Since Halloween is almost upon us, and since I get to do this quite a few times if I want, I'm going to do one more giveaway of a PDF (ebook) copy of THE GHOST DOWNSTAIRS. Comment below to enter! Winner will get picked on Sunday by the handy-dandy random number generator at random.org.

And someday I'll post about more than just contests again, but October here has mostly been spent with the family sharing a flu-like thing. Yay.

There's an article about me on the Nights and Weekends site--I'm their featured e-author this month! Come read it and learn who I cite as my influences and what scents I would capture and stick in a bottle if I could.

And since it mentions the occasional perfume giveaways on my blog, let's do one now to reward anyone who comes looking for one...

Today's double header:

Cafe Noir by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz - has notes of bergamot, black pepper, cinnamon bark, pimento berry, benzoin, Bulgarian rose otto, jasmin, labdanum, coffee absolute, tolu balsam and vanilla. A rich, luscious, peppery coffee scent. It is an eau de parfum.

Labdanum 18 by Le Labo - Le Labo Labdanum 18 eau de parfum features the soft, lingering scent of labdanum (cistus) with a slightly animalic base. This is a lovely, intriguing scent.

Both are sampled, but mostly full, 1 ml vials from The Perfumed Court, who provided the scent descriptions above. To enter to win the samples, comment on this post. I'll choose a winner by random number on Sunday. International entrants welcome. Non-LJers too, as always, though you'll have to leave me some way to contact you. Good luck!

I doubt I will have time for a Halloween read-aloud project this year, as we did with Operations Ichabod and Raven in past years. Someone else can feel free to try organizing it if they want, and I'll at least read aloud a part.

But I will do this to kick off October: a giveaway of a PDF copy of The Ghost Downstairs. All you have to do to enter is comment here. It's about, uh, ghosts, sororities, old people, Seattle, love, and a few holidays including Halloween.

Good luck! Winner will be picked at random on Sunday.

That's right! The one, the only, Chanel No. 5. Now is your chance to sample it, in the usual little 1 ml vial from The Perfumed Court. And if you like it, the good news is it will almost certainly never be discontinued within your lifetime.

TPC's description: This is the EDP of Chanel No. 5, the classic that this legendary house has been known for. Created in 1921, No. 5 has notes of aldehydes, Grasse jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, iris, amber, and patchouli.

To enter to win the sample, comment on this post. I'll choose a winner by random number on Sunday. International entrants welcome. Non-LJers too, as always, though you'll have to leave me some way to contact you. Good luck!

I have a gift certificate for the LJ store, and only need a certain amount of it, but have to use it all at once or lose it. My unneeded balance is $10, which happens to be the exact cost of 100 extra userpics for 12 months. So, anyone who wants that, please comment here by midnight Pacific Time, tomorrow. I'll pick the winner on Friday by random number generator, and a crazy number of new potential icons will be all theirs!

Due to childbearing and such, I had put the perfume giveaways on hiatus, but the little vials are still sitting here, waiting for new homes. So let's start up again!

Since they've been around a while through a heat wave or two, and that can affect quality sometimes, I'll do them in batches of two to get through them faster and hopefully find them appreciative homes.

Today, two citrusy scents that are both lovely, but, for me, not quite worth the hard-to-acquire quality and price. Both are 1 ml sample vials from The Perfumed Court, and here follow their descriptions:

Un Zeste d'Ete by L'Artisan: A sparkling, bright, summery concoction of lemon rind, orange bergamot, grapefruit and lemon blossom. A citrus lover's dream! Un Zeste D'Ete is an eau de toilette. Feminine.

D'Orange Verte by Hermes: Hermès introduced Eau d'Orange Verte in 1979 (the original name was Eau de Cologne d'Hermès; it was renamed Eau d'Orange Verte in 1997). It was created by perfumer Francoise Caron and has notes of bergamot, lemon, mandarin, mint, jasmine, orange blossom, patchouli, moss and cedar. Eau de cologne; unisex leaning toward masculine.

To enter to win the sample, just comment on this post. I'll choose a winner by random number on Sunday. International entrants now welcome! Non-LJers too, as always, though you'll have to leave me some way to contact you. Good luck!

To reward those who are actually checking LJ on Memorial Day weekend, today's giveaway:

2000 Fleurs, by Creed, a 1 ml sample vial, tested but mostly full, from The Perfumed Court, donated by laleonaenojada. Their description: The essence of 2,000 flowers ~ to name a few ~ violet, magnolia, rose, and lilac, with a touch of green tea and sandalwood. Creed's 2000 Fleurs Eau de Parfum is a floral lovers delight.

