Kilts, Hose & Ghillie Brogues... Oh My!

No Scottish love-fest would be complete with a post dedicated to the hotness that is KILTS!

Here's a wee video to teach how to dress like a Highlander in the Bonnie Prince Charlie style (rated G since he's wearing boxer briefs- LOL).

Do you know how many times you're supposed to twist the laces on your ghillie brogues?




Wearing a kilt is an awesome Scottish tradition to be passed down from generation to generation, as shown in this pic I snapped in Edinburgh of a boy and his grandpa.

And if you're thinking, "Hey, we only get ONE sexy kilt picture? Come on!!" never fear. Here's a link to my kiltgasmic post back from the Crush Tourney when #TeamKilt first came to be!

For the Love of Whisky

There are few things more Scottish than whisky, that golden liquid that burns a path down your throat. In fact, the Gaelic word for whisky is uisge beatha, which literally means "fire water." Aptly named, if you ask me.

My friends and I have had a couple whisky tasting parties at my house, which is a complete blast. I highly recommend trying a bunch of varieties to learn what you like and don't like, because all whiskys are not created equal. Wild Turkey, for example, is about the nastiest thing I've ever tasted (next to haggis- LOL).

The diagram above is from the Dalwhinnie whisky distillery in Scotland. Each dot represents a different whisky on the smoky-delicate-light-rich grid. So you can see there's quite a bit of variation. My favorite brand is Macallan Cask Strength, followed by Glenmorangie's Quinta Ruban, then Jura.

The weirdest whisky I've ever tried was Ardbeg, which tasted like licking a campfire. Okay, okay, I've never licked a campfire but you get the idea. I had less than a shot and the smoke flavor stayed with me all day long. Not something I'll drink again, but it was definitely worth doing once.

What about you? Do you have a taste for the fire water? Leave your faves in the comments section!

And speaking of fire, here's a commercial for William Lawson whisky that I love! Enjoy!

Scot Up! It's Haggis Time!

If you've read my bio on Goodreads (or the back of Between), you know it says I love all things Scottish with the exception of haggis. I did actually try it (TWICE!) when I went to Scotland in 2010. It was... uh... not good. LOL Still, it was better deep fried, as most things are.


So the first contest of our Burns Night celebration is going to test the fortitude of your stomach. I won't make you eat haggis, but here's a video on how it's made. At one point in the video, he notes that they have to import the "natural" casings (aka stomachs).

To enter the giveaway, you have to answer why that is (he gives the answer in the video). Listen closely, since his accent is thick!

The winner will receive an ebook copy of Between in their preferred format (PDF, Kindle, Nook, etc).

Queasy? It's time to Scot Up, lads and lassies! You can do it!

Burns Night Kicks Off Now!

Break open the whisky! Whip out the bagpipes! Burns Night, that annual celebration of Robert Burns (the poet laureate and bard of Scotland) is upon us and we have got a ton of fun in store for you today.

Jeri Smith-Ready has teamed up with me and other Scot lovers for an entire day dedicated to the awesomeness that is Scotland, including:

All Things Scottish giveaway hop! Bloggers, write a post about your favorite thing about Scotland, hold a giveaway, and you could win an ARC of SHINE, the last book in the SHADE trilogy! Check out the linky on the FWIW blog to participate!

Get Your Scot On contest! Share your own photos of Scotland, attempts to make (and eat!) haggis, or any Scottish related fun, and be entered to win. Link up your blog on Fictish Delish's site!

A New Post Every Two Hours! Check back here for a new Scottish-themed post every two hours throughout the day. My blog will be hosting giveaways of Between, Scottish music and Aiden's Angels merchandise. Woot!

Ask a Real Scotsman! Q&A with Glasgow Native Fraser McFarlane. Pop on over to The Mountains of Instead book blog at 4pm EST (1pm PST) to join in the fun.

Or if fake Scotsmen are more your style...

