Linkity from the land of ice and snow

Contests: Reading

  • Have you heard about the League of Reluctant Adults’ Reading Challenge and Contest? Why not?!

Contests: Knitting

  • JessaLu will give away some of her handspun yarn to one lucky person who completes a short form to help her husband’s car club get some additional funding. The form must be completed by January 31.

Reading News & Bits

Knitting

Fun & Games

  • Many thanks to Marta Acosta, who put together an Amazon playlist of my Vampire Mix in her sidebar! Please note that the playlist is of Amazon’s song samples, which are about 30 seconds each.

Black Kitties Running Amok

Reading Update
Faith and Fidelity by Tere Michaels. ebook. Good grief. You’d think, since I was rereading this excellent m/m romance, that I wouldn’t cry. You would be so, so wrong.
Love and Loyalty by Tere Michaels. ebook. Another reread. Tere Michaels can write a darn good m/m romance, even if this one didn’t have as much impact on me as Faith and Fidelity (i.e., I didn’t cry).
Catnip Crazy (Cat House, Book 2) by Julia Talbot. ebook short. Not Talbot’s best, but sort of a cute (if a bit silly) m/m paranormal.
Jumping into Things (Thatcher Brothers, Book 1) by Julia Talbot. ebook. This book actually contains two pretty good m/m romances. The first is about pilot Jed Thatcher who falls for a prickly fire jumper. The second is about Army Airborne instructor Ross Thatcher, who hasn’t ever been attracted to another guy before.
Open Sesame (A Not Quite Wicked Tale) by Mia Watts. ebook short. Fun and very steamy m/m romance based on Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, updated with insider trading and many fewer thieves.
A Wolf in Men’s Clothing (A Not Quite Wicked Tale) by Dakota Rebel. ebook short. Very enjoyable m/m paranormal romance based on Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, with Red now being a guy in a red hoodie and the Wolf now being a werewolf.
One of Those Days by Zathyn Priest. free ebook short. Nicely done short m/m romance about a chiropractor who discovers the jock who bullied him in high school is his next patient.
Entanglements by Fae Sutherland and Marguerite Labbe. ebook. Decent m/m romance about whether it’s worth risking everything to maybe have it all.
With This Ring (Tabloid Star, Book 1.5) by T. A. Chase. ebook short. Ok m/m romance about the guys from Tabloid Star tying the knot. I fear it exceeded my syrupy sugary quotient…
Leftovers by Treva Harte. ebook. Good m/m romance about two guys who only see each other once a year, at Thanksgiving. After eight years, that isn’t enough for either of them anymore.
Loving the Rain by Drew Zachary. ebook short. Decent m/m romance (set in Ottawa) about an environmentalist and an artist who uses recycled materials who meet while they’re waiting out a cloudburst in a coffee shop.
The Painted House by Drew Zachary. ebook. Nice, non-angsty m/m romance about a location scout who meets an artist while looking for a location in Nova Scotia.
Once Upon a Veterinarian by Drew Zachary. ebook. A cop and a veterinarian meet when the cop starts investigating a string of pet poisonings in this m/m romance.
Summer Fever by Catt Ford. ebook. Pretty good m/m romance about a guy staying at a lake cabin and the cop he asked for directions on the way there.
Feeding Dragons by Misa Izanaki. ebook short. Ok m/m paranormal romance about a dragon shapeshifter who takes a liking to a young Japanese cook. (For those of you who really enjoy descriptions of food in your reading, this might be of particular interest.)
In the Heat of the Moment by Kim Dare. ebook. Steamy and kinky m/m tale in which a dominant works to convince a submissive that there’s nothing shameful in being submissive.
All’s Fair in Love and Advertising by Lenore Black. ebook. I really enjoyed this m/m romance about a hyper advertising exec who knows better than to get involved with a prospective client… usually.
Broomsticks and Stones by Jane Davitt. ebook short. Cute paranormal m/m romance short about two wizards.
Change of Heart by Kiernan Kelly. So-so paranormal m/m romance about a vet (who’s a werewolf) who hasn’t been doing a very good job getting over his evil ex.
Feeling Safe by Sonja Spencer. ebook. A cop rescues a guy from an in-progress burglary, then takes the guy home. My biggest complaint was the sometimes dizzying point-of-view changes – every paragraph for a while… including the cat.


“I think that more books should include the cat’s point of view. That’s what everyone’s interested in anyway.” -Chaos

Thursday bull(et)ish post

  • Eeep!
  • Eeep!
  • It explains so very, very much, doesn’t it?
  • His/their posture most especially. 🙂
  • Dear Mozilla – Iz kinda hatez Firefox 3.6 on Windows 7 (64-bit). Shiny, but oh, the memory leak…
  • In order to keep my number of computers under four, I gave the oldest laptop to my brother and SIL.
  • A lot.
  • And then rained for several days, causing numerous roof leaks.
  • And then got cold.
  • And started to snow.
  • And then got colder.
  • Which brings us back to the last time I whined about the weather!

