Christmas Favorites!

My Christmas Favorites

Ooooh! Over at Book Binge, they're running a fun little contest for an eBookwise eReader!!

I love those ereaders and haven't been able to get one either for myself or as a gift, so I'm eager to participate in this lovely giveaway! And what do I have to do to enter? Why... simply fill out this holiday Meme! So here goes... :)


1. What is your favorite Christmas romance to re-read each year? I love Holiday Inn by Shelby Reed. She's an AWESOME writer.

2. What is your favorite Christmas movie/show? MOVIE: Scrooge with Albert Finney. It's the musical rendition of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I still sing along each time when they sing "Thank ya very much!". TV SHOW: The Snowman, narrated by David Bowie. Oh my gosh, if you've never seen this, you should definitely check it out. There is only music with the animation, no speaking (except for narration). It's awesome.

3. What is your favorite Christmas cookie? Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies. YUMMMMM! Tollhouse cookies with coffee! They're deelish!

4. When do you start Christmas shopping? Around Jan. 1. Shyeah, don't I wish!! I start usually a little after Halloween. This year, thanks to Amazon and Overstock, I'm already ahead of the game and only have a few more presents to get before the big Ho Ho Ho day!

5. Do you re-gift? Not usually, no. Unless it's something I absolutely cannot use and someone has a need for it.

6. What is your favorite Christmas song? Let is Snow... or as we say here in Louisiana, Let it Sneaux. ;)

7. When do you get your Christmas tree? A few days after Thanksgiving. It's a Fraser Fir and it's beautiful.

8. Wrapping presents: Love it or hate it? I LUUUUURRRRVE it! I'm "that girl" who always has ribbons and stickers and candies and whatever else will fit on the package. I adore wrapping. :)

9. Who is the hardest person to buy for? My Dad. I never know what he wants or will use. Last year I got him one of those big George Foreman grills and he's still raving about that. So now I have a lot of pressure this year to get him something as good... he's one of the presents I still have to buy. Eeek!

10. Christmas tree: Real or artificial? For 10 years I've had an artificial tree because of one reason... my MALE dog. (You see where I'm going with this, right?) Well now, my old boy is 11 years old and not really interested in peeing on every live plant that comes into the house... so this year we bought a real one and it's beautiful! I love it.

Secret Santa 4U Contest!

Secret Santa 4U Contest!

That's right! Another contest! W00t! I love 'em! This time, all you have to do is buy a copy of my erotic romance novella, Secret Santa 4U, from The Wild Rose Press,and answer a few simple questions. Santa's going to help me pick the winners so be naughty… no no, wait. Sorry. That's the characters in my book. Ho Ho Ho! We (ol' Kris Kringle and I) will pick the winners on Dec 17^th (so you can receive your prize in time for Christmas). And, what, you ask, can you win? Well… lemme show you!

The GRAND PRIZE is:

A $25 GC to Bed, Bath and Beyond (which can be used either in stores and/or online @ www.bedbathandbeyond.com)

FIVE (5) Second Prizes (see picture below):

Wooden folk art Santa Claus ornaments for your tree! FOUR WINNERS will be randomly selected to win an ornament from the entries sent. ONE WINNER will be chosen at random to receive an ornament just for being a member of my announcement-only newsgroup on Yahoo here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paisleyscott/

(If you enter via email AND are a member of my list, this doubles your chance of winning an ornament!)

RULES:

This contest is only open to those who believe in Santa. Or at least believe in Secret Santas.

I can't afford to ship prizes all over the world, but I can afford Canada. So only folks living in the USA and Canada may enter. (note to Canadian entrants: The post from here to there is super s-l-o-w so please take into consideration when entering that it may be after the holidays before your prize is delivered). Contest deadline is: Sunday, December 16, 2007 at 11:59pm central time. Drawing will be held on Monday, December 17, 2007 at approximately 7pm central time.

Now, without further ado… here are the questions to answer! Please send all completed answer forms to me at the following address:

paisleycontest@gmail.com

Put "SS4U Contest" or "Secret Santa 4U Contest" in the subject line.

