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Congrats to DebraG, who won Choices by Em Woods! Choices is being released today by Breathless Press.

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I am sooooo far behind on my email. Be patient with me. It’s been a rough week. 🙂

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Contest

• Cryselle’s giving away an ebook copy of Diversion by Eden Winters. Closes 11:59 pm PDT, September 25.

• Becky Black’s giving away a paperback copy of her m/m romance, Stowaway. Closes 9 pm UK time, September 30.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a paperback copy of Temptation in a Kilt by Victoria Roberts. Closes October 1. US & Canada only.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR) and Fiction Vixen (various sorts of romance).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Kassa wonders how much sex is too much in books.

• Becky Black on the editing that happens after your book is accepted by a publisher.

• Dani Alexander shares copyright and trademark info for writers.

• Paperback Writer provides an overview of Hiveword, “a web-based writing organizer.”

• I’m not sure I agree that all 35 words on this list are “fossil words”…

• Make a vintage book-inspired Paper Mache box. (via CRAFT)

• Books are the key.

• Is this the muse most authors really need?

Ebookity

• Infographic on the rise of ereading.

• Dear Author believes that consumers are more in control of ebook prices now.

• “How I turned my Kindle Fire HD from a cash register and billboard into a good machine for an ebook lover.“

Think, Do, Make, Learn

• How Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis usually looks. How it looks now due to drought. The Mississippi River is down seven feet from normal.

• So apparently one of the things iPhone 5 users will have to suffer, along with anyone who upgrades to iOS 6, is having to use Apple Maps instead of Google Maps. Check out some of the amazing mapping fails. (via Gizmodo)

• Take a quiz about cats. (via kmkat)

• Scientists are working on warp drive.

• What if a rainstorm dropped all of its water as a single raindrop?

• A recently discovered papyrus has people wondering if there was a Mrs. Christ.

• Chick fil-A is apparently going to stop funding anti-gay organizations. (via The Mary Sue) Or… is it?

• “The 5 key points missed by Stanford’s study of organic food.“

• If you’re worried about the levels of arsenic found in rice, Consumerist has a chart with safe levels of various products.

• Beware feeding jerky treats made in China to your pets…

Cookity

• Deep-dish chocolate chip cookie for one.

• Cookie dough ice pops. (via The Kitchn)

• Peanut butter and jelly blondies. (via The Kitchn)

• Hot baked Nutella and cream cheese dessert sandwich.

• Caramel apple cupcakes. (via The Kitchn)

• Chocolate coffee bundt cake. (via The Kitchn)

• Gluten-free apple cake muffins.

• Pumpkin sandwich cake. (via The Kitchn)

• 7 classic layer cakes.

• 7 sweet dessert sandwiches.

• Poached tuna with warm squash, corn, and potato salad.

• Crispy prosciutto and avocado salad toasts. (via The Kitchn)

• Caprese muffins. (via The Kitchn)

• Caprese salad.

• Eggplant caponata sandwiches with mozzarella and basil.

• Lobster macaroni and cheese. (via The Kitchn)

• Zucchini pickles. (via CRAFT)

• Nectarine salsa. (via CRAFT)

• Avocado feta salsa.

• Chipotle chicken fajitas with creamy black bean spread.

• Hashbrown waffles. (via The Kitchn)

• Pita bread.

• 6 Mexican tortas.

• 10 open-faced sandwiches.

• 15 savory sandwich cakes.

• 20 sandwich recipes.

Drinkity

• Pumpkin spice latte.

• Plum pineapple margarita. (via The Kitchn)

• Jewel cocktail.

Crafty

• Make gluten-free play dough.

• DIY “floating” cross stitch pendant.

• How to fix dropped knit stitches. (via CRAFT) (Although I personally find it easier to reknit the stitches up, instead of using a crochet hook.)

Cool

• Snail mail! (As taken by me…)

• TARDIS string lights.

• TARDIS Chucks. (via The Mary Sue)

• Doctor Who purses.

• Are you watching the web series about a traveler through space and time?

• Amazing LEGO machine.

• The magic of tea.

Cool or Wha…?

• Scooter pizza cutter.

• Thumbs up binder clips.

Wha…?

• Inflatable unicorn horn for cats.

• The makeup mouse. (via The Mary Sue)

• Smartphone karaoke machine.

• Talking measuring cup.

• Voice-activated popcorn cannon.