Doctor Mayhem cares deeply about all of our problems. Can’t you tell just by looking at her?

“What?! No I don’t. I’m a cat! Your petty problems are of no interest to me.” -Mayhem

Ebook Giveaway: Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane [CONTEST CLOSED]

Many thanks to author (and knitter) Amy Lane, who’s offering up an ebook copy of her new m/m romance release, Keeping Promise Rock, for one lucky commenter! Plus additional thanks to Amy, because I won a copy of the ebook in a contest on her blog, Yarning to Write. 🙂

A bit about the book:

Carrick Francis has spent most of his life jumping into trouble with both feet. The only thing saving him from prison or worse is his absolute devotion to Deacon Winters. Deacon was Crick’s sanity and salvation during a miserable, abusive childhood, and Crick would do anything to stay with him forever. So when Deacon’s father dies, Crick puts his college plans on hold to help Deacon as Deacon has helped him.

Deacon’s greatest wish is to see Crick escape his memories and the town they grew up in so Crick can enjoy a shining future. But after two years of growing feelings and temptation, the painfully shy Deacon finally succumbs to Crick’s determined advances and admits he sees himself as part of Crick’s life.

It nearly destroys Deacon when he discovers Crick has been waiting to be pushed away, which is what Crick’s family did in the past. When Crick’s knack for volatile decisions lands him far away from home, Deacon is left, shell-shocked and alone, struggling to reforge his heart in a world where love with Crick is a promise, but by no means a certainty.

And a bit about Amy:

Amy Lane mothers four children, teaches high school part time, and when the dragon roars in her blood, she writes. Her house is a demolition zone, her car is an accident waiting to happen, but her children love movies, science fiction, and prefer plastic swords to any other toy so she figures she’s done her job well. She spent five years as an independent writer and although she loves m/m and will continue to write it, she still has stories to tell from her Little Goddess series and isn’t going to give up being an indie any time soon. She is currently working on the sequel to Keeping Promise Rock, which is titled Making Promises, and then she’ll move on to the final installment of her novella series, Jack and Teague (and Katy): A Story of Green’s Hill. (The first five installments of this last one are available on her website for absolutely free!)

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CST, Wednesday, February 3.
  • 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 adopting ten shelter kitties will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this just refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winner 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.
  • This contest is open worldwide!

“Who cares about Mom trying to regain some of her long lost knitting cred with this pathetic sock?! Check out these yummy needles!” *munch* -Mayhem

“Mayhem! No!” -me

*mope* -Mayhem

“So this is the new year, and I don’t feel any different.”

– Death Cab for Cutie, “The New Year” (No, really, I haven’t used this title before. Really. See? Similar, but different.)

I realized that I was running out of time to do a 2009 in review post and not have it be utterly silly. So, allow me to present my year in reading and knitting.

Reading
In 2009, I read a lot. Really. A lot. Um, 811 books is a lot, right?! Here’s the complete list, sorted by rating and then by author. You’ll notice that there are some books that look as if I read them in 2010 – those are rereads that I also read in 2009. (For reference, I read 388 books in 2008.)

My now beloved ebook reader had a huge impact on my reading last year. Although I didn’t get the reader until April, I read 500 ebooks last year; 445 of those were m/m titles. At this point, I would rather read ebooks than print books!

Please note that part of the reason for what looks like a crazy number of books read last year is because ebooks tend to be shorter overall than print books. While I tagged 79 books as shorts (all were ebooks), I didn’t start using that tag until a few months ago.

In 2009, I completed two reading challenges by joining them after I had met the requirements: 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge and 100+ Reading Challenge. That’s apparently the secret for me and challenges – find out about them after I’ve completed them without knowing I’ve completed them. 🙂

Knitting
This was not a good year for knitting, due to neck/back pain and lack of inspiration. (And, sadly, 2010 isn’t off to a great start knittingwise.) I completed a neck cozy, a baby blanket, a sweater that was mostly already knit, some bibs, and seven pairs of socks.


“Um, Mom? Those knitters aren’t stupid. They’re going to remember that you posted this same sock done to the same point already. But whatever. It’s your blog, your shame. Doesn’t mean I have to stick around to witness it.” -Chaos

Misadventures in Stock Photography: Burning Questions

Several of you have wondered if Slouching Guy and Open Black Jacket Guy (OBJG) are the same person.

Hmm. Good question. I can’t quite tell.

What do you think?

I think they both have the same… belt.

And is this the same guy, or just someone else wearing that same jacket (now with bonus cop’s shield)?!

Discuss.


“These are my pink sparklies. Mine. MINE!!! You stay away, you big kitty, you.” -Mayhem

I think it’s safe to say she likes them, Nicole – thank you!