In the message area, please include:

Your NAME

Your mailing ADDRESS (where prize can be sent – FYI, after the contest, all email records are destroyed)

Your AGE (if you're 18+, you can simply write over 18 if you like…I just have to make sure you're "legal" to enter my contest)

Your Answers to the five (5) questions below.

Contest Questions (not all of the Q's are related directly to the book):

1. What were the scents of the TWO (2) jar candles used when the power goes off? (hint, the small ones were scented BAYBERRY, the 2 jar candles were unique holiday smells. Psst: both jar candles are available at Bed, Bath and Beyond!)

2. What present(s) did Sophie receive from her Secret Santa? (hint: the package was wrapped in the comic section of the Sunday newspaper)

3. What is the name of Paisley Scott's alter ego? (hint: the answer can be found on Paisley's page on Coffee Time Romance OR on Paisley's MySpace page to the left hand side -- it also gives a link where you can join both Paisley's and her alter-ego's announcement-only newsgroups as well. Psst: Paisley's alter-ego has a full length spicy contemporary coming out early next year with a castle and a yummy Scottish laird…)

4. What's your favorite holiday song?

5. What was your favorite scene in Secret Santa 4U?

That's it! You're all done! Just send it to me to be officially entered into the contest. Best of luck to you! And thank you so much for buying my book and taking the time to enter the contest.

*HUGS*
Paisley

http://www.paisleyscott.com

Thursday Thirteen (#5)

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, I decided to post 13 scrumptious desserts (w/links to the recipes).

Thirteen Scrumptious Desserts for Thanksgiving

1.
Pecan Pie Brownies - Click for Recipe


2.
Pumpkin Bread - Click for Recipe


3.
Double layer Pumpkin Pie - Click for Recipe


4.
French Apple Tart - Click for Recipe


5.
Mississippi Mud Cookies - Click for Recipe


6.
Tyler Florence's Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie - Click for Recipe


7.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars - Click for Recipe


8.
French Apple Bread Pudding - Click for Recipe


9.
Yankee Cranberry Upside Down Cake - Click for Recipe


10.
Oatmeal Carmelitas - Click for Recipe


11.
Cranberry Cobbler - Click for Recipe

12.
Libby's Pumpkin Roll - Click for Recipe


13.
Sweet Pumpkin Dip (this is divine on ginger snaps!!!) - Click for Recipe

Thursday Thirteen #4

I can't believe it's Thursday already!!! Time for another T13!

Today, my list is actually writing-related.

So now, without further ado....

Thirteen Writing Mistakes That Make Me Crazy!

(Thanks to Paul Brians' book, Common Errors in English Usage)

1. Alot. Perhaps this common spelling error began because there does exist in English a word spelled “allot” which is a verb meaning to apportion or grant. The correct form, with “a” and “lot” separated by a space is perhaps not often encountered in print because formal writers usually use other expressions such as “a great deal,” “often,” etc.

You shouldn’t write “alittle” either. It’s “a little.”

2. Irregardless. Regardless of what you have heard, “irregardless” is a redundancy. The suffix “-less” on the end of the word already makes the word negative. It doesn’t need the negative prefix “ir-” added to make it even more negative.

3. Greatful. Your appreciation may be great, but you express gratitude by being grateful.

4. Loose/Lose. This confusion can easily be avoided if you pronounce the word intended aloud. If it has a voiced Z sound, then it’s “lose.” If it has a hissy S sound, then it’s “loose.” Here are examples of correct usage: “He tends to lose his keys.” “She lets her dog run loose.” Note that when “lose” turns into “losing” it loses its “E.”

5. Persay. This legal term (meaning “in, of, or by itself”) is a bit pretentious, but you gain little respect if you misspell “per se” as a single word. Worse is the mistaken “per say.”

6. Payed. If you paid attention in school, you know that the past tense of “pay” is “paid” except in the special sense that has to do with ropes: “He payed out the line to the smuggler in the rowboat.”

