New Love & Lore Book Trailer

Many thanks to our editor Angela James for putting this together for us!



Click here for information! :)

Lookee My Purty New Cover!!

We interrupt the regular Scotophile Monday post (it's the next one down) with...THIS!!



The ebook cover for Wildish Things (Nov. 1), art by the fabulous Anne Cain. When I finally meet Anne in person, I'm sure I'm going to be one of dozens of authors standing in line to kiss her feet, give her flowers and chocolate, stuff dollar bills into her thong... er, sorry, wrong fantasy. [blowing kisses toward Anne]

Gia Dawn and Sela Carsen are my partners in this anthology. Their covers is just as purty!

Scotophile Monday

Scotland Has a Government
When the Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999, the body which governed the country was named "Scottish Executive". It was argued that this would avoid any confusion with the UK-wide government in London. But since then, bodies such as the Welsh Assembly, which has far less powers than the equivalent in Scotland, has a "government". The term "Scottish Executive" is little understood by the "man (or woman) in the street" in Scotland and there have been suggestions in the past about abandoning it. Now, First Minister Alex Salmond has forged ahead and just changed the name to "Scottish Government". Read more

35% of Scots Favor Independence
The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) has often dismissed opinion polls which seek to measure how many Scots support independence from the UK. It is argued that the answer can often be swayed by the nature of the question being asked. So there was some interest in the latest opinion poll - which used the exact question floated in the SNP Executive's consultation on independence. Read more

Scottish Astronomers Help Google
Google Sky, which was launched recently to allow internet users to tour the night sky and see stunning pictures of a wide range of celestial objects, has been created with the help of astronomers at Edinburgh's Royal Observatory. Read more

Death of a Clan Chief
The Duke of Buccleuch, one of Scotland's biggest landowners and head of the Scott clan, died this week, after a short illness, aged 83. He had been confined to a wheelchair ever since a riding accident in the early 1970s and worked with various bodies on behalf of disabled people. Read more

This Week in Scottish History
September 9 1513 - James IV and the flower of Scotland's nobility were killed in battle at Flodden Field, near Branxton, in the English county of Northumberland.
September 9 1543 - Mary Queen of Scots crowned at Stirling Castle.
September 9 1935 - Benny Lynch won the World Flyweight boxing title, defeating Jackie Brown in 2 rounds.
September 9 1963 - Jim Clark became the (then) world's youngest F1 motor racing champion.
September 10 1771 - Birth of Mungo Park at Foulshiels, near Selkirk. He became an explorer and doctor who charted the course of the River Niger.
September 11 1297 - Battle of Stirling Bridge, Wallace (as famously portrayed by Mel Gibson in "Braveheart") defeated Edward I.
September 11 1997 - Referendum on Devolution which approved the creation of a new Scottish Parliament by a substantial majority.
September 12 1715 - Jacobites defeated government forces at Battle of Sheriffmuir.
September 13 1644 - Battle of Aberdeen, in which the Marquis of Montrose captured the city.
September 13 1645 - Royalist troops under Marquis of Montrose defeated by Covenanters led by David Leslie at Battle of Philiphaugh.
September 13 1938 - John Smith, politician and at one time leader of the Labour Party, born at Dalmally, Argyll.
September 14 1402 - Scots led by 4th Earl of Douglas defeated at the Battle of Homildon Hill by English army led by Percy 'Hotspur'.
September 14 1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie, Charles Edward Stuart, occupied Edinburgh.
September 15 - St Mirren Day (patron saint of Paisley).
September 15 1773 - The "Hector" from Loch Broom, near Ullapool, arrives at Pictou, Nova Scotia, carrying emigrants escaping from the "Clearances".

Forerunners to the Foreunners of NASCAR?
Glenlivet Distillery and the Crown Estate have combined to launch three historic walks in Speyside, using trails used to smuggle illicit whisky in days gone by. Read more

Castle Accommodations in Scotland
Stay in a Scottish Castle!

My Mantra Last Winter...
Whisky may not cure the common cold, but it fails more agreeably than most other things.

Remembering the Heroes of Scots Literature
With the Edinburgh Book Festival becoming a distant memory, and three weeks before I go to the next one (in Wigtown at the end of the month), it was a pleasure to get back to reading some books. The August guilt-pile was threatening to become higher than the bed and ziggurats of catch-up classics had buried my computer. Fun though it is to hear the particular timbre of an author's voice and hear some well-rehearsed off-the-cuff anecdotes, you can't beat the page. Read more

Scottish Blog of the Week
Flying Cat - Orkney Island. The diary entries of a very intelligent cat indeed.

Highland Photo Gallery
Highland Lives

3:10 To Yuma

If you love Westerns, love good character development, can't get enough of Russell Crowe or Christian Bale, this is a MUST SEE!

I LOVE pimping my buds' books!!

My friend Ciar Cullen is stuck in a business retreat this week, so I'm helping her pimp her amazing new book, UNHOLY VOWS.

Does that cover ROCK, or what??

Thursday 13 - Fave Blogs

Thirteen of my favorite blogs! Thanks to Tink for tagging me on this one. :) This is by NO means a complete list. I may have to do a Part II next week.

