---

---

Congrats to EriSeg, who won A Wild Ride by Andrew Grey! A Wild Ride will be released by Dreamspinner Press on April 8.

---

---

Contests

• Becky Black’s giving away a print copy of Higher Ground. Closes 9 am BST, April 6.

• The Armchair Reader’s giving away an ebook copy of an Anna Marie May title. Closes April 8, midnight CDT.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Rev It Up by Julie Ann Walker. Closes April 13. US & Canada.

• Piper Vaughn’s giving away a backlist ebook title, a $10 Fandango gift card, and a $10 Amazon/ARe/B&N gift card. Make sure you read the rules for entering the contest! Closes 9 pm CDT, April 14.

• The Armchair Reader’s also giving away an ebook copy of Play Me, I’m Yours by Madison Parker (or a $10 Rainbow eBooks gift certificate). Winners chosen April 23.

• Lillian Francis is giving away an ebook from her backlist as part of the April Autism Awareness Blog Hop.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Rarely Dusty Books (m/m romance), Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Tor.com (PNR), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), and Fiction Vixen (romance).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• “dear author: ‘research’ is not a dirty word“.

• “What do readers owe authors?“

• What book promotion strategies actually work? (via TeleRead)

• Infographic about how successful Goodreads has been.

• Just in case you missed it, Amazon’s buying Goodreads. VacuousMinx wonders about the implications of Amaon acquiring Goodreads. Some thoughts from AAR on Amazon purchasing Goodreads. Dear Author reviews some Goodreads alternatives. Comparing Goodreads and LibraryThing. Six alternatives to Goodreads.

• Add versioning and track changes to Google Drive/Docs.

• Huh. Bookshelf vase.

• “If Portal was a Little Golden Book“…

Ebookity

• Does Amazon’s ebook return policy already cover concerns about “serial returnees”?

• A court has ruled that the first sale doctrine doesn’t apply to digital content.

• Julie of the Wolves and the battle for ebook rights.

• You can read some of the Hugo nominees free online.

Think, Learn, Do, Make

• “The science of cats“.

• Cat age in human years.

• Kids can learn about electronics at Circuit Playground. (Snap Circuits are a cool way to do that, too.)

• Wednesday was the 40th anniversary of the first mobile phone call.

• Would cockroaches actually survive a nuclear war?

• “How hard would a puck have to be shot to be able to knock the goalie himself backwards into the net?“

• There’s now an iPad app that can diagnose concussions.

• The FCC’s seeking public input on what “indecent” should mean for prime time television.

• Facebook’s map of gay marriage support in the US. The gay marriage debate in 50 years.

• 19 unusual April holidays and anniversaries.

• Apparently people spend crumpled icky paper money faster than crisp new paper money.

Cookity

• 10 two-ingredient appetizers.

• Baked ricotta.

• Broccoli bites. (via The Kitchn)

• Loaded baked potato tater tots. (via The Kitchn)

• 15 easy one-dish meals.

• Scrambled hard-boiled eggs.

• Chicken enchiladas. (via The Kitchn)

• Gluten-free flatbread with pesto and salad.

• Gluten-free fudgy brownie cupcakes.

• Chocolate chip cookie in a cup. (via The Kitchn)

• Nutella banana bread. (via The Kitchn)

• White chocolate espresso peanut butter. (via The Kitchn)

• Salted spicy double-chocolate chili cookies. (via The Kitchn)

• Twix cake. (via The Kitchn)

• Beer-candied bacon. (via The Kitchn)

Cool

• Slow-motion hummingbird. (via Gizmodo)

• Shorts featuring the Doctor Puppet.

• Doctor Who fan art.

• “My drunk TARDIS“.

• Artsy Daleks.

• What popular websites would like in Game of Thrones.

• LEGO Xena (sort of).

• Hockey hugs!

Cool or Wha…?

• TARDIS tights.

• Knitted portraits of actors from Doctor Who. (via CRAFT)

• Mal, Harry Potter, Gandalf, and more… as mice.

• “If Game of Thrones characters were on Facebook“.

• Batman coffee table.

• Famous paintings recreated… on toast.

• Google Maps Persian rugs.

• Doodads to make your keys look like little chainsaws. (Hey, it’s Minnesota – my brother’s cell phone ringtone is a chainsaw…)

• Desktop cuckoo clock.

Wha…?