7. Peak/peek/pique. It is tempting to think that your attention might be aroused to a high point by “peaking” your curiosity; but in fact, “pique” is a French word meaning “prick,” in the sense of “stimulate.” The expression has nothing to do with “peek,” either. Therefore the expression is “my curiosity was piqued.”

8. “The point being is that” is redundant; say just “the point is that” or “the point being that.”

9. Rogue/rouge. You can create an artificial blush by using rouge; but a scoundrel who deserves to be called a rogue is unlikely to blush naturally.
I saw this a lot when I was playing World of Warcraft.

10. They're/there/their. Many people are so spooked by apostrophes that a word like “they’re” seems to them as if it might mean almost anything. In fact, it’s always a contraction of “they are.” If you’ve written “they’re,” ask yourself whether you can substitute “they are.” If not, you’ve made a mistake. “Their” is a possessive pronoun like “her” or “our” “They eat their hotdogs with sauerkraut.” Everything else is “there.” “There goes the ball, out of the park! See it? Right there! There aren’t very many home runs like that.” “Thier” is a common misspelling, but you can avoid it by remembering that “they” and “their” begin with the same three letters. Another hint: “there” has “here” buried inside it to remind you it refers to place, while “their” has “heir” buried in it to remind you that it has to do with possession.

11. Ying and Yang. The pair of female and male terms in Chinese thought consists of “yin and yang,” not “ying and yang.”

12. Marshmellow. Your s’mores may taste mellow, but that gooey confection you use in them is not “marshmellow,” but “marshmallow.” It was originally made from the root of a mallow plant which grew in marshes.

13. Click/clique. Students lamenting the division of their schools into snobbish factions often misspell “clique” as “click.” In the original French, “clique” was synonymous with “claque”—an organized group of supporters at a theatrical event who tried to prompt positive audience response by clapping enthusiastically.

Thursday Thirteen (#3)

Since today (November 1) is my 10th wedding anniversary, I figured I'd skip down memory lane and make my Thursday Thirteen:

Thirteen of my happiest memories of our marriage (thus far)

1. Being proposed to by an animated cat. My DH thought it would be super clever to make me play a video game and WIN it before it delivered its "Will you marry me?" line. I didn't know the payoff, but my DH told me I needed to win to see what it did. I played that damn game over 20 times before I finally won it! LOL! Glad I did! ;)

2. Honeymooning in Charleston, SC in November. Yes, we were the idiots on the beach at 6 in the morning to watch "the beautiful sunrise" and were freezing our butts off! But it was fun and we got great pics!

3. Getting lost in Charleston, SC in a rental car and winding up at some seafood restaurant at closing time. We walked in, told them we'd just gotten married and they stayed open just to serve us! They were SO SWEET and generous to us. It was fantastic food and they just made our honeymoon so special. I wish I could remember the name of that restaurant. Funny, after 10 years, I can still remember how welcome they made us feel - but I never have recalled the name of the place. I can't look it up because I have no idea where we were. ARGh! Catch 22, I hate you!

4. Monsieur Patou's restaurant. Ahhh... my DH took me to this 5 star restaurant on our 1st year anniversary and it was DIVINE! Monsieur Patou has since retired and alas, no more of that scrumptious food. *cry* We were so poor, I think DH put aside a little from each paycheck for a month to afford for us to go... it was expen$ive, but sooo worth it. That's a great memory we have.

5. Bed and Breakfast in Jefferson, TX. DH took me there as a surprise for Valentine's Day soon after we were married. I was so excited, I introduced myself to the homeowner by my maiden name. I was so embarrassed. But we had the best time staying there and touring the antiques in the quaint old town that time seems to have forgotten.

6. Visiting the in-laws in Louisville, Kentucky in the wintertime. Rarely do we have snow down here in the south, so driving up to Kentucky was great. DH and I visited a Barnes and Nobles during a snowstorm and meandered around inside the warm store, reading, sipping hot chocolate and eating cookies. It was so cozy.

7. Going to Seaworld in August. Oh man, it was hot walking around Orlando in the dog days of summer. But we discovered visiting the penguin's area was nice and cool! Then, as an added bonus, we went to watch Shamu and when he jumped out of the water and dove back in, the enormous splash he made drenched all of us in the audience. That was a quick cool down!! I remember it completely took my breath away! LOL! What fun!!

