Monster Mayhem!

Think happy lucky upgrade thoughts my way tonight and over the weekend – after days of backing up and otherwise prepping Kenshin (my main laptop), I’ll be upgrading from Vista to Windows 7. (If interested, you can read a few of my thoughts on Vista from last year, plus pick up a tasty gf snickerdoodle recipe at the same time.)

Moonsanity has links to several H. P. Lovecraft stories. Let’s just say that the only time in my life that I’ve slept with the light on was after reading H. P. Lovecraft…

Head over to Fang-tastic Books for your chance to win a really cool prize pack containing the Blood Ties dvds, books, and a Fang-tastic Books tote bag. Winner will be announced on the morning of October 31.

If you’re looking for classic horror films to watch over the weekend, you might find some at Classic Cinema Online, which is a free streaming service.

Cool – turn pumpkins into black kitties!

Hmm. Not sure I’d live through trying this at home

Given the chance, Chaos would so do this

Aw, the softer side of Basement Cat.

Hmm. Did I already link to teh ebil veggee?


Today I am a Monster Princess! Boo!” -Mayhem

Have a happy and safe Halloween, everyone!

Book Giveaway: Simon’s Cat [CONTEST CLOSED]

What better way to celebrate National Cat Day than by giving away a cat-themed book?! Many thanks to the Hatchette Book Group for providing five copies of Simon Tofield’s new book, Simon’s Cat, for me to give away!

Simon's Cat

Simon Tofield’s animations have taken YouTube by storm. Now, the feline Internet phenomenon makes his way onto the page in this first-ever book based on the popular animated series. SIMON’S CAT depicts and exaggerates the hilarious relationship between a man and his cat. The daily escapades of this adorable pet, which always involve demanding more food, and his exasperated but doting owner come to life through Tofield’s charming and hilarious illustrations.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CST, Friday, November 6.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only luck and sacrificing some dust bunnies will salvage your entry…
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • Only residents of the US and Canada are eligible to win.
  • No PO Boxes.

Good luck!


“Now that I’ve had a nap or ten, I don’t want to let these books go! They are my books. Mine!! I’m counting them right now, Mom, and I’ll know if you take any.” -Mayhem

Shhh… Don’t tell May, but I’m nearly done notifying winners for the Completely Out-of-Control, Over-the-Top Book Giveaway. Check your spam filters, people, because after I send you a notification email, you only have 48 hours to respond…

Halloween Linkity Horror Show! Eeeeeek!!

Vampire Wire’s giving away a copy of Bound to Shadows, the ninth Riley Jenson paranormal by Keri Arthur – that contest closes the evening of October 29. Anna also has a copy to give away – her winner will be announced October 31. Donna (Fantasy Dreamer) is giving away a copy, too – that contest closes 10 pm CST, November 1.

Largehearted Boy’s giving away a copy of Kids Go!, which is a book and DVD put out by They Might Be Giants. Winner will be announced midnight CDT, October 30.

Cecile’s curious whether you prefer bad boys or knights in shining armor. Let her know by October 30 for your chance to win a DVD of Supernatural.

Author Julie James is giving away a copy of Nalini Singh’s Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changelings, Book 1) and Colleen Gleason’s The Rest Falls Away to someone who comments before 10 pm CST, October 30.

For an assortment of fun prizes from Linda Wisdom related to her Hex series, stop by Night Owl Romance before October 30.

Book Junkie’s giving away a copy of the cookbook Chocolate, a Love Story. Contest closes 11:30 pm EST, October 30.

Sara at Urban Fantasy Reader is giving away a copy of Ann Aguirre’s great urban fantasy, Blue Diablo. Contest closes midnight EST, November 2.

*blink blink* Ok, there’s an entire book of kitty wigs, called Glamourpuss. Moderncat’s giving away a copy on November 3 – stop and leave a comment before then if you’re interested. Or you can just go look at the kitty sweater costumes

Donna (Fantasy Dreamer) is splitting her weekly news into new releases on Tuesday and contests/interviews/etc on Wednesday. SciFiGuy.ca posted another great news/interview/contest roundup over the weekend.


This is a dangerous week for kitties, especially for black kitties. Moderncat has some Halloween kitty safety tips.

Zombie kitteh!

Basement Cat knows what scares you

Aren’t these kitty jack-o-lanterns cool?

Dear Author thinks this is a good time to buy an ereader; TeleRead disagrees. (Don’t forget that there are other readers besides the Sony, the Kindle, and the Nook out there!)

Dear Author brings up an important point that has been very neglected in the world of ebooks: readers have rights under copyright law, too.