• Font made from sleeping puppies…

LOL

• How to kill an introvert… (Thanks?!, Jeanne!) (At least Jeanne’s an introvert, so I don’t think I’m in danger from her…)

• “Fox’s Liz Cheney attacks Obama over a country that doesn’t exist anymore.” The comments make it laugh out loud funny.

• The state of education in the US…

• Bad sign placement.

• Ice cream antisocial.

• Funniest home wifi network names.

• Spiderman’s mom embarrasses him.

• 13 geeky pies.

• And now we know where Ceiling Cat came from…

• A bored kitty.

• Silly kitty!

• If your cat sharpens its claws on the furniture…

• Most popular cat breeds.

• A guide to boxes from Simon’s Cat.

Teh Cute

• Baby tiger! Fennecs! Baby tiger! Tiger butt! Egret! Tiger and babies! Baby tiger! Black cat! Black swan! Baby tiger! Baby snow leopard! Snow leopard and baby! Tiger! Lions! Fennecs! Baby fennec! Baby fennec! Baby fennec! Egret! Leopard and baby! Jaguars! Tapir and baby! Kittens! Baby bilbies! Baby penguin! Kittens! Baby pygmy hippo! Kitten! Cheetah and babies! Baby tamandua! Kittens! Baby otters! Baby leopard!

Reading Update
By His Rules by JA Rock. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a recent theater grad who’s sort of at loose ends and spends his free time playing the perfect sub for an assortment of doms… until he makes something of a miscalculation and things go awry. JA Rock’s now on my autobuy list.
Pressure Head by JL Merrow. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a plumber with a touch of psychic ability that allows him to find secrets and lost things. When he’s called out to help the police find a body, he runs into one of the guys who bullied him in high school – a guy he’d found attractive despite that…
Finders, Keepers by Chris Quinton. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense a covert recovery agent for an insurance company who isn’t able to keep his emotional distance from the guy he’s gotten close to for a job, even knowing that things won’t end well. The ending seemed a bit rushed, alas, but otherwise this totally sucked me in.
Hearts of England by RJ Scott, Meredith Russell, Chris Quinton, Lisa Worrall, Sue Brown, & SA Meade. ebook anthology. arc. Very good m/m romance anthology in which all of the stories are set in England. Unusually for me with an anthology, I found every story to be solidly written and enjoyable, with not a one I ended up skipping.
Maybe This Time by Shawn Lane. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about two guys living with their grandmothers, just down the hall from each other, who find they have more in common (including a shared past) than one would expect.
In the Blink of an Eye by Kim Dare. ebook short. arc. Steamy short m/m encounter between two guys at their company Christmas party.
Broken Silence (Broken Trilogy #2) by Jade Buchanan. ebook. Good m/m romance about a deeply closeted bar owner in a small northern Ontario town who just can’t stop himself from hooking up with the new nurse. Lots of homophobic comments and jokes, and “I’m not gay” talk from the bartender. 🙁
Red + Blue (Opposites Attract #1) by AB Gayle. ebook. Good m/m romance about an actuary intern who finds himself very attracted to his deeply closeted boss as they slowly gets to know each other at work. I probably would’ve rated this higher had the actuary not purportedly been from Minnesota – the inaccuracies in dialect and geography were grating. If your familiarity with Minnesota is via Fargo, you shouldn’t have this problem…
Pop Goes the Weasel by Stephen Osborne. ebook. Ok m/m story about a college student who manages to get himself into scads of over-the-top trouble pretty much all the time. While I do enjoy some madcap m/m romances, such as those by LB Gregg, this just felt as if the author was trying too hard.
Autism All-Stars: How We Use Our Autism and Asperger Traits to Shine in Life by Jose Santomauro. Ok collection of personal success stories from people with autism spectrum disorders. I found the introduction by Tony Attwood to be the most useful part of the book, particularly this: “In the typical brain, there is a preference for noticing and analyzing social information – for example, to prioritize the information contained in someone’s facial expression rather than the shape of his ears. In autism, the brain notices, and finds interesting and informative, other aspects of experience. My simple definition of autism is that the person has found something more interesting in life than socializing.” And also, “It is inevitable that the child who has autism will at some stage recognize that he or she is different from other children. A constructive response to this realization is to observe people in order to analyze their behaviour and motives, or to become an expert mimic in order to be accepted and included.”

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“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos