Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

As Hurricane Gustav takes aim at the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas coastline nearly three years to the date after Katrina, folks are heading out of those areas under mandatory evacuation orders. Among them: conference attendees at Heather Graham’s Writers for New Orleans Conference, scheduled for this weekend. The conference began in 2006 as a way to bring business and tourism back to New Orleans.

Here’s hoping everyone, residents and tourists alike, in that area is safe, the damage is minimal, and that next year, the conference can return to a healthy, happy city of New Orleans. I’ll be there with beads on. Travel safe, everyone. And fuck off, Gustav. 

Lots of links to start your weekend off with massive browsing. What you wanted to get something accomplished this afternoon? PAH! Suffer with me.

Kate Douglas has a question for you: is man flank deserving of the whiteout? Not for one second do I believe the man pictured on that cover has a tush that flat, but still, man flank is problematic?

Mimi Gets a Contract made me snort so hard I nearly aspirated a Splenda packet from across the room. Thanks to Angie for the link.

I just laughed myself into tears reading this article about the Diagram Prize, which is a hunt for the most bizarre book title. The Greek Billionaire’s Virgin Love Child’s Boardroom Mistress has NOTHING on these books. Don’t miss the slide show of covers. Thanks to Svenja for the link.

Thanks to the many, many people who sent me this link: using the frozen sperm of two Black Footed Ferrets which had died years ago, the Smithsonian National Zoo successfully bred two kits (those would be wee adorable baby ferrets), born in June. The sperm was frozen back in 97 and 98, and ten years later, those two ferrets are proud papas from beyond the grave. Mazel tov to the successful breeding crew, and to the new mommies. And mad props to Moth who sent me a link to the article with the subject line, ‘The Virgin Black-Footed Ferret’s Secret Baby.’

And if you’re feeling the need to gaze at the sleeping cuteness that is the Black Footed Ferret (official ferret of Smart Bitches), there’s always the immensely addictive ferret cam.

See, I am all about wasting valuable hours of your time today! We’re having a bit of a hurricane today in the northeast, so we’re all inside on the internet. Ok, *I’m* inside on the internet, but hey, join me in endless surfing!

Stay safe down there, y’all. Or ya’ll. (Screw it - I’m from Pittsburgh, and it’s “yinz” n’at).

Anyone else think there will be more weather-powered related paranormals in a year or two?

From Gail Dayton comes this amazing link to Joni Rodgers, the free book lady down in Galveston.

Since there’s some sort of election going on right now and the media is saturated with nothing having to do with the Galveston area, Gail has filled me in:

Galveston does have one advantage over New Orleans--it’s a sandbar, not a bowl. The water came up, and the water went down again.... However, houses all over town took on anywhere from one foot to 10 feet of water, depending on where they were and how high the house was elevated. (We have a LOT of the “house on stilts” houses.) The houses across the street from us weren’t damaged, but the houses right behind them were devastated. Bricks knocked off the walls, holes in the walls, etc. Behind the seawall, it’s really hit or miss as to what was damaged and what wasn’t. The seawall worked as it was intended.

But the damage is unspeakable.