• The Dog Dicer. (Not gory! It’s for hot dogs…)

• Please remember that it’s not legal to hunt deer in Walmart parking lots.

• Streets of London sink. (All I can think when I see it is “cleaning nightmare”.)

• The ticking time bomb version of Jenga.

• Peep creations.

• This vibrat0r was not actually made by IKEA.

LOL

• Just in case there was someone waiting to see Scope Bacon show up at their local store…

• 12 funniest March autocorrects.

• Simon’s Cat!

• D’oh!

Teh Cute

• Kittens! Baby lions! Kittens! Kitten! Wolf and baby! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Lioness and babies! Baby tiger! Baby clouded leopards! Baby otter!

Reading Update

• O hai! 🙂

---

“I am very worried about the possibility of my dinner being late and I really don’t see how having just eaten breakfast is relevant to that concern.” -Chaos

Contests

• The Armchair Reader is giving away an ebook copy of Social Skills by Sara Alva. Closes midnight CDT, March 31.

• The Knitting Doctor is celebrating her blogiversary by giving away some lovely yarn. Closes midnight PDT, March 31.

• Kay Berrisford is giving away an ebook copy of The Good Boy by Lisa Henry and JA Rock. Closes April 2.

• The Novel Approach is giving away an ebook from the backlist of Brita Addams, plus you’ll be entered for the chance to win a Kindle. Winners selected April 10. US only.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Fiction Vixen (romance/UF) and Tor.com (UF, fantasy, scifi, genre benders).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Amazon has acquired Goodreads. Some commentary from Smart Bitches, Dear Author, and The Digital Reader.

• Some good posts about the writer-reader relationship this week. From Ami. From Isa K: “I’m not your girlfriend“. From Vacuous Minx: “I’m your reader, not your fan” and in a post with assorted other things, such as corgis. From Linda Hilton: “The meaning of the mean words“. From Cryselle: “It’s kind of, well, unkind. Kindof. Or kindof not.“

• Flowchart for all the characters in Stephen King’s books.

• 25 ways to be a happy writer.

• How to write a novel.

• Romance novel reader workout part VII.

• Neverending Story or Necronomicon ereader covers. (via The Mary Sue)

Do, Think, Make, Learn

• All sorts of ways to use chalk around your home. (Thanks, Jase!)

• Feedly’s been updated with new features to make it easier for those of us transitioning from Google Reader. Did privacy concerns play into the demise of Google Reader?

• How long does the average Google product survive? (via Emma)

• Illustrated quotes, Oatmeal style.

• Yes, this.

• “10 old-fashioned swears to spice up your cussin’“.

• How to get rid of earworms.

• Parents of teens or younger – you should be very, very worried.

• Build a home gym from PVC pipe.

Cookity

• Baked potato bites. (via The Kitchn)

• Garlic bread scones. (via The Kitchn)

• GF kale soup with spicy chicken sausage and sweet potato.

• 5 throw-together dinners (plus more ideas in the comments).

• Passover chocolate pistachio cake with chocolate glaze. (via The Kitchn)

• Brownie cut-out cookies. (via The Kitchn)

• 10 chocolate-dipped desserts.

• Lemon-blueberry yogurt cake with lemon cream.

• Cadbury Creme Egg jello shots. (via CRAFT)

Crafty

• Crochet a rug from yarn and old t-shirts. (It’s in Russian, but the pictures seem pretty clear.) (via CRAFT)

• Knit a mug sweater.

• Tips for knitting faster. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Greek mythology and superheroes.

• Calvin & Hobbes nursery.

• Animated Calvin & Hobbes gifs. (via Gizmodo)

• “If the characters of Firefly lived in Game of Thrones’ Westeros, these would be their sigils“.

• Geeky sand sculptures.

• Star Wars meets Jurassic Park.

• Bag End bonsai. (via The Mary Sue)

• 11 scientists’ tattoos.

• Starbucks’ CEO tells shareholders who are upset the company supports marriage equality to sell their shares.

• Linkity from the Fiber Fool and kmkat.

Cool or Wha…?

• Weeping Angel toilet roll cozy. (via The Mary Sue)

• Game of Thrones random death generator.

• An RPG that can be played entirely in Microsoft Excel.

• Watch all six Star Wars movies simultaneously.

• Gary Oldman freak out supercut.

Wha…?

• A high school science teacher in Idaho might get fired for using an apparently forbidden word straight out of the science textbook when teaching about human reproduction… (via The Mary Sue)

• Smuggler caught trying to smuggle nearly 14% of the world’s population of an endangered turtle species.

