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Congrats to Leni, who won Sebastian’s Wolves by Valentina Heart!

Congrats to Susan C, who won The Duty of a Beta (Pack Discipline #3) by Kim Dare! The Duty of a Beta will be released by Total-E-Bound on March 7.

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Contests

• Carolyn Crane’s giving two lucky commenters the chance to win one of the freshly released UF/PNR books from her post. Contest closes early on March 5.

• Jase and Juni are celebrating World Book Day by giving away a $10 ARe voucher. To enter, answer their question in the comments by 7 pm EST, March 5. Post and site are very NSFW. You have been warned!

• Devon Rhodes is giving away both her four-book Seasoned Women series and a copy of the fourth book, Spring Training. Comment by noon EST, March 7, and let her know which prize you’re entering for.

• Comment on one of Eric Arvin’s One Good Thing posts from March 1 through March 7 and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a signed copy of his book Woke Up in a Strange Place. (US only)

• Sweet Vernal Zephyr’s giving away a copy of Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Comment through March 10 for your chance to win. (And make sure you read the small print!)

Bookity

• New releases: Elisa (GLBT) and Book Lovers Inc (UF/PNR/romance).

• Random House instituted agency pricing.

• European Commission inspectors raided publishers’ office as part of their investigation into alleged price fixing (via TeleRead).

• Book news and linkity from Dear Author and ReadReactReview.

• Kassa wonders what makes a review worthwhile.

• Kris contemplates why some authors get five-star ratings, even if the book wasn’t five-star worthy.

• Dear Author asks whether knowing too much about an author can ruin your enjoyment of that author’s books.

• Smart Bitches with a cover art reuse example.

• ReadReactReview looks at how life was different in 1972, when the first modern romance was published.

• If you haven’t read American Gods by Neil Gaiman or Bellwether by Connie Willis, what are you waiting for?! Both are on my keepers shelf.

• A book bed! (This is SFW; rest of site is NSFW.)

• Optical illusion bookshelves.

Ebookity

• If you enjoyed Shayla Kersten’s m/m romance, Icing on the Cake, but wanted more, you can have more – pick up the sequel, Acquired Taste, for free.

• HarperCollins announced that they’re going to limit library ebook checkouts to 26 times before libraries have to buy another copy/license of the ebook. Two librarians use paper books to demonstrate how silly that limitation is.

• Smart Bitches wonders how ebooks have changed your book browsing/shopping experience.

• Fifteenth century complaints about the printing press displacing scribes will sound familiar…

• Read an Ebook Week starts on Sunday.

Learn, Do, Think, Make

• Nearly everything you ever wanted to know about memes.

• Watch a guy upgrade from MSDOS 5.0 through every major version of Windows.

• I had no idea that Android, Apple, and Blackberry were virtually tied in the US smartphone market.

• The US Postal Service will be out of money by October.

• Although more women than men have high school and college degrees, women earn 75% of what men do. *sigh*

• If you have any Wellness canned cat food, check to see if it’s included in the recall.

• Secrets of an extreme couponer.

• Sad story of a lonely whale.

• A very thought-provoking post about “bullying and the trickle-down effect of cruelty” (via Kris’n'Good Books).

• How to write more in less time.

• How to avoid roaming charges while abroad.

• How to pass through a door (infographic).

• The original Monopoly board was circular.

• Make your own Cadbury eggs.

• Gluten-free Rice Krispies are on the way.

• General Mills now lists over 250 gluten-free items.

• Need some cold weather comfort? One of these ten hot chocolate recipes might do the trick.

Cool

• Goodnight, Dune (via Wyrdsmiths).

• MrsPao discovered a new Simon’s Cat – and don’t miss her link to the Star Wars kitties.

• You know you need a rubber ducky in your tea.

• Ninja umbrella.

• Run from zombies in your own neighborhood!

• 3-D LEGO infographic.

• Build a chess set out of LEGOs.

• Computational architecture.