An interesting post on book piracy from the MLR Press authors’ blog. Remember that not all pirated books are pirated from authorized ebook editions – in France, 95% of pirated ebooks were not from authorized editions (so were from scans, etc).

Completely drool worthy cover here…

Amy of A Closer Look at Flyover Land visited Uncle Hugo’s and Uncle Edgar’s last week and took some great pictures of the interior.

Jackie at Literary Escapism desperately needs submissions for the Urban Fantasy stop of the Bookworms Carnival before October 29.

Reading Update
Knit the Season (Friday Night Knitting Club, Book 3) by Kate Jacobs. Review copy from publisher. So, um, I didn’t actually read more than 1.5 chapters before I realized that I had pretty much mentally finished with these characters after the second book. It happens. But! If you didn’t feel that way, Knit the Season will be out November 3. Oh yeah, among the recipes at the back, there’s one for gluten-free pumpkin muffins. 🙂
Becoming Us by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox. ebook. Wow. This m/m romance really took me by surprise. Very steamy, yet sweet, too, it’s the story of two guys in college – one out, one whose family with disown him if they found out he has a boyfriend. The only thing I didn’t like is that it felt like the book was building toward a big emotional crisis that never materialized. Weirdly, that was disappointing.
The Happy Onion by Ally Blue. ebook. I must confess that I avoided this good m/m romance for quite a while because I hated the name. The Happy Onion is a bar and vegan restaurant owned by one of the main characters.
Love, Like Ghosts (Bay City Paranormal Investigations) by Ally Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romance that takes place ten years after the events in An Inner Darkness. Bo and Sam’s son Adrian is at college, but remains distanced from those around him as he works to control his telekinesis.
Life or Something Scary Like That by T.C. Blue. ebook. Good m/m romance that totally sucked me in – enough so that I left a comment for the author asking whether there was going to be another book featuring one of the characters. (Hopefully, but not yet.)
The One That Was Lost by T.C. Blue. ebook. Decent m/m romance that takes place during and after The One That Got Away.
Mexican Heat (Crimes & Cocktails, Book 1) by Laura Baumbach and Josh Lanyon. ebook. Intense m/m romantic supsense – I thought I had it figured out, and I did, but only to a point. Recommended. Looking forward to a sequel!
Snowball in Hell by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Historical mystery and m/m romance. This very well done mystery was set in Los Angeles during World War II, when being outed could lead to being imprisoned or being committed. As CJ and I have both wondered, why the heck isn’t Josh Lanyon more widely known and available in my public library system?
VGL Male Seeks Same and NEG UB2 by Rick R. Reed. ebooks. Good m/m romances about a lonely guy in his forties who, in the first book, tries online dating, and in the second book, begins to blog. These definitely had a bit more substance than many m/m romances that I’ve read.
Cheating Chance and Inland Empire (Taking the Odds, Books 1-2) by James Buchanan. ebooks. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a closeted cop and a not closeted agent of the Nevada Gaming Commission who meet at a goth convention and then become entangled on a case. Highly recommended – I’m definitely looking forward to the third book, which isn’t out yet.


Basement Cat has his eye on you and he knows if you’ve been nice or naughty…” -Chaos, acting as Basement Cat’s agent…

Book Giveaway: Chosen by Desire by Kate Perry [CONTEST CLOSED]

Many thanks to the Hatchette Book Group for providing five copies of Kate Perry’s new paranormal romance novel, Chosen by Desire (Guardians of Destiny), for me to give away!

Chosen By Desire

It’s down to the wire and Carrie Woods is leaving China without the proof she needs for her thesis: Wei Lin’s journal. While on a final tour of the monastery, Carrie finally locates the scrolls and attempts to photograph the documents. Caught in a sticky situation, Carrie takes the scrolls, only to notice a mysterious monk watching her–the same monk that she’s seen each time she’s taken a tour. Unable to return the scrolls, she travels back to California and isn’t too thrilled when she notices the monk at the airport.

Maximillian Prescott first came to the monastery as an orphaned teenager when he inherited the Book of Metal from a distant uncle he hardly knew. After spotting a woman stealing from the monastery, he follows her to get back the documents he knows she’s stolen. Max is further intrigued when he finds out that the chatty woman is friends with his archrival, Rhys Llewellyn, and he will stop at nothing to get back everything he’s lost.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CST, Wedneday, November 4.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only luck and sacrificing some dust bunnies will salvage your entry…
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • Only residents of the US and Canada are eligible to win.
  • No PO Boxes.

Good luck!


“Trying to sleep here, Mom. Go away.” -Mayhem

How did it get to be Monday again?!