• Bacon condoms.

• Doritos Locos Tacos Doritos.

• IRS Star Trek parody.

LOL

• “What if buying hard cider was like buying an Apple product?“

• Modern friendship. (via Gizmodo)

• Autocorrect reactions…

• I am suspicious…

Teh Cute

• Lynx and baby! Hedgie! Kitten! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Baby red panda! Kitten! Baby porcupine! Tiger and baby! Kitten! Polar bear and babies! Penguins and babies! Siberian flying squirrel! Baby black panther! Baby penguin! Panda and baby! Duckling! Red pandas! Kitten!

Reading Update

• Nothing to see here – move along…

---

“What?!” -Chaos

Dorky kitty is dorky…

---

---

Congrats to Rissa, who won Leather+Lace by A.B. Gayle! Leather+Lace is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to MarMight, who won Return to the Mountain (The Mountains #5) by PD Singer! Return to the Mountain is also being released today by Dreamspinner Press. Don’t forget that you can now download the free short, Cross the Mountain (The Mountains #3.2)!

Congrats to Courtney S, who won Test Drive by L.A. Witt! Test Drive will be released by Amber Allure on March 24.

Congrats to Mary M, who won Covet Thy Neighbor (Tucker Springs #4) by L.A. Witt! Covet Thy Neighbor will be released by Riptide Publishing on March 25.

---

---

Contests

• Piper Vaughn’s celebrating her new website look with a contest (backlist title, $10 book gift certificate, and a chance to name one of Piper’s future characters). Closes 9 pm CDT, March 24.

• Kay Berrisford’s giving away an ebook copy of Off With Their Heads by KA Merikan. Closes March 25.

• Tracy’s giving away two copies of Fame by Tilly Bagshawe. Closes 7 pm PDT, March 29. US & Canada.

• Knitnzu’s having her annual snow melt contest – submit your guesses by 5 pm EDT, March 30. Prizes include yarn or, for non-knitters, a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of The Geek Girl and the Scandalous Earl by Gina Lamm. Closes March 31. US & Canada.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Fiction Vixen (romance & UF).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Sam Schooler on things learned while writing fan fiction.

• “Hoarders: The TBR Edition?”

• According to the Supreme Court, it’s not a copyright violation to resell books purchased overseas.

• “6 fictional houses you can move into”.

Ebookity

• Problems with digital copyright and how to fix them.

• JManga will shut down March 26 and leave its customers unable to access their DRM’d purchases, which can only be viewed on the website…

Do, Think, Make, Learn

• The impact of Google Reader’s loss on bloggers. (Thanks, Weasel!) “What Google Reader could learn from the Veronica Mars Kickstarter“. 20 alternatives to Google Reader. 33 more alternatives to Google Reader. (Make sure that, if the alternative relies on Google Reader, it has a plan in place to be free of GR before July 1!) Lifehacker readers voted Feedly as their favorite GR replacement. Dear Author covered a few GR replacement options. Here’s a Firefox/Chrome userscript that will let you save your GR saved items elsewhere. Digg announces they’re going to build a reader.

• The danger of relying on a single provider, as highlighted by this whole thing with Google Reader.

• The announcement of Google’s new notetaking service, Keep, was perhaps poorly timed… Why didn’t Google just keep its previous notetaking service, Notebooks, going?! Six Evernote features that Keep doesn’t have.

• I’ve used Feedly all week – both the Android app and the web site from my laptop – and I like it, after getting used to it. Some setting tweaks did improve the website for me. First I went into Google Reader and put all of my feeds into folders. Feeds not in a folder/category end up as “Uncategorized”, which doesn’t display an unread count. Second, I changed to the list view for the “Latest” category and then, as I accessed them, changed my other categories to the full article view. Third, I became familiar with the keyboard shortcuts – particularly “r”, “j”, and “k”.

• “What happens in an Internet minute?” infographic.

• Why toothpaste makes things taste bad.

• This is what things looked like in Minnesota on the first day of spring. Bah humbug.

• Make a cat condo for your kitties. (via CRAFT)

• Some cat and dog kibble sold as California Natural, Evo, Healthwise, and Innova brands has been recalled for possible salmonella contamination.

• Why is 20 ppm of gluten considered safe for celiacs?

• 12 best things to have around for making quick and easy suppers.

