I've Been Tagged!!

What fun!

I have my fellow Samhain author, Gloria Wiederhold to thank for this great honor.

Directions - POST RULES

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here goes!

1. I only clean when someone is coming to visit. (Exception - kitchen and bathrooms.)

2. I dust maybe once every 3 months.

3. I have 2 kids who respect me, or at least pretend to.

4. I have two dogs who do not, and don't bother to hide it.

5. I talk to trees, and listen for voices in running waters like streams, rivers and waterfalls.

6. I will buy any book or CD with the word "Celtic", "Irish" or "Scottish" in the title, no matter how bad it turns out to be.

7. I sometimes run across a book in the book store, buy it, and bring it home only to find out I already have it.

8. I will drive 11 hours without batting an eye for a plate of Lexington Barbecue.

I have tagged:

Sela Carsen
Bianca D'Arc
J.C. Wilder
Jennie Andrus
Bronwyn Green
Will Belegon
Melissa Lopez
Dayna Hart

New blog entry on FaE -With Smell-o-Vision

Click here to read my Creature Feature on the FaE blog!

But before you do, make sure you have a can of Lysol in your hand.

Don't say I didn't warn you!

This week in Scotland

I'm so pleased I've found an attractive tartan layout for my MySpace page! Check it out.

For my fellow Scotophiles, some selections from this week's Rampant Scotland Newsletter:

Scotlands Busiest Tourist Attractions
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Zoo
Edinburgh Bus Tours
Glasgow Science Center
Blair Drummond Safari Park
National Gallery of Scotland
National Museum of Scotland
Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden
Rosslyn Chapel

Scotland the Wave
Before 180 of the world's top surfers arrived at Thurso beach in the north of Scotland for the second World Qualifying Series event, they had been competing in the warm sunshine at Copacabana Beach in Brazil. Even though they had to wear rubber wet suits, gloves and hoods for the cold conditions of the North Sea, the champion surfers said that the Thurso waves had been the best on the tour, allowing them to reach a high standard of performance.

The Bottle Imp
The Association for Scottish Literary Studies has launched a new ezine named "The Bottle Imp" - named after one of Robert Louis Stevenson's short stories. The ezine's first issue covers a lot of ground, including an article on the historical relationship between Scotland and America and the latest publications on Scottish literature and culture.

Over the Sea to Eilean a' Cheò
Initial reports on a decision by Highland Council to change the name of the Isle of Skye to a Gaelic name of Eilean a' Cheò, suggested that the iconic name was to disappear from the map. It was said that all council documents would use the name and officials responding to tourist enquiries were to use the new name. It was asserted that the change would abolish the anglicised "slave" name and was welcomed by the 40% of the residents who claim to speak Gaelic. However, there were howls of protest, not just from the 60% on the island who do not speak Gaelic and would have problems getting their tongues round Eilean a' Cheò - roughly pronounced "ellan-uh-ch-yaw" and meaning "Island of the Mists".

Otter Numbers Increase
A survey, by Scottish Natural Heritage, has shown that otters are being found in parts of the country where they had vanished many years ago. The devastation of river fish stocks by chemicals and pollution in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in a dramatic fall in otter numbers. They had also been hunted for "sport" and because they were thought to kill game birds and reduce the catches of anglers. With a population of around 8,000 otters, Scotland is home to the majority of British otters and has one of the biggest populations of this attractive mammal in Europe. The recent increase in their numbers is seen as a positive indication of clean water and reduced persecution. It became illegal in 1981 to kill otters and they are also strictly protected by European law.

Loving the Much-Maligned Moth
It is said that the public image of moths is that they are brown, boring, fly at night - and eat our clothes. But the Butterfly Conservation Society (which includes moths in its work) has just launched a campaign to persuade us that we should really love moths. They help to pollinate plants, provide food for garden birds and bats - and can be just as spectacularly coloured as their better loved cousins, the butterfly. Whether the project will be successful in producing new enthusiasts - known as "moth-ers" - remains to be seen.

Lachlan's Laws - # 23
That great Highland philosopher, Lachlan McLachlan, propounded a number of irrefutable laws of life, the universe and everything, usually after a "bevvy" in the Auchenshuggle Arms on a Saturday night. Here is another example: "The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think."

This Week in Scottish History

• May 6 1870 - Sir James Young Simpson advocate of chloroform, died.


• May 6 1941 - Last major bombing attack on the Clyde area by the Luftwaffe; Greenock was badly hit with 280 dead.


• May 6 1999 - Election for the new Scottish Parliament. Results were Labour 56, SNP 35, Conservatives 18, Liberal Democrats 16, Greens 1, Scottish Socialists 1, Independent 1.


• May 7 1890 - James Naysmith, engineer and inventor of steam hammer, died


• May 8 1945 - Victory-in-Europe Day, end of World War II in Europe.


• May 8 1701 - Scottish-born pirate "Captain" William Kidd tried for piracy at London's Old Bailey. He was hanged on 23 May.


• May 9 1860 - J M Barrie, author of "Peter Pan" born


• May 9 1918 - John MacLean, socialist revolutionary, first Soviet Consul in Britain in 1917, honorary president of the first Congress of Soviets, tried in the High Court for sedition.


