SeaHeart

- The fabulous Naomi Clark (naomi_jay) has a SUPER SEXY BOOK released today. It's called Shadow Cursed (JUST LOOK AT THAT COVER, LOOK AT IT. IT IS ALL SMOLDERY!), and--since she's an amazing writer and lady <3--if you are into gothic romances that are majorly smexy, YOU SHOULD REALLY GIVE IT A TRY.

- The Kickstarter to make The Dark Wife into an audiobook production is going amazingly well! I'm so happy and humbled and just blown away by all of the support and enthusiasm--you guys rock. <3

- The lovely Chris (sihaya09) at Sihaya Designs has just had a BEAUTIFUL update of magical, enchanted things. Clicky to have your breath taken away! <3

- I have a guest post at KT Grant's blog about The Dark Wife, writing gay YA, and how much people want to read lesbian YA books. She was fabulous for having me! :)

- Jenn and I have been trying to find time to put up some of my not-so-often-used perfumes on eBay for months--she finally got a chance to a few days ago. I know that some of you love perfume oil, so I thought I'd bring the link to those of you who might be interested in such things. :) (We've been doing some eBay sales, lately, but not really selling anything I thought you guys might like. When I put up some of my Pagan stuff, I'll let you know about that, too!) Our eBay sales include Haunt perfumes, some rare(r) BPAL (Weenies and such!), Arcana and etc. I'm sad to see some of my Haunt go, but--really--I have eleventy billion perfumes, and the moolah is better put to credit cards than sitting on my shelf.

- So, even though the New Jersey Assembly passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, the governor has promised a veto. Which, you know, majorly fucking sucks, but I was listening to NPR last night, all depressed about it, and they gave me a lot of hope that it might be put on the general ballot, and--if that happens--the polls say it would probably pass. So then NEW JERSEY can be JUST AS AWESOME AS NEW YORK. Don't even get me started on how effing excited I am about Washington or Colorado!!!! Any good energy sent to Colorado, by the way, would be greatly appreciated. COME ON, COLORADO. BE AWESOME. YOU CAN DO IT!

- For Valentine's Day, my GIGANTIC SURPRISE OF LOVE AND JOY for Jenn was to take her to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter--a place she's wanted to go LONG before it was even open (we're both huge Harry Potter fans!). We both loved it SO MUCH. My FAVORITE part (arguably! How could there ever be a "favorite" part?) was the Butterbeer. Now, the recipe in the park is actually vegan (they wanted to make it edible by the most people possible, so it has no milk in it whatsoever! Even the frothy top!), but the closest recipe to what I think it would actually taste like isn't. So we're going to experiment like crazy, and if we come up with something that tastes like it, I shall DEFINITELY SHARE. You do not KNOW how GOOD YOUR LIFE CAN BE until you have had Universal Studio's Butterbeer. :9 :9 :9 (I should make a commercial for them. XDDDDDDDD)

This is my Patented!Mulder!Look!(tm)--I have my wife and Butterbeer--life is swell. ;D

The Obligatory Explanation:
To those new on my friends list - I *adore* perfume oils. I consider my body to be a temple, and I perfume it accordingly~ Perfume oils to me are part ritual/part magic, and the heady scents and bewitching fragrances of autumnal blends make me giddy~ That being said, I have several favorite perfume oil places... but probably my all TIME favorite is Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab - or BPAL for short. Every year they create a Halloween themed update... Autumn is the highlight of my year, and somehow they capture the magic and deep beauty of the turning leaves, pumpkins on the porch and mist filled nights of stars.

The Halloween update came out--appropriately--today, it being Friday the 13th, and all~ ;D

- The Halloween update is here
- An awesome decant circle is here
- And if the above decant circle fills, there are five million forming at sinandsalvation

("Imps" are BPAL perfume samples that people collect and trade...a decant circle contains imps that are decanted and sent out by a central person to people who join and pay for sections of the decant circles...so you can choose the perfumes you think you might like and get samples to try them. :))

The reason the above decant circle is wonderful is that you can buy HALF imps of perfume. That's a very small amount, but I already have so many perfumes, and not all work on me--I'd rather try a few, and find the one or two that are perfect...this is the approach I did last year that worked wonderfully. :) Also, in the interest of minimalism, I'll use these up very quickly instead of having imps and imps and imps around from many Halloween pasts. XD Which, you know, I already have.


The Ones I Picked This Year:
The soundtrack of scent for my Autumn~:

Odd Portents
Black rose, olibanum, dark musk, myrrh, blackcurrant, lavender buds,
bourbon geranium, and amber incense.

It sounds practically perfect in every way. I think that with the myrrh and blackcurrant, especially, this might be a winner.

The Hag
Black musk, bay leaves, galangal, bourbon vetiver, blackcurrant, and rum.

This is a very, very dark scent, but I'm very lucky with those, usually--when they warm up on my skin, they turn bright and spicy. I hope this one will, too!

Nothing Gold Can Stay
Dewy green leaves colored by Moroccan amber, ginseng, and rooibos.

Amber is very happy on me, paired with the rooibos, I think this might be a warm-tea-ish scent--I hope so!

October 2010
Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and
sap in the air.

The perennial classic. I use up my imp every year~

Pumpkin Latte
Espresso, pumpkin syrup, smoky vanilla bean, milk, raw sugar, and a
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Oh my. I might die and go to heaven wearing this. XD

The Wild Swans At Coole
October twilight. Falling leaves breaking the stillness of cool water,
with sweet autumn clematis, feather-soft orris root, luminous white
chypre, and muguet.

This scent reminds me of one of my (arguably) favorite songs by Loreena McKennitt, whose albums are my soundtrack of autumn--it also sounds like it will dry down perfectly.

Pomegranate III
Pomegranate, Tamil Nadu sandalwood, lavender, tamarind, hazelnut,
Atlas cedarwood, sugar date, bitter clove, and Arabian myrrh.

A pomegranate grove instead of a pumpkin patch? I can live with that--almost. ;D As it is, they all sounded brilliant--this one sounds perfect.

Tell me what you decided on~! Let's talk happy, beautiful autumn things. :) I'm so excited about the shifting of the seasons. Already, some of the leaves are beginning to leave the bright green of summer...it's coming, she's coming. And soon. <3333