• What if? supersonic stereo edition.

Cookity

• Warm citrusy millet salad with roasted fennel and kalamata olives.

• Grated cauliflower salad with peppers, carrots, and capers. (via The Kitchn)

• Spaghetti squash with asparagus, ricotta, lemon, and thyme.

• Polenta with spring vegetable ragout.

• Spanish bean soup.

• Thai peanut soup with grilled peanut butter croutons. (via The Kitchn)

• Asian spiced fish stew. (via The Kitchn)

• Southeast Asian canned salmon and rice cakes with sriracha mayo.

• Salmon burgers. (via The Kitchn)

• Skillet lasagna. (via The Kitchn)

• 9 noodle soups, salads, and stir fries.

• 10 ways to use cabbage.

• 10 dinner recipes using coconut milk.

• 15 ways to eat more beans with dinner.

• No-bake fudge brownies. (via The Kitchn)

• Peanut butter Nutella cookies. (via The Kitchn)

• Homemade Cadbury eggs.

• Gluten-free Irish soda bread bun rolls.

Crafty

• Knit a sweatshirt sweater. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Patrick Stewart’s wedding will be officiated by Ian McKellen.

• Pictures of kids from around the world with their favorite toys. (via Gizmodo)

• Two princess mommies! (via Bron?! I think?!)

• Great parental response to a son coming out… sort of.

• Hockey hugs!

• Linkity from the Fiber Fool and kmkat.

Cool or Wha…?

• Victorian TARDIS gown. (via The Mary Sue)

• Firefly air freshener. (via The Mary Sue, which speculates that Firefly might smell like “[b]anter and despair”…)

Wha…?

• Montana residents might soon be able to legally eat roadkill. (Mental note: Accept no dinner party invitations from my Montana coworkers.)

• Tongue toothbrush for hands free brushing.

• Eggs are ever so much more convenient shaped like a tube and stuck on a stick.

LOL

• Maslow’s hierarchy of internet needs…

• “15 O’Tocorrects for St. Patrick’s Day”.

• “Big cats are basically house cats”. (via mental_floss)

• Ok, my cats would be everywhere except the black towel…

• Bad kitty!

Teh Cute

• Baby red panda! Very fresh kittens! Baby otters! Kitten! Kitten! Kitten! Tiger! Baby arctic foxes! Baby wild boar! Otter! Kitten! Springhare and babies! Kitten! Kittens! Animated kitties! Kitten! Penguin and baby!

Reading Update

• I’ll let you guess. 🙂

---

“Why do you look so nervous?” -Mayhem

---

---

Congrats to beccafh, who won The Brook Street Collection by Ava March! The Brook Street Collection is being released today by Carina Press.

Congrats to lucette and kira d, who won City Mouse (Country Mouse #2) by Amy Lane and Aleksandr Voinov! City Mouse will be released by Riptide Publishing on March 18.

---

My work project continues to be hellish and I keep falling more and more behind in blog reading…

---

---

Contests

• The Babes in Boyland are giving away an ebook copy of Masks Off, Too! Closes 9 pm CDT, March 16.

• Kay Berrisford is giving away an ebook from Charlie Cochrane’s backlist (excluding Promises Made Under Fire). Closes March 17.

• Armchair Reader Cole is giving away an ebook copy of Analyzing Emory by Lily Grace. Closes midnight CDT, March 17.

• Joder’s celebrating 1000 followers by giving away Backstage Pass and Hot Ticket by Olivia Cunning. Closes 11:59 pm CDT, March 19. US only.

• Kay Berrisford is also giving away an ebook copy of The Art of Touch by Dominique Frost. Closes March 20.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick. Closes March 24. US & Canada.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Fiction Vixen (romance, UF), AAR (romances), and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Becky Black on when it’s better to step away from your story for a bit.

• How authors can use Evernote. (It makes the Misadventures in Stock Photography possible!) Plus some tips and tricks on using Evernote.

• The author of Fifty Shades of Grey is putting out a how-to guide for writers.

• Book sculptures. (Thanks, Avalie!)

• 11 writers who loved cats.

• Part VI of the Romance Novel Reader Workout from Smart Bitches.

Ebookity

• Three historical m/m romances (Downtime, If It Ain’t Love, and The Only Gold) by Tamara Allen are free at Smashwords for an unknown amount of time.