• The Periodic Table of Fibers (via knittyBlog).

• Dr. Seuss-inspired crafts (since his birthday was March 2).

• Crochet a baby gmone hat or knit a Cylon Centurion hat.

• Bake your own rainbow layer cake! (And please invite me over if you make it gluten-free.)

• Speaking of rainbows, I finished this subdued rainbow toddler jacket last weekend (project details on Ravelry, if you’re interested):

Wha….???

• A toy taser?!

• Tampon chandelier… (Thanks(??), Tam!)

• Evil clown shoes!

• Pole dancer shoes…

• Mazda’s recalling some cars because of… spiders.

• Now you can buy individually wrapped bananas…

• Dogs chewing up your dining room chair legs? Cover them with fake… bones.

• Or maybe your dog wouldn’t be chewing things if you paid a farmer to let your dog herd sheep or cows.

• More than 500 prescription medications commonly used to treat allergies, colds, and coughs have not been approved by the FDA.

LOL

• How much do you have in common with your internet friends? (This is SFW; rest of site is NSFW.)

• We hate computers because they do what we tell them to.

• Way too cute to be menacing.

• Kitties love radiators.

• The cat variant of the Groucho Marx saying.

• Such naughty black kitties!

Teh Cute

• Baby polar bear! Wolves! Lions! Red pandas! Baby puma! Arctic fox! Fresh buns! Tiger! Hedgehog! Baby tiger and wolf! Red fox! Baby ferret! Baby lion! Koalas! Cat and rat! Javelinas! Baby wolf and baby fox! Baby panda! Lions!

Reading Update
GhosTV (PsyCop, Book 6) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook Excellent m/m paranormal romantic suspense in which Vic and Jacob head to California to find their friend Lisa, who’s vanished without a trace. Definitely looking forward to the next book! (I read this book twice this week: I read it as soon as I bought it, then I reread all the other PsyCop books and read it again.)
Among the Living (PsyCop, Book 1) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. reread. Excellent m/m paranormal romantic suspense about a PsyCop, who can see ghosts even though he really would prefer not to. After I read GhosTV, I needed more Vic and Jacob.
Thaw (PsyCop, Book 1.1) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. reread. Sweet short m/m romance about Vic and Jacob going ice skating.
Criss Cross (PsyCop, Book 2) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. reread. Very good m/m paranormal romantic suspense that takes place a few weeks after Among the Living. Jacob’s staying with Vic while looking for a new condo, and Vic has a creepily eager-to-please new partner at work.
Striking Sparks (PsyCop, Book 2.1) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. reread. Steamy short m/m encounter about a guy who’s too late to get his palm read by the fortune teller in Crash’s building and runs into Crash instead…
Many Happy Returns (PsyCop, Book 2.2) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. reread. Steamy m/m short about Crash attempting to exchange a shirt at SaverPlus.
Mind Reader (PsyCop, Book 2.3) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. reread. Good m/m short about Vic and Crash wandering around a museum.
Body and Soul (PsyCop, Book 3) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. reread. Very good m/m paranormal romantic suspense in which Vic gets another new partner at work and Jacob continues hunting for an unhaunted place to live.
Stroke of Midnight (PsyCop, Book 3.1) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. reread. Very good short m/m romance, told from Jacob’s point of view, about him going to a New Year’s party alone because Vic got called into work.
Secrets (PsyCop, Book 4) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romantic suspense in which Vic and Jacob’s living situation changes dramatically and Vic stumbles upon an epic conspiracy.
Camp Hell (PsyCop, Book 5) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. Excellent m/m paranormal romantic suspense in which Vic experiences some personal growth (beyond his paranoia, even!), and both Vic and Jacob have unexpected professional growth.
A Change of Scenery by J.M. Cartwright. ebook. Good m/m romance about a construction project manager who’s frustrated by his job in Chicago, so he takes a job in a small West Virginia town.

