How many books...

...are listed as WIPs on my website?

Hint: Click "Bookshelf" on my site. www.jaimeygrant.com

First commenter with the correct answer gets free eBook editions of both Honor and Betrayal.

GO!!

:O)

Unlocking a Sample

I have here one SIGNED copy of Unlocked, a multi-genre, young-adult-ish anthology that features some really great short stories from some up-and-coming authors. Two of mine are in this one, Assassin's Keeper and Survival. I want to give this away to one very special commenter. 

How can YOU be that special commenter? Comment. That's all. Comment on this particular blog post and I'll draw a name for a winner, to be announced tomorrow. Remember to include your email address so I can easily contact you if you win. 

Unfortunately, I can only offer this one to US residents, or those with a US mailing address. However, if you prefer eBooks to paperbacks anyway, you can download Unlocked for FREE from www.unlockedproject.com. 

Stay tuned for more party giveaways. Meanwhile, don't forget the ones still open for entries (you have to click over to each post for the details on how to enter): 

• For the Fans ~ Two eBook copies of Honor up for grabs 
• Want a Chance to WIN? ~ A lovely sterling pendant will find a new home 
• Share about Honor for a chance to win ~ Paperback editions of Honor AND Deception will go to one very fortunate "sharer" 
•  It's an HONOR to present Jaimey Grant's new book ~ comment for a chance to win an eBook copy of Honor 
• And don't forget: Simply "liking" the party page on facebook automatically enters you for a chance to win an eBook copy of Honor as well. 

For the Fans

This is one I really wish I could post on facebook, but...oh well. We have two eBook copies of Honor reserved for two facebook fans. 

There's two ways to win: 

1. Fan my author page on facebook, comment here on this blog post (with your email), and you're entered to win an eBook copy of Honor. If you're already a fan, comment here and you're entered. 
2. Fan my cover design page on facebook, comment here, and you're entered to win. Again, if you're already a fan, comment here and you're entered. 

And as always, if you can't comment here on blogger for whatever reason (we all know blogger can be as quirky as facebook), drop me a line at jaimeygrant{at}yahoo{dot}com to let me know you've fanned one or both of my pages. Remember, there are two copies up for grabs here, one for a "Jaimey Grant" fan and one for an "Author's Art" fan. Fan them both for two chances to win. :O) 

Entries will be accepted until Midnight tonight (Central Time). Winner will be announced here and on the TreasureLine blog tomorrow.

The first person to...

...correctly tell me what my favorite color is (and comments here, including an email address) wins an eBook copy of Honor.

Hint: Go to the "About Me" page on my website. www.jaimeygrant.com

GO!

:O)

Want a Chance to WIN?

The party's in full swing over at Honor's facebook party page. Stop by for virtual snacks and Q&A with me. :O) 

Meanwhile, if you'd like the chance to win the lovely sterling silver and pearl pendant* pictured here (a replica of the pendant the heroine wears in Honor), simply add yourself to my email list. There's a nifty little spot in the right-hand sidebar (of this very blog) where you can enter your email address. You'll only get emails when I post to the blog, up to one email a day--and no, I don't post every day. It is a two step process so make sure you click the link you will get in your inbox to confirm the subscription.

Comment on this post to let me know that you signed up. Easy, peasy. Include your email address in your comment so I know how to contact you if you've won. If you can't comment or have trouble commenting, send me an email at jaimeygrant{at}yahoo{dot}com to let me know you've signed up. You can also leave a comment on the party page to let me know you've signed up. Just make sure to include your email since facebook's new rules won't allow me to contact winners through their messaging service. (Silly, silly facebook!)

I only have one of these to give away and the winner will be selected at Midnight tonight (central time), and announced tomorrow. 

Was that clear as mud, or what?

*Pendant includes a matching sterling silver chain. 

Virtual Release Party for Honor!!

My publisher, TreasureLine Publishing, is hosting a virtual release party for Honor and you're all invited! It starts Tuesday morning (May 17--is that today already!?) and lasts all day. Stop by the event page (on facebook) for more details and pop over to "like" the party page (also on facebook). There will be prizes and Q&A and virtual snacks! All giveaways and winners will be revealed on the TreasureLine blog or the Novel Launch site.*

And because I'm too excited to wait, I'll let you all in on a little secret. I'll be giving away a necklace, a replica of the silver and pearl pendant the heroine wears in the book. You'll have to check out the page tomorrow to find out how to enter.

Oh, we're giving books away too, never fear. ;O) Everyone who "likes" the party page will automatically be entered to win a copy of the book. More copies will be awarded throughout the day, at TreasureLine's discretion. Make sure you like the party page so you can keep up with all the festivities!