Do, Think, Learn, Make

• Google is killing off Google Reader on July 1. Nooooooo! This has big implications for Linkity… Here are five possible alternatives. Eight possible alternatives. Even more alternatives. And more, with a nice list of pros and cons of various options. There’s also a petition going to try to get Google to reconsider. And another petition. Tips for Google Reader users migrating to Feedly. (Feedly might win for me because of transition ease, but I don’t think you can search, which is problematic.)

• “Google has to teach America how to use passwords as part of its settlement”.

• What if? on cornstarch and sink drains.

• Bravo and Steve’s Real Food cat and dog foods recall.

• Twinkies could be available again by summer.

• Food’s shelf life infographic.

• One way Star Trek could include a gay character.

• 11 weird lists from Wikipedia.

• 24 Canadianisms (“eh?” not included).

• Tam’s curious how well you need to know someone before you’ll give said person a key to your house. (This isn’t “when do you give that person you’re dating a key”!)

Cookity

• Variety potluck recipe possibilities.

• 10 savory pies, quiches, and pasties.

• 10 recipes using potatoes.

• Tomatillo shrimp. (via The Kitchn)

• Red salad.

• Chickpea pesto sandwich. (via The Kitchn)

• Chile and fennel egg salad sandwich. (via The Kitchn)

• Creamy vegan tomato cashew soup.

• 5 make-ahead lunches to pack in jars.

• 20 make-ahead lunches.

• 10 grilled sandwiches.

• Make your own instant oatmeal packets.

• Chocolate avocado muffins. (via The Kitchn)

• Coconut milk brownies. (via The Kitchn)

• Almond thumbprint cookies with dark chocolate and sea salt.

Craft

• Knit a baby jumper. (via CRAFT)

• Knit an earflap hat. (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Measuring beakers for your kitchen. (They went straight into Evernote as a Christmas gift idea for someone in my family!)

• Wee Millenium Falcon. (via The Mary Sue)

• Star Wars cross stitch.

• Glow-in-the-dark hockey video.

• 10 movie scenes/characters made from LEGOs.

• Periodic bracelet of elements.

• Geeky knitted blanket.

• Minas Tirith sand castle. (via The Mary Sue)

Cool or Wha…?

• Baseball bat spatula.

• More “Gollum” singing…

• Star Wars pewter bar set. (via The Mary Sue)

• Game of Thrones characters as cats. (via The Mary Sue)

• Octopus chandeliers.

• Animal sculptures made from food.

• 11 geek-themed pizzas.

• Where’s Waldo gif.

Wha…

• Hobbit hole nail art… and more.

• Ear buds that make it look like you have a pencil through your brain.

• Blood facials.

• Most searched for p0rn terms by state and country. Finland, I worry.

• Roulette Wheel IQ Cube.

• ePad Femme, a tablet just for women…

• Anti-zombie perfume. (via The Mary Sue)

• A guy tried to return a possibly stolen printer that was filled with counterfeit money…

LOL

• Did you ever play Oregon Trail as a kid? (via The Pensblog)

• Autocorrect college fails.

• Cake Wrecks celebrated Ken Day in its own inimitable fashion… Plus bear skin rug Ken from Cabled Sheep!

• Awww!

• Strangely, introducing a kitten into your household never goes like this.

• It’s all coming clear now.

• Beware The Sheddening!

• Woe the kitty in the cone!

• The spider problem…

Teh cute

• Baby goat! Baby albatross! Baby kiwi! Baby condor! Tiger and baby! Cat and kittens! Cygnets! Baby dwarf mongoose! Black cat! Baby tiger! Kitten! Baby Dik-dik! Kitten! Kitten! Mouse deer and baby! Skunk! Lioness and baby! Baby tigers! Baby pygmy possum! Cats! Polar bear and babies!

Reading Update

• Nuthin’ to see here. Move along. (aka Hockey! Fics!) 🙂

---

“….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….” -Chaos

Hmm, better trim those claws…

---

---

Congrats to Annie, who won If It Flies (Market Garden #3) by L.A. Witt and Aleksandr Voinov! If It Flies will be released by Riptide Publishing on March 11.

---

Work continues to be busy and mentally exhausting. Someday… someday this project will be deployed. Hopefully during my lifetime.

---

---

Contests

• Wrapped Up in Books is giving away an ebook copy of Honour by AF Henley. Closes March 11.