Book Giveaway: A Black Tie Affair by Sherrill Bodine [CONTEST CLOSED]

Many thanks to the Hatchette Book Group for providing five copies of Sherrill Bodine’s new romance, A Black Tie Affair, for me to give away!

Sherrill Bodine’s witty, sexy, and ultimately heart-tugging follow-up to Talk of the Town will appeal to readers of Susan Mallery, Barbara Bretton, Sherryl Woods, and Susan Wiggs.

Fashion curator Athena Smith will do anything to get her perfectly manicured hands on the Clayworth family’s celebrated couture collection for her exhibit. So when she’s called in to make sure the gowns are the real deal, she’s ecstatic…until a dress she’s examining turns out to be loaded with toxins (talk about killer threads!) and Athena faints dead away, only to wake up face-to-face with the One That Got Away, notorious Chicago banker Drew Clayworth.

Drew still believes Athena betrayed him all those years ago, and he’s sure he can’t trust her. But when the priceless gowns go missing, she offers to help track them down. Reluctantly allied in the quest, Drew and Athena are soon stunned by the barely restrained passion still sizzling between them…and memories both bitter and sweet. Is their new partnership just a business arrangement? Or is this something more than . . . A Black Tie Affair?

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CST, Thursday, January 28.
  • 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 an extremely intricate and silly dance will salvage your entry…
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this just refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • 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!


“You aren’t taking a picture that’s going to make me look silly on the blog, right, Mom? Right?!??” -Chaos

La-la-la-la-la-linkity!

Congrats to Jody, who won the Not Quite Wicked ebooks! Rumor has it there may be another contest starting tomorrow… 😉

Contests

Book and Reading News

Neato Cool

Stuff That Didn’t Fit Anywhere Else

Well, I Was Amused

Reading Update
Fatal Shadows, A Dangerous Thing, The Hell You Say, Death of a Pirate King, and The Dark Tide (The Adrien English Mysteries, Books 1-5) by Josh Lanyon. ebooks. I read books one through four last August and was amazed at how much emotional impact this m/m mystery series had on me. As I reread the first four books last week, preparing to read the fifth (and final) book, I was amazed again, because the books affected me just as much this time. When I wasn’t reading, I’d find myself thinking about Adrien, about Jake, about their complicated history. I was both looking forward to reading The Dark Tide and afraid to read it, knowing that it would most likely take me through the emotional wringer yet again. It did. I cried a few times. But at the end of the fifth book? I smiled.
Love Dot Come by Julia Talbot. ebook short. Absolutely adorable short about two geeky, klutzy guys who meet via an online personals site.
Aquamarine by Sara Bell. ebook. After a college football player is seriously injured during a game and learns that his publicity loving boyfriend won’t stick around, his life changes in unexpected ways in this sweet m/m romance.
The Manny by Sara Bell. ebook. Another sweet m/m romance from Sara Bell. This one’s about a male nanny/custom motorcycle designer and his evil landlord.
Crimson Regret, A Taste of Darkness, A Glimpse Inside, and Windows and Walls (Inches of Trust, Books 1-4) by A.R. Moler. ebook shorts. These m/m shorts are about an architect and a cop who meet as a devil and Zorro at a Halloween costume party. I enjoyed these, but found them frustrating at the same time – they read as sort of serial novel. I’d rather read the novel or collection.
Knowing Caleb (Hawkins Ranch, Book 4) by Cameron Dane. ebook. Pretty good m/m that I guess I’d categorize as a very steamy paranormal Western romance. (Hot demon cowboys!) I haven’t read the others in this series, but I’m sure I’ll read at least a few others.
You Were Always On My Mind by Deirdre O’Dare. ebook. Um. Yeah. I think I damaged my eyeballs from rolling them so much while reading this m/m romance. *shakes head at self for finishing this book*
A Promise Kept by Stormy Glenn. ebook. What is it about Stormy Glenn’s m/m romances? This one was about miscommunication and misunderstanding (with a stalker thrown in for good measure) – I was alternately sniffling, then rolling my eyes at the hokey bits. (My eyeball muscles are strong! Strong! after reading this story.) But I kept reading (er, skimming)… even though this book should have been about 1/3 the length it was, based on the amount of actual story.
Beautiful Viking by Steve Sampson. ebook. Well, the cover’s nice… Unfortunately, the writing in this m/m romance was clumsy and choppy and the characters unrealistic and gushing.
In the Rough (By Degrees, Book 2) by J. B. McDonald. ebook. Pretty good m/m romance about two guys, longtime friends who are both survivors of childhood abuse and who slowly realize that even 20 years later, they’ve been allowing their pasts to control them.
Bastards and Pretty Boys by K. Z. Snow. ebook. Well done m/m romantic suspense about a guy who buys a cabin on a quiet Wisconsin lake, hoping to work through his hydrophobia. Alas, I’ve never stayed at a cabin that had such a scenic next door neighbor!
The Night Sky Man by Mallory Path. ebook. Nicely done dreamlike m/m romance about a model and a modeling agent.
As Serious as the Grave by Kiernan Kelly. ebook short. Well. Yes, I read an m/m zombie romance and liked it. (Anyone who knows how I feel about zombie stories probably just spit the beverage of their choice on their screens.) Both Jenre and Tam have said far more eloquent things about this short than I will ever manage, but don’t let the zombie aspect squick you out. As Tam kept reiterating, “He’s not a zombie, he’s reanimated.”


