reading this, he-he... But if my husband didn't exist, and I just HAD to choose someone else... hmm... Okay, I could say Roarke, but he's almost too obvious, so let's suppose in this universe neither my husband nor Roarke exists... I'd pick Gage Travis from Sugar Daddy. I know I might be in the minority on that one, because there are a lot of Hardy Cates fans out there, but something about Gage just did it for me. The moment he walked onto the page, I thought, "Oh yeah--sold."

Favorite book set on a tropical island: [embarrassed pause while I try to think of books set on a tropical island] Um... can I pick a favorite movie set on an island? Otherwise, Lord of the Flies is going to win by default. If we include movies, I'd pick The Swiss Family Robinson because I was obsessed with that movie when I was younger.

If you were stuck on a desert island what 3 things would you bring: (1) An unlimited supply of red wine, (2) my Kindle, (3) some kind of newfangled laptop that runs on solar power.

Favorite drink to bring to the DIK party: a bottle of Zulu Cabernet from Stellenbosch South Africa.

Thanks Julie!  Everyone give her a huge DIK Ladies welcome.