8. Buying a pillow-top king-size mattress. I know, I know. It doesn't sound like a big deal. We had this mattress on layaway at the bed store for 6 months. The day we got to bring it home was one happy day for us! Finally, we had enough room for us and the dogs. LOL! Yes, they sneak up when we're not watching (usually sleeping) and they ain't tiny.... so we honestly needed a bigger bed (not just for that OTHER reason, you gutterminds! LOL!)

9. Road trips, listening to books on tape. How nerdy does that sound? But it is always so much fun to drive anywhere with DH and we put in a book on tape (CD) . One time, we put a spooky story in there -- Bag of Bones by Stephen King -- as we drove up to Louisville, and actually had to drive around some extra time to finish it! LOL! Yeah.. we're super nerds.

10. Going to Galveston for DH's birthday in January. It was so nice and balmy, completely unlike a regular January day. We wound up spending the night and eating at this fantastic seafood restaurant and going to Moody Gardens the next day. What a great escape that was.

11. Visiting Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi. This was before Katrina destroyed it... (so sad). Ah, man, it was such a great place. Full of dolphins and sea lions. I even had my picture taken with a seal kissing my cheek! We stayed at this little motel right on the water (it was off-season, so it was cheap and not a lot of tourists) and walked to this great restaurant built on piers offshore above the water. It was very cool. I'm glad I got to experience it all before the hurricane hit.

12. Flight being canceled and having to spend an extra day in Orlando. That was great. It was raining and my father in law had this great screened-in porch overlooking a lake and it was so nice to sit there, watching the rain pepper the water. We wound up going to this fantastic seafood place for dinner (have you noticed how many of my fondest memories involve seafood restaurants? LOL!)

13. Everyday I wake up next to my DH. These past 10 years have flown by. It's weird that we're still so enamored of each other, but I guess that comes from liking the same things. We're best friends, too. And there is a never a day that goes by that we don't tell each other "I love you" and I mean it from the bottom of our hearts.

Toast: To us, sweetie. I love you!

Thursday Thirteen (#2) Thirteen Foods I don't like

I love food. Seriously, I loooove it. So it's so weird to find anything I DIS-like along the food chain. But... here's 13 things I do not care for.

1. Beets. YUCK! I once mistook beets for cranberry sauce and nearly ruined my thanksgiving.

2. Cranberries. Yeah, yeah. I know what I said above, and I DO like the sauce, but not the actual berries. Too tart.

3. Brussel sprouts. I have tried and tried to like these litte cabbage imposters, but to no avail. They're bitter and stinky.

4. English peas. I don't mind the taste of these I just don't like the texture of them "popping" in my mouth.

5. Caviar. Tastes too fishy for me. And the eggs also "pop" in my mouth and that tends to gross me out.

6. Salmon. I really want to like this fish especially since it's so high in Omega-3 and all the good fats, etc. But dang.. it's just so in-your-face with the fishy taste. Blah.

7. Green olives. However, I LOVE Black Olives. Yummy.

8. Cherry Pie. Which is weird, because I love cherry stuff. Just don't dig the hot, whole cherries in molten sauce pie.

9. Habenero peppers. WOW... way too hot to spice up anything without overpowering it.

10. Sushi. Yeech. Sorry, but where I come from, we call this bait.

11. Prunes. My mom used to make us eat these when we were kids. To this day, I can't stand the taste of prunes or prune juice. ugh.

12. Water chestnuts. I just don't like the texture and tastelessness of these things.

13. Brazil nuts. Whenever I get a can of mixed nuts, I always pick these out first and toss 'em in the trash.

Weekend Update

How'd THIS happen???
I'm the number one (1) bestseller for my publisher at All Short Stories here:
http://www.allshortstories.com/
and number four (4) bestseller at FictionWise here:
http://www.fictionwise.com/
*faint*

A quick THANK YOU to everyone who has purchased my book: The Pirate and The Pussycat and entered my contest! For those that haven't entered (yet) you still have a few more days left to enter to win some PIRATE BOOTY (and I hope you do!) please visit my web page to learn how to enter:

PaisleyScott.com

Writing news:
My editor tells me I'll be one of the first releases for my Christmas story (another erotic romance -- a little longer than my Halloween "Rose" this will be a "Miniature Rose") so hopefully you'll see Secret Santa 4U up on the site soon!