• May 9 1957 - A spectacular blaze at Bell's Brae, Edinburgh, destroyed the premises of one of Britain's largest theatrical costumiers; around 90,000 costumes were lost.


• May 10 1307 - Battle of Loudon Hill, near Darvel. King Robert I comprehensively defeated English forces under de Valence.


• May 10 1809 - Andrew Bell, co-founder of Encyclopaedia Britannica with Colin MacFarquhar, died.


• May 10 1810 - Rev Henry Duncan opened the world's first savings bank in Ruthwell, near Dumfries.


• May 10 1850 - Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of the Lipton's grocery chain who was a millionaire by the age of 30, was born in Glasgow.


• May 10 1941 - Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, descended by parachute into Scotland at Eaglesham.


• May 12 563 - Community of Iona founded by Colum Cille (St Columba) from Ireland.


• May 12 1725 - The Black Watch regiment was commissioned under General Wade to police the Highlands.

And the grand prize winner is...

First of all, thanks to everyone who entered!

And a reminder to the winners of the previous packages this week - if you haven't already sent me your snail mail addy, please do so by the end of the week - Saturday, May 10 at midnight EDT. A couple of you already have, but I still need info from:

Robin Snodgrass
eBookWorm

So let's get on with the grand prize drawing! I'm having my daughter draw slips of paper from our Shrek popcorn bucket. :) The winner is...

Jessy!!

Congratulations, Jessy! Send your snail mail addy to carolaniveyATyahooDOTcom and I will pop that in the mail to you this week.

Thanks again, everyone! I hope to see you at RT 2008!

CONTEST: Grand Prize Drawing Day today!

Congratulations, AMY, you won the drawing for the Pen Lover's Package! Please email your snail mail addy to carolaniveyATyahooDOTcom.

Today is the day to enter for the grand prize, a Samhain Publishing goodie bag full of fun items from Samhain and its authors. Get your entries in by midnight tonight (Sunday) and I'll draw names first thing tomorrow morning! All you have to do is post to my blog, and you're entered. Even if you just say "hi", go ahead and post!

Everyone who posted to my blog this week is already entered.

Thanks to everyone who joined my giveaway party this week!

CONTEST: Post RT Giveaway No. 4!

Congratulations, Little Lamb Lost! You've won the drawing for the Button Lover's Package! Please send your snail mail address to carolaniveyATyahooDOTcom!

Today, I'm giving away the Pen Lover's Package. This one is my personal favorite because I always end up keeping pens the longest. :) Since I still have so many from the last RT I attended, I'm okay with giving away this batch.

OK, I'm keeping one, but only because my dog chewed on it, the little stinker! Serves me right for sorting the piles on the floor instead of the table.

So, same deal - anyone who posts to the blog today gets a chance to win the prize package, and you're automatically entered into the drawing for tomorrow's the grand prize, a Samhain goodie bag.

Thanks for visiting!

CONTEST: Post RT Giveaway No. 3!

Congratulations, eBookWorm, you won the drawing for yesterday's Cover Flat Lover's package! Send your snail mail addy to carolaniveyATyahooDOTcom.

Today's package, the Button Lover's Package! It was so much fun to see RT goers' tote bags literally covered in them. I have to wonder what that airport TSA scanners thought of those! LOL

Tune in tomorrow for the Pen Lover's Package. I always grab at least one of everything, mainly because I go nuts when I see pretty, colorful things, but usually what I end up keeping are the pens. I still have a gazillion left from the last RT I went to, so I'm happy to give these babies away.

Start posting!

CONTEST: Post RT Giveaway No. 2!

Congratulations, to Robin Snodgrass for winning the drawing for yesterday's package! Please send me your snail mail addy to carolaniveyATyahooDOTcom.

On to day 2! Today's prize is the Cover Flat Lover's package. Same as yesterday, post to the blog today and you'll be entered for today's package, and for the grand prize on Sunday - a SamhainPublishing.com goodie bag filled with fun stuff from Samhain and their many wonderful authors.

Start posting!

Hugs,
Carolan

CONTEST: Post RT Giveaway No. 1!!

Couldn't go to RT this year? Pining for bookmarks? Come sit by me.

I'm giving away three different RT goodies packages. Package number one - the Bookmark Lovers Package!

This intrepid author braved the crush of the RT promo aisle to bring you some of the most beautiful bookmarks in the business.

All you have to do to win is post a comment to this entry (or anywhere else on this blog, for that matter), and you're entered!

Come back tomorrow, Friday and Saturday and post again - tomorrow the prize will be the Cover Flat Lovers package. Friday, the Button Lovers package. Saturday, the Pen Lovers Package!

Post anytime between today and Sunday, and you'll also be automatically entered for the grand prize to be given away this weekend - a SamhainPublishing.com goody bag filled with all kinds of cool stuff from Samhain and its many talented authors.

So come one, folks, post a comment and take some of this stuff off my hands! LOL

Spring Showers Contest!

Samhain Publishing is running a cool contest called "Spring Showers." Go here, read excerpts, and post a comment. The more excerpts you read and the more you post, the more chances you have to win!

I'm giving away a free copy of my first book, "Beaudry's Ghost", and a hand-beaded bookthong. There are dozens of other authors and loads of other prizes, too!

Have fun!