To enter to win the sample, just comment on this post. I'll choose a winner by random number next Sunday. International entrants now welcome! Non-LJers too, as always, though you'll have to leave me some way to contact you.

Good luck. Now go back to your lazing around!

In belated honor of Mother's Day, as well as this great review for THE GHOST DOWNSTAIRS ("just what a light-hearted ghost story should be. It’s delightful, funny, and intriguing, with just enough chills to give you goose bumps"), I'll do a different type of contest/giveaway this week.

Your prize: a pink matte pastel bistro mug, 16-ounce, with the Wild Rose Press logo - looks like this. I have one and it's a great mug--holds plenty of tea, has a nice smooth feel to it, and is an attractive rosy pink rather than a sickly Pepto pink. I'll even stick a tin of chocolate-covered Altoids in it.

To enter, just comment here. Non-LJers, be sure to include an email address so I can reach you if you win. I'll select the winner on Sunday by random number generator.

Huzzah! Good luck!

It's...return of the perfume giveaway!

Today's offering: Ambra Nera, by Ortigia Acqua di Colonia. As before, it's a little 1 ml sample vial from The Perfumed Court, tested but mostly full.

Description: From a Sicilian line of fragrances, Ambra Nera features notes of spicy exotic woods, vetiver, patchouli, and cedar over an amber base of labdanum, oak musk, galbanum and resins.

If you like dark, mysterious, incensey amber, this one may be for you. I'm not sure of the concentration, but it's definitely strong, so probably at least EDP.

Enter to win this sample by leaving a comment here. I'll select the winner at random in one week. If you're not an LJ user, leave an email address where I can notify you if you've won. LJ users ought to be able to find out via the usual comment notification. International entries welcome. Good luck!

Drawing time!

From now till Easter Sunday, leave a comment here to enter yourself into the running for a free PDF copy of The Ghost Downstairs. (Non-LiveJournalers, just leave an email address where I can reach you if you win.) There's a touch of an Easter theme in it, just briefly at the end, so it's fitting. Of course, it's an even more fitting story for a Halloween giveaway, which I'll probably do in October as well.

Anyway--enter away! And remember you can read the first chapter on my site if you want to see whether it intrigues you or not.

May you have a Good Friday indeed.

Hokay, perfume giveaway time!

Today's offering: Fraicheur Muskissime, by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier, graciously donated by laleonaenojada. As before, it's a little 1 ml sample vial from The Perfumed Court, tested but mostly full.

Description: This accord of musk and bergamot, with its subtle notes of blackberries and raspberries, wraps you in its intimacy like a second skin. Sensual and discreet, it will shroud you in a veil of beauty. Fraicheur Muskissime is a ray of sun--a walk in a forest filled with wild berries!

It's a women's scent, though the muskiness is a bit unisex. It's quite lovely, and I give it away only because I see it's too expensive and hard to find for me to dare get attached to it! The above description, by the way, is from Luckyscent.com, since I couldn't find its listing anymore on The Perfumed Court. But I do notice Luckyscent also sells sample sizes. Hmm, could be convenient!

Enter to win this sample by leaving a comment here. I'll select the winner at random in one week. If you're not an LJ user, leave an email address where I can notify you if you've won. LJ users ought to be able to find out via the usual comment notification. International entries welcome. Good luck!

A new year, and time to clean my desk, which means someone out there gets my unwanted perfume samples!

This year I'm going to be more promotion-oriented about it (sorry), and make each giveaway a drawing. The idea is that more people, from LJ and beyond, will check my blog frequently in hopes of winning stuff, and eventually find me so charming that they simply must buy a copy of my book. It isn't available yet, though, so this particular perfume giveaway is just because I'm so nice.

(By the way: dirae, the two Dolce & Gabbana scents are already set aside for you, per previous arrangement. But you can enter drawings for the others if they interest you, too!)

Today's scent:

Bois du Chocolat, by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz. This, like the other samples, is a little 1 ml sample vial, tested but mostly full, from The Perfumed Court, who can hook you up with samples of practically any scent you want for a couple of bucks. Their description: "Bois du Chocolat is a rich wood and chocolate scent with a top note of sandalwood; middle notes of dark chocolate and vanilla; and base notes of musk and patchouli. Bois du Chocolat is an eau de parfum, edp."

To enter, comment on this post. Non-LJers are welcome to enter too, but be sure to leave some email address where I can reach you if you win. You can enter all this week, and next Sunday I'll randomly choose a winner. We'll then hash out where to send the scent, and such. Shipping on me, needless to say, since it's likely to be all of 85 cents. (Oh yeah...I probably can't ship internationally. Sorry.)

*waves it in the air*
You know you want it.