Monday, March 11, 2013

From an acorn an oak grew...

**CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED!! SUSIE R, you have won the Copper Acorn Necklace! Congratulations!!! You have until Thursday, 3/28/13, to send your snail mail address to [email protected] And I'll get your necklace in the mail right away.

 Thank you everyone who stopped by to play! I hope to have another giveaway next month.**

 By: Casey Calhoun, White House Organic Gardener
From the White House Gardener Mysteries by Dorothy St. James

 As a lifelong gardener, I've always thought there was something special about acorns. There's so much potential packed into a tiny package.

Given time, love from Mother nature, and with a little luck that insignificant acorn can grow into one of the giants of the plant world--the mighty oak tree!

So what I'm going to say might shock you. But I'm going to say it anyhow because I really need to get this off my chest. I never want to hear about or see another acorn again!

 Dorothy St. James, who takes credit for penning my adventures (even though I'm the one who lives and writes about it--she just edits my diaries), has gone batty about acorns. She says she was inspired by the title of the upcoming novel, OAK AND DAGGER, and has bought acorns of every shape, size, and material. And you know what? She keeps buying more of them!

She says she's buying the acorns to give away to readers to help get the word out about April's release of OAK AND DAGGER. Yeah, right. That's what she "says," but I know the truth. She's obsessed.

Will you help me by taking one of these acorns off my hands? I'll be forever grateful.

Comment on this blog post and on Wednesday (March 13, 2013) morning, I'll pick a winner of this lovely copper acorn and oak leaf necklace. I'll post the winner's name on the bottom of this blog post. The winner will have a week to send me his/her mailing address...or I'll pick another name. I mean it. I need to get rid of these acorns. They're all over the place!



How about you? Do you have an obsession...er...collection? Has it ever gotten out of hand?


****

Find out all about the spy in the White House in April when OAK AND DAGGER is released by Berkley Prime Crime. Pre-order your copy today!

You can learn more about Dorothy St. James's books at her website. Join her Facebook page. Or follow her on Twitter.


Praise for FLOWERBED OF STATE (book #1 in the White House Gardener Mysteries):
"Credible characters, a fast-paced plot, and a light look at political life in Washington, D.C., will delight cozy fans." ~ Publishers Weekly


Praise for THE SCARLET PEPPER (book #2 in the White House Gardener Mysteries):
"A potboiler of homicide, blackmail, journalism, power and sex - but one that St. James handles with taste as well as verve - “The Scarlet Pepper” fulfills the promise of last year’s series debut, “Flowerbed of State,” and then some." ~ Richmond Times-Dispatch 
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26 comments:

  1. lklebackMarch 11, 2013 at 8:14 AM

    The necklace is lovely! Hope I win!

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Dorothy St. James/Dorothy McFallsMarch 11, 2013 at 1:11 PM

      I wish everyone could win. Good luck! And thank you for stopping by today!

  • Susie RMarch 11, 2013 at 9:35 AM

    I really have to move these books up on my to be read list. They look like I would really enjoy them. What ever I collect seems to get out of control - at least according to my husband!

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Dorothy St. James/Dorothy McFallsMarch 11, 2013 at 1:07 PM

      I'm the same way, especially with my TBR piles. Now that I have my Kindle, at least I don't have books all over the place. It kind of hides the obsession. :)

  • Shelley GiustiMarch 11, 2013 at 10:19 AM

    What a great blog post and I adore that necklace, so beautiful!!!!Love this series and cant wait for the release of this book!!!!!!

    Reply
  • Elaine KlingbeilMarch 11, 2013 at 10:42 AM

    Oh, that looks so pretty! And I am not a jewelry person at all but I would really like to win that!

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Dorothy St. James/Dorothy McFallsMarch 11, 2013 at 1:13 PM

      I'm not much of a jewelry person, either, but some necklaces just are too fun to pass up...like this one. Plus, it was handmade by a jewelry craftsman, which just makes it that much more special. Thank you for stopping by!

  • KatreaderMarch 11, 2013 at 12:05 PM

    What a gorgeous necklace. I'd love to take that acorn off your hands! I keep saying I'm not a pack rat, I'm a collector. Sadly, I'm close to being a hoarder! I have all sorts of collections, books, figurines, mini houses, stuffed animals...I could go on ad nauseum. If it says limited edition...I'm there. Sigh. I've gotten a bit better, but still. I'm playing the game whoever dies with the most stuff wins! lol.