Hope to see you all there! 

*Facebook no longer allows giveaways or contests to be "held" on facebook, nor do they allow the winners of giveaways to be announced on facebook. Due to this, there will be some site hopping involved in this party. My sincere apologies for this but it's unavoidable. 

~Regency Wednesday~ Gardener's Cottage

RE-POST: Blogger's recent downtime sent this post into oblivion. It was originally posted Wednesday evening. Apologies to anyone who already saw it. 

Saw this quaint little cottage (complete with floor plans) when perusing the 1816 (volume 2) edition of Ackermann's Repository. (Clicking the pic will take you to the Google book.)

"ARCHITECTURAL HINTS. 

Plate 7. —A Gardener's Cottage. 

  Although the annexed design was made expressly for the residence of the gardener of a nobleman's establishment, it is quite applicable to the purpose of a lodge; and if a little simplified in point of embellishment, would also be proper for the cottage of the husbandman: in each of these applications it would afford convenience and comfort, and might receive suitable enrichment by the plantations which should surround the two former, or by the more free and open scenery suitable to the latter. The cottage of the gardener, in very many instances, is considered to be a legitimate embellishment of the grounds, being very properly situated near the forcing and succession-houses, that they may receive the attendance of the chief gardener, and with as short intervals as occasion requires; and if he take pride in the decoration of his abode, he has the means of embowering with shrubs, creepers, and flowering plants, by which he may render it highly interesting, provided the design is favorable, and the situation appropriate to its object. 

  This building is proposed to be thatched with reeds, as the most rural and picturesque covering; the brown tints of its surface oppose the various greens of the foliage by which it is accompanied, and give a neatness of effect that is very prepossessing, which may be improved by the colour given to the walls, should they be built of materials that do not harmonize with them. For the covering of such walls rough-coat is very proper, which is plastering finished by a coat of lime mixed with small stones about the size of a pea or small bean, and splashed upon it before the plastering is yet dry; or by paretta work, so called from the French paroître, to appear, to be seen—or from the Italian paretta, a small net; as in this case the plastering has pebbles of a larger size pressed all over it, and which are not afterwards covered by lime, wash, or colour, but exhibit their own surfaces, and the whole becomes enriched by the white reticulation of the plastering in which they are set. The colours of the pebbles should be selected with taste, as much of the beauty of the whole will depend on their fitness to harmonize with those hues by which they are surrounded. 

  Notwithstanding cottages of this description are built with brick, yet as the complexion of them is at variance with the green tints of the scenery, particularly if they are the red wood-burned bricks of the country, the coverings before named are usually adopted for small decorative buildings, such as the dairy, dovecote, ice-well, or bath; and for this purpose also a finishing of a very novel and fanciful effect is produced by a sort of rough-cast composed of coarse sand and small pebbles of various sizes, mixed up with Roman cement, and diluted to the consistency of common rough-cast, and thrown upon the walls in larger quantities than is usual: this is suffered to take the irregular and projecting forms of stalactitæ, those concretions resembling icicles that are frequently found in natural grottoes; and they may be coloured afterwards by tints representing them, or by others that seem to mark a lapse of time: this has hitherto been practised only in two instances."

~Photo Friday~ Adorable

How cute is this? I purchased this photo from Dreamstime. I just LOVE it! 

Want it? Here's the link:
http://www.dreamstime.com/-rimage2595569-resi1729841 
© Anita Patterson Peppers | Dreamstime.com 

For the Record

Here is the latest in my whiny new series, For the Record. Enjoy at your own risk. 

FOR THE RECORD 

Yes, the word PROSAIC means dull. It also means straightforward. Don't believe me? Look it up! Here, I'll even help: prosaic.

Thank you.

And as a side note, Blogger's recent down time un-posted my most recent Regency Wednesday post (5/11). Ugh.  

For the Record

Here is this week's For the Record post. OK, not this week's, per se, but probably the only one I'll do this week. I'm really quite as sporadic with these posts as I predicted I'd be. Anyway, here's my latest whiny complaint, complete with the mild snarkiness for which I'm known...by some....

FOR THE RECORD

Websites that play music automatically irritate me. Give me the option but please don't force it on me.

Now, just for fun, read that sentence again. 

If you read it this way... 

"Websites that play music {slight pause} automatically irritate me."

...you're wrong.

Read it this way to get my true complaint: 

"Websites that play music automatically {slight pause} irritate me." 

Yeah...there's really no difference, is there? {slight shrug}

Thank you. Please enjoy the little music clip I embedded. 

(Just kidding. Sorry, I couldn't resist.)