I'm also working on a book (erotic romance) for The Wild Rose Press' sexy Destination Pleasure series. Working hard on that one and after that, I'll have a Valentine's Day story. Whew. I've been busy making sure my heroes and heroines GET busy. Heh.

It's late. I should be asleep. I have worky work tomorrow. Ugh. The life of a public servant means.. working on the weekends. *cry*

Thursday Thirteen (#1)

My first Thursday Thirteen. My friend Gina got me started on these. Now, lots of our friends have jumped on the bandwagon... I finally found a wagon with a band that I could climb aboard. So here goes!

For my inaugural Thursday Thirteen, I'm going to list:

13 Hobbies I'd never take up.

1. Knitting. Nope. Sorry. I know it's a big deal and lots of folks find it relaxing, but I have tried and I HAVE FAILED. Miserably. Stupid purling and casting off. *shudder* I nearly put my eye out with the needles. No thanks. More power to those who can conquer it!

2. Birdwatching. Down here in the south our state bird is the mosquito. So even if I was trying to watch another type of bird, the mosquito would eat me up before I could say yellow-bellied-sap-sucker.

3. Record collecting. What do you do with all those old vinyl LPs? You can't play them... or maybe you can. But why? I don't know. This one confused me.

4. Hunting. Unless we're talking about looking for Easter eggs in the bushes, I hate every kind of hunting.

5. Pottery. Sure Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze made it look sexy in Ghost, but in reality you need a big ol' wheel that'll take over your living room and giant glops of clay and ick ick ick... your fingernails will get gray and your skin will dry up. No. I'll pass on this one too.

6. Quilting. Tried it. Hated it. Will gladly pay for talented folks with more patience than me to make those beautiful covers.

7. Splatter painting. Now come on. Jackson Pollack was about the only one who got famous for this. Otherwise, you're just being messy.

8. Collecting baseball cards. I wouldn't know Reggie Jackson from Michael Jackson. A pitcher from a belly-itcher. A catcher from a rye. Nope. I'd be a horrible collector of these little gems.

9. Watching Pro-Wrestling. Or should I say WRASSLIN'. I hated it as a kid and I hate it even more as a big whiny adult. Heh heh.

10. Dumpster diving. One word: EWWWW! If you crawl out of a big metal trashcan, waving an incredible find, it'll be lost on me because I can't over the fact that you just crawled out of a trashcan. You know.. where people throw their TRASH? Ewww.

11. Manga. My niece is into this. I just can't get into it. All the characters have crazy hair and giant eyes and tiny mouths and usually some sort of talking animal pet. Not for me.

12. Ham Radio. I used to think you had to use this to order Christmas dinner. But alas, it's just a hobby that doesn't strike my fancy. It's right up there with CB radio. C'mon back, teddy bear. Ten-four, good buddy. *squawk*

13. Anything LEGO related. I've stepped on more of these pieces and hollered more obscenities than a drunken sailor. I was glad to get rid of my old collection. And to find out they're popular again makes me want to build a LEGO rocket and shoot myself to the LEGO moon!

The Pirate and The Pussycat

Well, my first book, The Pirate and The Pussycat, an erotic romance, was released in time for Halloween from The Wild Rose Press as a Scarlet Rosette. I'm beyond thrilled. In honor of its release, I'm running a contest for some Pirate Booty! Be sure to check out my contest page.

I also have a Christmas story, another erotic romance (a Scarlet Miniature Rose) tentatively titled Secret Santa 4U that should be released sometime next month in time for the holidays. If you like Younger Man/Older Woman stories -- this may be right up your alley. ;-)

Okay, enough ramblings for my first foray into blogging as a published writer.

~hugs,
Paisley