Zachary and Aiden Twitter chat! Zachary Moore from the SHADE series and Aiden MacRae from Between will be getting chummy on Twitter beginning at 10pm EST (7pm PST). Be sure you're following both of the fictional guys and use the hashtag #FakeScotsmen to keep up!

Whew! I may need to take a wee nap after all this excitement. Auld Rabbie Burns never had it so good! :)

Burns Night Craziness is Almost Here!

Fill the cabinet with whisky! Make sure your bagpipes are in good order! Burns Night, that annual celebration of Robert Burns (the poet laureate and bard of Scotland) is almost here (Wednesday, January 25th) and we have got a ton of fun in store for you.

Jeri Smith-Ready has teamed up with me and other Scot lovers for an entire day dedicated to the awesomeness that is Scotland, including:

All Things Scottish giveaway hop! Bloggers: write a post about your favorite thing about Scotland, hold a giveaway, and you could win an ARC of SHINE, the last book in the SHADE trilogy! The FWIW blog will be posting a linky soon!

Get Your Scot On contest! Share your own photos of Scotland, attempts to make (and eat!) haggis, or any Scottish related fun, and be entered to win. Fictish Delish's site will have a linky posted on Tuesday for you.

A New Post Every Two Hours! Check back here for a new Scottish-themed post every two hours throughout the day on Wednesday, January 25th. My blog will be hosting giveaways of Between, Scottish music and Aiden's Angels merchandise. Woot!

Ask a Real Scotsman! Q&A with Glasgow Native Fraser McFarlane. Pop on over to The Mountains of Instead book blog on 1/25 at 4pm EST (1pm PST) to join in the fun.

Or if fake Scotsmen are more your style...

Zachary and Aiden Twitter chat! Zachary Moore from the SHADE series and Aiden MacRae from Between will be getting chummy on Twitter beginning at 10pm EST (7pm PST) on 1/25. Be sure you're following both of the fictional guys and use the hashtag #FakeScotsmen to keep up!

We'll be using the #TKBurnsNight hashtag on Twitter to spread the word, so let your friends know about the Scottish celebration coming this Wednesday! Go #TeamKilt and #AidensAngels!!

What can I say? I had to insert a gratuitous kilt picture. LOL





Now that's just plain funny!

Oh yeah... Justin, eat your heart out!

Bwahahaha!

Marissa Meyer Book Signing Pics!

The first I heard of Marissa Meyer's debut book, Cinder, was from a bookseller at Third Place Books. She recognized me from the signing I did there in August and knew I liked YA books. She told me she'd just finished Cinder and loved it. So I looked up Marissa on Twitter and we started chatting.

News flash: She's really nice! And she's from Tacoma. Woot!

I asked if she was going to do a signing at Third Place Books, but she had one scheduled for the Lynnwood Barnes & Noble instead. So you know I was gonna be there! When she first appeared, I was thrown, since I don't think she looks at all like her author photo on the poster.

She talked about how she wrote fan fiction for several years, then got the idea for a futuristic fairy tale for a contest the fanfic site was running. She didn't win that contest, but the seed of an idea germinated into more futuristic fairy tales, the first of which is Cinder. There are three more books coming in the series, each based a different fairy tale (Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White).

She wrote the first draft of Cinder AND the Little Red Riding Hood book AND the first part of the Rapunzel novel during NaNoWriMo, clocking 150,011 words. Wowza! All while holding down a full-time job and working on a Master's degree. Holy moly, this woman is a super hero. Either that, or she has one of Hermione Granger's clocks that turn back time. Either way, I was impressed.

She's got a degree in publishing and worked in the industry for six years, so when she went out to query, she was ready for the long haul. Lucky for her, she didn't have to run the gauntlet as many do. She got an agent within 2 months (her top pick after receiving three offers), then spent 2 weeks packaging up the presentation for publishers. The package went out on Friday and she had an offer for publication on Monday.

Wowza! You go, girl!

Now she is on a nationwide tour, stopping at a number of different sites across the US to promote the release of Cinder, to sign books and take pics with peeps like yours truly.

It was a fun event and I wish Marissa much luck with Cinder and the rest of the series!