  • And stop back tomorrow for a new book contest…
  • This time we went to the Paperback Exchange, which has an impressive selection of used romances.
  • Along with a rather complicated trade-in system that took us a long time to decipher from our receipts later.
  • Fortunately, we were comfortably seated in Dragonfly Coffee, which is right next to the Paperback Exchange.
  • I’m so going back to Dragonfly again, because they had gluten-free muffins and bars!
  • Sadly, I wasn’t hungry while we was there.
  • After I posted that, the radio didn’t come on for two days.
  • Not intermittent, true, but not exactly what I was hoping for.
  • Thanks to everyone who commented or sent email last week with reading and book-related song ideas! Now I just have to track down a few of those and integrate them with what I have…

“When the contest is finally over will I be able to get off the books, Mom? Please? My butt is getting sore.” -Mayhem

Is it beer-thirty yet?

Or at least beer-thirty soon??

I’ve mentioned before that Lakefront Brewery’s New Grist beer is my favorite gluten-free beer. While I was in Toronto, I got Brigitte hooked on it, too, which would’ve been cruel if we hadn’t discovered that you could buy it from some of the larger LCBO stores (although not from The Beer Store).

Why is that? Well, strangely, New Grist isn’t considered a beer in Canada. The pictures below show the differences between the Canadian (left) and US (right) labels. In Canada, New Grist is “A crisp & refreshing alcoholic beverage” instead of “A crisp and refreshing session beer”.

Does anyone know how “beer” is defined in Canada? I spent a little time googling, but never did find the actual definition. (Thanks to Dotty, who discovered the reason!)

“I don’t know, Mom, it sure smells like that stinky stuff you like to drink but won’t share with us because you’re mean.” -Chaos

The Great Kitty Grass Massacre of ’09

  • There aren’t any pictures of the Great Kitty Grass Massacre of ’09 because I cleaned up the mess before realizing how bloggable it was.
  • D’oh!
  • Picture light terra cotta tile looking as if it’s morphing into a grass mat, with puked-up kitty grass here and there to add to the ambiance.
  • Now I remember why I don’t buy kitty grass very often.
  • I’m trying to put together a mix cd about books and reading and am having a heckuva time. Any song suggestions?
  • Is it sad that one of the highlights of last week for me was taking my car in to get the tires rotated and telling them about the tire that I thought had a really, really, really slow leak (as in takes six to eight weeks to look lower than the other tires)… and having them find the leak and patch it?
  • Speaking of my car, I’d like to take a moment to have a bit of chat with it.
  • Dear beloved car – I’ve had enough of your intermittent radio shenanigans. If you want to continue receiving premium… Do we have an understanding?
  • We had sunshine and warmth over the weekend!
  • And now it’s raining and cold again.
  • This time, knitting was complicated by an ulnar tunnel flare up.
  • Hmph.
  • Darn, this bulleted list blog post looks a little skimpy, doesn’t it?

“Wha…? Kitty grass? Mess? Must’ve been the big kitty, Mom! Look at how cute I am!” -Mayhem

Super Fantastic Mega Bookity Linkity!

For your chance to win in the Completely Out-of-Control, Over-the-Top Book Giveaway, comment on the contest post before 7 pm CDT, Monday, October 26. I will randomly pick at least three winners, each of whom will be able to select up to five books.

Congrats to Donna S, CC, Cherie J, Chey, and Jeannette Juan, who each won a copy of Shannon K. Butcher’s Love You To Death!


Anna’s giving away a big box of books, too. Enter before October 31 for your chance to win.

Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lovin’ Giveaways is giving away a copy of the short story collection Zombie Raccoons and Killer Bunnies. Enter by October 30 for your chance to win.

Donna (Fantasy Dreamer) is giving away three copies of the graphic novel Lenore: Noogies. Contest closes at midnight CDT, October 24.

Cecile is giving away a copy of Winter’s Desire, a collection of steamy stories related to the Solstice. Contest closes October 23.

SciFiGuy.ca is giving away an ebook copy of Roxanne Rhoads’ latest er0tic paranormal novella, Eternal Desire, along with some Fang-tastic Books goodies. Contest closes at 11:59 pm EST, October 26. He’s also giving away a copy of R.A. Salvatore’s The Ghost King; that contest closes at 11:59 pm EST, October 25.

For a chance to win a copy of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, stop by Fang-tastic Books and leave a comment. Not sure when this one closes.

Abigail at All Things Urban Fantasy is giving away a copy of one of Marta Acosta’s Casa Dracula books. Leave a comment by midnight MST, October 27, for your chance to win.

Lots of blogs are participating in the Hatchette Book Group’s Spine-Chilling Book Giveaway, in which three winners (at each participating blog) will win copies of The Historian, BoneMan’s Daughters, When Ghosts Speak, Sins of the Flesh, and The Heretic’s Daughter. Stop by Fang-tastic Books (winners selected October 30), Patricia’s Vampire Notes (closes November 8, 11:59 pm Hawaiian), Vampire Wire (closes November 4), and SciFiGuy.ca (closes November 1, 11:59 pm EST) to enter.

Knittymama wishes there were more knitting book and magazine reviews out there in knitting blogland. To encourage people to write some, she’s having a contest. Check out the details – if you participate before November 1, you could win a custom project bag or needle roll in your choice of fabric, plus other goodies.

Largehearted Boy is giving away five copies of Josh Bazell’s thriller, Beat the Reaper, along with a t-shirt that corresponds to the first line of the novel, plus assorted books and cds. Enter before the evening of October 23 for your chance to win.

Fantasy Book Critic is giving away three sets of Vampires by Joules Taylor and Werewolves by Jon Izzard. Contest closes at 12:01 pm, October 27.

Samhain Publishing’s giving away free ebook short stories every day from October 15 through the end of the month. Books are announced on the Samhellion blog each day. You send an email to the address in the blog post and get a download link back.

Gizmo’s Freeware has a list of nearly 200 places to find free and legal ebook downloads.

SciFiGuy.ca posted an exhaustive list of new releases, author interviews, and contests. Literary Escapism also has a good list. And today’s the day that Donna (Fantasy Dreamer) puts out her weekly newsletter post, which is always chock full of good stuff.

I’m amazed at how many vampire books are coming out in October.

Did you know it’s Teen Read Week?

Check out the directory of used bookstores featuring romances over at Book Binge. Smart Bitches has something similar, only as a map.

Interested in making your own color (LCD) ebook reader from a tablet PC for about $200?

I’m always intrigued by bookholders – Paperback Writer reviews one that’s new to me.

Follow Amy’s adventures over at A Closer Look at Flyover Land as she participates in the Twin Cities Literary Scavenger Hunt.

Looking for some Halloween music to listen to? Salad Days Music has quite the playlist posted, along with a really amusing carved pumpkin scene.

If you like indie/alternative music, check out the Daytrotter Sessions – free and legal mp3s of some of your favorite songs. I highly recommend Blitzen Trapper’s session from last fall, which includes a great version of “Furr” (“…a fantastic tale of lycanthropic yearning”).

Lots has been written about the new FTC disclosure rules for blogs, which go into effect December 1. Additional info suggests that small book bloggers probably won’t be affected. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I always mention when a book I’m reviewing was received from the publisher as a review copy, and I will continue to do so. And publishers? Sending me a review copy does not mean that I will give the book a favorable review. 🙂 My main sources for books are the library and my own purchases. I do belong to the IndieBound Affiliate Program, but as far as I know, I haven’t actually earned anything. I’m in it for the nifty book cover thumbnails and links, actually, and not to make any money.

Related to all of that, Racy Romance Reviews has an interesting post about book blogging and book promotion.

Reading Update
Must Love Hellhounds by Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, and Meljean Brook. I only read the stories by Nalini Singh (good, set before Angel’s Blood) and Meljean Brook (good Guardians story). Since I haven’t read any of the Kate Daniels books by Ilona Andrews yet, I decided to save that story for after I had. And I don’t really care for the Britlingen stories by Charlaine Harris, so I didn’t bother with that one.
Dreaming of You by Ethan Day. ebook. Another good m/m romance from Ethan Day. This one’s about a guy who’s been in love the perfect man for years and years, but that man doesn’t exist outside of his dreams… or does he? Hope Ethan Day is busily writing more, because he’s on my must-buy list now.
Tall, Mean and Darkly by A.J. Llewellyn & Stephani Hecht. ebook. So you’re a guy whose beloved wife gets hit by a bus and as she dies in your arms, she promises to come back to you, somehow. And she does… as a guy.
Handyman by Claire Thompson. ebook. Decent m/m romance about a day trader who moves to a small town to get away from the stress of Wall Street.
Adder by Ally Blue. ebook. This m/m romance had Ally Blue’s usual excellent writing, but the two main characters (Adder and Kalil) and their completely messed up dynamic never really engaged me.
Making It Up by T.C. Blue. ebook. I have really mixed feelings about this m/m romance. Although the basic story and writing were fine, I was frustrated about two major points. The first was the shifting point of view – the story shifted around and was told from various people’s perspectives, often differing from paragraph to paragraph and with little or no warning. I found this more confusing than helpful. The second? I wanted to slap the three main male characters throughout much of the book, which isn’t conducive to a good reading experience.
Just for You by Jet Mykles. ebook. Really good m/m romance about a guy who pretends to be gay in order to get around his controlling female supervisor by talking to his company’s owners at an exclusive gay club. Too bad his feelings for his alleged boyfriend get so complicated…
The Heaven Sent series (Heaven, Purgatory, Hell, Faith, and Genesis) by Jet Mykles. ebooks. Very good m/m romance series about the band Heaven Sent. Each book follows one of the band members as he stumbles toward love.
Nick of Time by T.C. Blue. ebook. Next book in the m/m paranormal romance series that started with Allergies. I’m still sort of meh about this series. It’s ok, but it isn’t exactly drawing me in. Allergies was about werewolves; this one continues with the werewolves, but adds vampires and some other preternaturals to the mix. (I have to admit that I really like the cover at least!)