1. Tinkerbell, of course! :)

2. The Raven

3. Flickr Scotland

4. 2 Witches

5. Flickering Flames (Jennifer Dunne)

6. Pub Rants

7. Voodoo's Room

8. Caledonia

9. Writer & Cat

10. Nice Mommy/Evil Editor

11. Will Stain Pages

12. Will Write For Food

13. Sierra Club Compass

If I tagged your blog on this post, feel free to snag the graphic and spread the love!

Wordless Wednesday

.

Thoughtful Tuesday!

Many thanks to Tink for giving me THIS!



I plan to tag the blogs I lurve on my next Thursday 13. ;D

Thanks, Tink!!

Scotophile Monday

Desperate Fishwives
The first comedy show for many years in the Doric dialect of the north-east of Scotland has been commissioned by BBC. The highly popular "Scotland the What?" ran for 26 years on radio from 1969. Now, Radio Scotland's new series is entitled "Desperate Fishwives" and it will re-inroduce listeners in other parts of the country to such phrases as "Ay ay," or "fit like?" and "Foo's ye daein?" Boys and girls are "louns and quines" and actors will be "spikin' intae yer lug" instead of speaking into your ear. Read more

Wildlife Conservation

In 1997, when a UK-wide "Biodiversity Action Plan" was launched for the first time, it identified 577 species in need of conservation and protection. The latest list, published this week, lists 1,149 species - nearly double that of ten years ago. While some of the additions are due to wider research, it highlights the declining state of much of the UK's wildlife. The Scottish Highlands are important refuges for many species, including red squirrels (pictured here), wildcats, pine martens and mountain hares. Read more

Polish Bar in Edinburgh

Dillon Doyle is as Irish as a four-leafed clover, so you might have expected him to open an Irish-themed bar in Edinburgh. But instead, he has created the first traditional Polish bar in the capital. Read more

Chinese Tartan

A specially designed Chinese tartan incorporates the white and blue of the Scottish flag and the red and yellow of the Chinese flag, with the yellow crossing the red in five places, symbolising the five stars on the Chinese flag. There are also green bands to symbolise the co-operation between botanists in Scotland and China - the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh are home to the biggest collection of Chinese plants outside China. Read more

This Week in Scottish History
September 2 1834 - Death of engineer, road, bridge and canal builder Thomas Telford. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
September 3 1650 - Cromwell defeated Scots at Battle of Dunbar.
September 3 1745 - Prince Charles Edward Stuart proclaimed his father as King James VIII of Scotland at Perth.
September 3 1752 - With the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, September 3 1752 became 14 September. Crowds flocked the streets demanding "Give us back our 11 days."
September 3 1787 - Glasgow weavers riot after their wages are cut. Bricks were thrown at magistrates and soldiers then opened fire on the rioters, resulting in six being killed.
September 4 1241 - King Alexander III born at Roxburgh.
September 4 1962 - Last tramcar run in Glasgow (to Auchenshuggle).
September 4 1964 - Forth Road Bridge opened by the Queen. At 6,156 feet long and a centre span of 3300 feet, it was the longest in Europe at that time.
September 5 1750 - Poet Robert Fergusson born in Edinburgh.
September 6 1715 - The Earl of Mar unfurled the standard of the "Old Pretender" in Braemar at the start of the first Jacobite Uprising.
September 7 1306 - Sir Simon Fraser, the "Scottish Patriot", who fought alongside Wallace and Robert the Bruce, was executed by the English and his head displayed in London alongside that of Wallace.
September 7 1842 - Queen Victoria's first visit to Edinburgh.

Book Festival Sold Out

More than half the events at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) sold out completely, and 80% of all tickets were sold across 700 events staged this year. Read more

Drinking Hours Cut in Edinburgh

PUBS in Edinburgh are set to have their opening hours cut and a limit imposed on how many people can stand with their drinks. City chiefs want to slash weekday opening hours from 1am to midnight and at the same time force pubs to provide seats for at least 50 per cent of drinkers. Read more

Calls for International Celtic Fest to Replace "Boring" Mod

SCOTLAND's main Gaelic festival "bores the pants off everyone" and should be scrapped, according to a councillor in the Highlands. Ken MacLeod, an Inverness-based solicitor, wants the Royal National Mod abolished and replaced by an international Celtic festival based in the city.
The Mod was first held in 1892 and is now regarded as the second-biggest festival in Scotland, behind Edinburgh, attracting entrants from around the world. But Mr MacLeod said it was outdated and its format did little for the survival of the Gaelic language. Read more

Tat's The Way To Do It

THEIR kitsch gift shops have been lambasted and accused of ruining the Royal Mile. But today the Gold Brothers proudly defended their chain of "tartan tat" shops which are on the verge of making them millionaires. Read more

Scottish Recipe

Scotch Mist

Scottish Blog of the Week

A Dog's Life - Blog from the Sheltand Island of Burra

.

Where Am I Today?

I'm blogging over here today, doing a Creature Feature on the Manx legend of the Arkan Sonney. Enjoy!



.