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*hee hee* “No one will notice I’m sticking my tongue out at them, because I look so noble and dignified!” -Chaos

I finished knitting these socks a bit after midnight on December 22. I knew I’d be mailing them over my lunch break that day, so I took pictures as soon as they were finished. When I set the socks on the floor, Mayhem woke from a deep sleep and came over to see what was up.

“Hey!! Stripey socks!!” -Mayhem

“Yup, definitely stripey socks. I approve of their bright pinky purpleness!” -Mayhem

“Oh, nice texture, too.” -Mayhem

“Were you trying to take pictures of stripey socks without my assistance?! For shame, Mom, for shame.” -Mayhem

“Ok, carry on, then.” -Mayhem

The yarn is Grignasco Strong Print, colorway 013, and the pattern is a basic blueberry waffle.

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Back in, um, February, I started a pair of socks for my SIL’s birthday in early March. *hopes no one notices what date it is now* Those socks are now complete!

“Socks on the floor! Yay!!!!” -Mayhem

“Is there a problem?” -Mayhem

Apparently you’ll just have to imagine what the rest of the socks look like…

“Socks! I love socks! Even if they aren’t stripey.” -Mayhem

I even started knitting a new pair of socks for myself.

“Stripey! Hurry up, Mom.” -Mayhem

Yes, dear…

Hopefully all the knitters were near padded surfaces when they collapsed from the shock of seeing knitting on the blog.

Congrats to Lily, who won the copy of Mobry’s Dick by K.Z. Snow, which is being released today from Loose Id. (Congrats, K.Z.!)

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• It’s been ages since I did a random update on my life and stray thoughts.

• When last we spoke, I was worried whether the new refrigerator would arrive before the old refrigerator died.

• It did!

• The new refrigerator was delivered on April 29 by two guys who were unnaturally cheerful about carrying refrigerators up and down three flights of stairs at 7:30 am.

• The new refrigerator is more spacious despite being smaller (I know!) and is quieter.

• The kitties remain deeply suspicious of it.

• On Saturday, I finally wandered over to the hardware store and picked up a patch for the screen.

• There shall be no more bats!

• I’m sure the kitties are sad about that.

• Knitting? Um, what? Ok, fine. I’m nearly done with the foot of the second of my SIL’s birthday socks.

• Yes, her birthday was two months ago.

• Give me a break – it’s nearly 80F, so she’s not going to be wearing wool socks for months!

• Sheesh.

• I’m trying to figure out what the three sickly trees in front of our building are.

• I know that they are not ashes, elms, oaks, maples, boxelders, lindens, any sort of evergreen, sycamores, gingkos, hophornbeams, cottonwoods, or aspens.

• You’d think I’d get a bit further than that with a forestry degree, wouldn’t you?

• Quit laughing, Mel. (We have the same undergraduate degree.)

• Hmm. Apparently I’ll be leaving both cat carriers portable kitty caves out for a while. I hate to discourage this sort of behavior:

*….zzzzzz….* -Mayhem

*….zzzzzz….* -Chaos

Congrats to elaing8, who won the copy of Deadly Obsession by Kris Norris!

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It turns out that for years, Jeanne has believed I stage those knitting pictures (well, back when I had regular knitting pictures!) in which Mayhem sniffs, gnaws, or lounges about on every single piece of knitting I place on the floor. Jeanne decided she needed to see for herself what really happened when knitting is placed on my living room floor.

So, when she was visiting recently, she waited until there weren’t any kitties in the living room, got up from her chair, and placed her gorgeous sock on the floor. Before she made it back to the chair, Mayhem appeared!

“Hey, what’s up? Did I hear knitting hit the floor?” -Mayhem

“Oh, look at that. Where did this stripey sock come from? Mom, I know you’re not knitting much of anything these days.” -Mayhem

(Ouch!)

“That’s it? Where’s the other sock? Where are the knitting needles? I like it best when there are knitting needles to chew.” -Mayhem

Anything else to add, Jeanne??