• Pants Off Reviews is also giving away an ebook copy of Honour by AF Henley. Closes March 13.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away Cover Me, Hot Zone, and Under Fire by Catherine Mann. Closes March 17.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Rarely Dusty Books (m/m romance), Pants Off Reviews (m/m romance), Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Tor.com (PNR, UF), and Fiction Vixen (romance & UF).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Becky Black has m/m-themed writerly links.

• Lisa at the Novel Approach wonders if reviewers should be giving separate ratings for content and for editing.

• Vacuous Minx on the death of grammar in fiction.

• Vacuous Minx explains why she’s been reading fewer m/m books.

• Jessewave points out the increasing number of poorly written m/m books.

• “What was the first novel ever written on a word processor?” (via Gizmodo)

• Now that I think about it, the Dragonriders of Pern series was probably my first exposure to same-sex couples in fiction, too. Read the comments for some good SFF recommendations with queer characters.

• “Makers of Fifty Shades of Porn parody countersue Universal, claim the book is public domain because fanfiction”.

• “17 overly optimistic book titles”.

• “8 bookstores in barns”.

Ebookity

• TeleRead wonders if the abundance of free ebooks is devaluing books. Definitely read the comments.

• TeleRead also wonders why so many ereading apps are only on a single platform.

• Books vs ebooks infographic.

Do, Think, Make, Learn

• 13 buildings made of ice. (Yes, Minnesota is represented.)

• Why Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

• Neil deGrasse Tyson was on the Daily Show this week.

• “Penguins are actually colder than their Antarctic surroundings”.

• Will we end up with gluten-free shampoo labels in the US? (I know the science on this gets weird, in that gluten molecules are too large to be absorbed through skin, but I also know that I get itchy if I accidentally buy shampoo/conditioner without looking at the label and it turns out to have gluten in it. YMMV.)

• Foods (and vitamins) not worth buying. (via Lifehacker)

• A baby might have been cured of AIDS. (via Gizmodo)

• Kitchen gadgets you can replace with a stand mixer.

• The TSA is relaxing restrictions on sporting goods and small pocket knives.

• Beware the hair dryer of infinite power!

• 20 unusual holidays to celebrate this month.

Cookity

• 15 whole-grain breakfasts.

• 10 egg-free, grain-free breakfasts.

• Avocado and egg breakfast pizza.

• Stacked breakfast enchiladas. (via The Kitchn)

• Raspberry breakfast quinoa. (via The Kitchn)

• Brown rice congee with shiitake mushrooms and greens.

• Sweet potato salmon cakes.

• Baked feta with olives, tomatoes, and eggs. (via The Kitchn)

• Saffron chicken salad. (via The Kitchn)

• Espresso protein shake. (via The Kitchn)

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

• Gluten-free versions of Girl Scout cookies.

• S’mores blossoms. (via The Kitchn)

• Pancakes and bacon cookies. (via The Kitchn)

• Rainbow mini doughnuts. (via CRAFT)

• Two-ingredient cookies. (via Lifehacker)

• 10 citrus desserts.

• Clementine cocktail.

Crafty

• Knit an alien facehugger. (Requires Ravelry account.) (via CRAFT)

Cool

• Illusion-knitted Rubik’s Cube.

• Magnetic periodic tables of herbs and spices.

• TARDIS vending machine. (via The Mary Sue)

• Spiderman blood donation poster – love the “pointless concern” below the pic! (via The Mary Sue)

• Dr. Seuss themed cakes.

• Fun with Star Wars LEGOs.

Cool or Wha…?

• Waffle wedding cake.

• Cat pizza. (via Smexy Books)

• Turkish oil wrestling. NSFWish. (Thanks, Bron!)

• Unicorn Farts lip balm.

• Yoda hoodie.

• Wooden spoon stylus.

Wha…?

• LEGOs shut down a highway for a few hours.

• Very specialized kitchen gadgets.

• Ear wax vacuum.

• Fingertip shaped tacks.

• “Gollum” sings “Mad World”.

LOL

• A bit of humor from the Seattle Police Department. (via The Mary Sue)

• A good day for an introvert.

• Poor Larry.

• Inside a cat’s brain.

• Oh oh…

• Places cats sleep that they shouldn’t.

Teh Cute

• Cat! Pine forest fox! Kitten! Jaguar and babies! Baby jaguar! Maned wolf and babies! Cat! Kitten! Baby muntjac! Snow leopard and baby! Kitten! Black kitten! Baby polar bear! Kitten! Baby koala! Baby Nabarlek! Otters! Baby foxes!