“What, Mom? No, of course I didn’t suggest knocking books off the bookshelves. Would I do that?” -Chaos

“You are so lying, big kitty. And so busted. I’m outta here!” -Mayhem

The Completely Out-of-Control, Over-the-Top Book Giveaway [CONTEST CLOSED]

It’s been a while since I did one of these. (Flashback to the Contest of BABEL.) I always seem to end up with a stack of books that I’ve accumulated through various means: being at the library’s withdrawn store or the thrift store without an inventory of my library, accidentally buying a duplicate, receiving a duplicate, or intentionally buying a used duplicate because I liked the book and hoped to pass it on to someone.

Comment on this post before 7 pm CDT,  Monday, October 26, for your chance to win some of the books pictured below. I will randomly pick at least three winners, each of whom will be able to select up to five books. Most of the books are used and, unsurprisingly, are likely to have a wee bit of cat hair on them. 🙂 (Please note that actual cats are not included in the giveaway.) (Contest open everywhere, although due to the cost of international shipping, international winners will only be able to select up to three books.)

“Is there a problem?” -Mayhem

Hmm. Trying again for an unobscured shot…

Plus this ARC, which didn’t fit into the picture above:

Please ignore my toe, which is holding down the curling cover. Here’s a list of all the books:

  • The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Rosina Lippi (hardcover, new); The Border Lord and the Lady by Beatrice Small (ARC, new); Bitten (Women of the Otherworld) by Kelley Armstrong (trade pb, used); Industrial Magic (Women of the Otherworld) by Kelley Armstrong (pb, used); Through a Crimson Veil (Crimson City) by Patti O’Shea (pb, used); Moon’s Fury (Tales of the Sazi, Book 5) by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp (pb, used)
  • Dark Symphony (Carpathians, Book 9) by Christine Feehan (used, pb); The Twilight Before Christmas (Drake Sisters, Book 2) by Christine Feehan (used, pb); After Dark (Ghost Hunters, Book 1) by Jayne Castle (used, pb); Wild and Hexy (Hex Series, Book 2) by Vicki Lewis Thompson (used, pb); Damien (Nightwalkers, Book 4) by Jacquelyn Frank (used, pb); The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, Book 1) by Marjorie M. Liu (used, pb); I Thirst For You (Primes, Book 2) by Susan Sizemore (used, pb)
  • Lucky Charm and Lucky Streak (Lucky Trilogy, Books 1-2) by Carly Phillips (used, pb); Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs, Book 4) by Lora Leigh (used, pb); The Mercenary (T-FLAC, Book 1) by Cherry Adair (used, pb); Minion (Vampire Huntress Legend, Book 1) by L.A. Banks (used, pb); Rogue (Werecats, Book 2) by Rachel Vincent (used, pb); Hotter Than Hell, edited by Kim Harrison (used, pb, contains stories by Harrison, Tanya Huff, Lilith Saintcrow, Keri Arthur, and more)
  • Blood Price (Blood Books, Book 1) by Tanya Huff (new, pb); Hawkspar (A Novel of Korre) by Holly Lisle (new, pb); Desire Unchained and Passion Unleashed (Demonica, Books 2-3) by Larissa Ione (new, pb); Round the Clock by Dara Girard (new, pb); Murder at the Old Vicarage and The Murders of Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Beale (Lloyd & Hill Mysteries, Book 2 & 4) by Jill McGown (used, pb)
  • Knit the Season (Friday Night Knitting Club, Book 3) by Kate Jacobs (ARC)

“Big kitty, I don’t want these books to go away. I like sitting on them.” -Mayhem

“Don’t worry, May – after these go away, we can just knock more off the bookshelves for you to sit on.” -Chaos