“If you really loved me, Mom, you’d buy me a super-fancy kitty house instead of making me live in this plastic tub.” -Mayhem

In which I ramble for a bit, then include a very cute picture of a sleeping princess with a cold nose

  • If you have suggestions for authors you’d like to see me contact for contests, please leave a comment!
  • Um, no, it’s very unlikely that Neil Gaiman, Nora Roberts, or Stephen King will respond.
  • I’m most interested in featuring authors who have a bit less reach (for now!) and who will interact with us in the comments.
  • I do promise to shamelessly exploit my friendship with Carolyn Crane when her book comes out. *shoots meaningful glance at CJ*
  • For my evil day job (EDJ), I work as a systems analyst and spend a lot of time looking for patterns in data.
  • Turns out that looking for overused stock photos? Just more patterns.
  • For the record? Looking for overused stock photos is a lot more amusing than what I do at the EDJ.
  • Probably I should admit that I’m not sending any more holiday cards for the 2009 holiday season and put all of that stuff away until next winter, huh?
  • I had a sinus-triggered migraine last Wednesday, so I took a shot (mmm… sumatr1ptan), napped for a few hours with the kitties, and woke up feeling great.
  • The kitties were very happy because they don’t get to sleep with me at night – there’s really only so many times I can handle having Chaos walk across my head at 2 am because he wants breakfast.
  • Anyway, ever since then, each evening when I go in to my bedroom to sleep, Mayhem’s sitting expectantly on my bed.
  • Sorry, May. Out you go.
  • Although she doesn’t walk across my head while I sleep, she does cover me with her furry toy mice, apparently bringing mouse after mouse, hoping to find the magical mouse that will inspire me to wake up and play fetch with her.
  • Shhhh… sleeping princess alert….

  • Awww.

Misadventures in Stock Photography: Part the Seventh (OBJG)

Happy Release Day, Mia, Bronwyn, Brynn, and Dakota! (Dakota? Don’t read the rest of this post, ‘k? Um, no reason. Really.)


In Part 4, I mentioned that we would see Open Black Jacket Guy again. That, kids, is what’s known as heavy-handed foreshadowing. Don’t try it home, ok? SoC accepts no responsibility if you do.

To refresh our memories, here’s Open Black Jacket Guy (OBJG), hanging out with his pal, Slouching Guy. Both have been growing their hair, to ill effect.

Fortunately, OBJG came to his senses, got his hair cut, and ditched Slouching Guy. However, he couldn’t give up on those long-haired boys just yet.

But the emo finally got to him, so he moved on.

Then it turned out that the brooding emo bit wasn’t tied to hair length.

Woe! Woe! Woe! Poor OBJG. He kept trying…

…and trying, but even the most promising turned out to have some fatal flaw (that demonic possession was just the worst), so he decided maybe he’d had enough of the boys.

And that he needed to spend a little time on his own, forgetting.

That was boring, so he got a cat, but there were… complications.

So he ditched the cat, but…

…the girls, they were just as much trouble as the moody boys.

And combining the girls and the moody boys?! Bad, bad idea.

Then in a freak karaoke tattooing accident, his head and body got sort of distorted and cropped; thereafter, everything was a-ok with him.

The end. Until I find a bunch more covers of him. 😉


“Still not forgiving you for letting that mysterious unmoving interloper sit on top of the bookcase.” -Chaos

Disapproving cats disapprove

A couple weeks ago, Limedragon sent me a stuffed black cat that she’d found whilst cleaning her place. Thanks, Limedragon! I wonder why you thought of me… 😉

It’s a pretty cool black cat, designed to lurk on top of something. I placed it on top one of the bookcases and I’ve mostly stopped being startled by it whenever I walk in or out of the room and notice it out of the corner of my eye.

“Mayhem, how the heck did you get up… oh, never mind.” -me

However, not everyone seems to approve of this new cat.

“I feel so betrayed.” -Chaos

“Mom, why?! Why did you get another kitty? Don’t you love us anymore? And why does that kitty get to go up on top of the bookcase, when we can’t? I really don’t think that’s fair at all.” -Mayhem