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Dorothy St. James/Dorothy McFallsMarch 11, 2013 at 1:09 PM

      I love your attitude! Actually, I'm off to purchase a piece for my newest collect: White House Easter Eggs. Limited editions get me, too.

  • -kMarch 11, 2013 at 3:55 PM

    Books! They're slowly but surely taking over every room of my house... And I can't wait to add this one to my collection! ;)

    Reply
  • Karen BMarch 11, 2013 at 3:58 PM

    I collect cat figurines, spoons and Santas. Now that I'm really old I'm thinning down all 3 and just keeping my most favorites - which is still too many. Oh, and my books get passed on to the library, local crime fighters sale, Goodwill, ARC, and friends and families.

    FLOWERBED was a joy to read. PEPPER and OAK are both on my wishlist. An acorn necklace would be just lovely (and detract from my wrinkled neck!)

    Reply
  • Pamela HargravesMarch 11, 2013 at 4:30 PM

    Beautiful necklace, I love acorns! Books would be my obsession!!!

    Reply
  • ANNETTEMarch 11, 2013 at 4:54 PM

    In my former work, I traveled a lot. And I brought home acorns. In fact, yesterday, I gave away an oak tree in a pot on my patio. The tree had gotten so large, about 12 feet tall, and one of the roots made a hole in the bottom of the pot and grew into the ground. In another pot, right now, I have 3 tiny live oak trees growing from acorns I gathered....I hope that you rethink your attitude toward acorns. They are our friends.

    Reply
    Replies
    1. Dorothy St. James/Dorothy McFallsMarch 13, 2013 at 8:45 AM

      Hi Annette, I used a random number generator and it picked you as the winner of the acorn necklace. Congratulations!

      That's wonderful that you used to bring home acorns from your travels and planted them. You sound like a true gardener.

  • ShelMarch 11, 2013 at 5:14 PM

    Lots of people would say I'm obsessed with perfume oils. I also have a Fiestaware collection, but I don't really count that as collecting, since they're all in use, and I won't buy a piece I don't intend to use (like the ornaments, you know?) And of course, there are the books...a person can never have too many books!

    Reply
  • Brittiany KorenMarch 11, 2013 at 8:24 PM

    Hi Dorothy,
    That is so like Casey! So picky, isn't she? LOL! Good luck with the acorns. :)

    Reply
  • DruMarch 11, 2013 at 9:30 PM

    I collect books and it's getting out of hand, but I don't care because I can't stop.

    Reply
  • AnonymousMarch 11, 2013 at 10:58 PM

    I am entering for the contest. Thank you

    Reply
  • Sue FarrellMarch 11, 2013 at 11:11 PM

    We have many oak trees in our yard. In the fall we have so many acorns that we have to rake and shovel them up. Please enter me in the contest.
    [email protected]

    Reply
  • LuAnn BraleyMarch 11, 2013 at 11:29 PM

    Obsession? Scotland. A friend of a friend once told me she was going to Scotland on vacation and since she knew of my interest, offered to bring me a souvenir. I told her I wanted a vial of Scottish soil. She thought that was a little strange.

    Collection. I once had a rather impressive collection of beads and jewelry I had made. The jewelry survived. The beads, which were sorted and packaged, did not survive the toddlerhood of my children. They opened every single container and I had a large gym bag crammed full of beads, mostly seed beads. My muse got pissed off and left until my kids got older.

    Reply
  • Liz V.March 12, 2013 at 10:18 AM

    The necklace is lovely.

    Just read The Flowerbed of State and ready for more.

    Thanks for the giveaway.

    Reply
  • Lynn FlorkiewiczMarch 16, 2013 at 1:13 PM

    Hi, Just come across your page and loving it. I'm a big cosy fan so my shelves are full of cosy crime novels. I live in the UK and I'm pleased to see that our bookshops are finally getting some cosy mysteries in. But, nothing compares to going across to the States and persuing the shelves of Barnes and Noble who have so many I just have to spend the whole afternoon there. Love the necklace and will most certainly be looking at these pages again.

    Reply

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