Reading Update

• Hockey fics… and no one is surprised at all. 🙂

---

“Hmm. I wonder what this thing tastes like?” -Mayhem

---

---

Congrats to Mammarella, who won Chrysalis Cage (Travelers #5) by Becky Black!

Congrats to Kelly, who won Velocity (Impulse #3) by Amelia C. Gormley! Amelia will release Velocity on March 2.

Congrats to Michelle (Mi), who won The Fight Within (The Good Fight #2) by Andrew Grey! The Fight Within will be released by Dreamspinner Press on March 4.

---

---

Contests

• The Novel Approach is giving away an ebook copy of Velocity (Impulse #3) by Amelica C. Gormley. Closes March 1, 11:59 pm PST.

• Pants Off Reviews is giving away an ebook copy of Too Good To Be True? by Chris T. Kat. Closes March 3, 11:59 pm EST.

• Hearts on Fire Reviews is giving away winner’s choice of an ebook from Clare London’s backlist. Comment before March 4 to enter.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Fiction Vixen (romances), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), and Tor.com (genre benders, scifi, fantasy).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Becky Black on the right attitude with which to approach edits.

• Lillian Francis on the perception that all m/m romance is p0rn.

• Turn old hardcovers into a lamp. (via CRAFT)

• Altered book art.

• 7 “screw you” book dedications.

• Smart Bitches take a look at animals badly photoshopped onto book covers.

• “10 reasons that introverts and books are BFFs”.

• Beware stray books!

• Part V of the Romance Reader Workout.

Ebookity

• TeleRead’s posting a chapter-by-chapter guide to using Calibre, the free ebook management program.

• Dear Author on used digital books.

Think, Do, Learn, Make

• Some of February’s food and drug recalls.

• Do you know the four basic Chicken McNugget shapes?

• There’s now a statue of Rosa Parks in the US Capitol Building. (via The Mary Sue)

• If you’ve ever wondered how many unique English tweets are possible…

• The anti-piracy “six strikes” program is looming.

• Today is the Fourth National Day of Unplugging. (via TeleRead) If you’re in the US and reading this on Friday, March 1, you’re failing at the whole unplugging thing as badly as I am. 🙂

• “Your cat is literally making you crazy”.

• 10 points from Time’s analysis of why Americans pay so much for healthcare.

• The difference between celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and wheat allergy. (Thanks, Brenda!)

Cookity

• Sweet potato, kale, and black bean hash. (via The Kitchn)

• Vegan lentil shepherd’s pie with parsnip and potato mash.

• Roasted winter vegetables with miso-lime dressing.

• Coconut milk soup with wild salmon, winter squash, and kale.

• Twice baked potato with egg on top. (via The Kitchn)

• Smashed potatoes with gouda and horseradish.

• Spicy chicken lettuce wraps. (via The Kitchn)

• Radish cake. (via The Kitchn)

• 25 ways to use sriracha. (via mental_floss)

• 11 dishes for a Mediterranean diet.

• 10 easy supper side dishes.

• “Make my heart pound” cake. (via The Kitchn)

• Best cocoa brownies.

• Avocado chocolate mousse.

• Guinness chocolate cheesecake. (via The Kitchn)

• Chocolate coconut Chex mix. (via The Kitchn)

• 5 ways to eat buckwheat for breakfast.

Crafty

• Needle felt a Dalek. (via CRAFT)

• Crochet a cat bed. (via CRAFT)

• The actual cost of a handknit. (via knittyBlog)

Cool

• Hockey hugs!

• LEGO Hockey Hall of Fame. (via Puck Daddy)

• Short film shot from an airplane window.

• BBC zombie PSA/promo.

• 9 fun snowpersons. (I saw the best snow sculpture in a yard in my neighborhood! I must walk over there during the day to get a picture – it’s a massive Easter Island head. It takes up most of the yard!)

• “One ring cake to rule them all“. (via The Mary Sue)

• Star Wars plushies.

• Pixar Trek.

• Weeping Angel doll.

• Geeky socks. And geeky shoes.

• Absolutely amazing LEGO model of Hogwarts.

• Calvin and Hobbes in the real world. (via Tor.com)

• Mugtails.

Cool or Wha…?

• TARDIS fez.

• A Princess Bride board game?

• Belgian stamps that smell and taste like Belgian chocolate.

• Ready to go for a cruise on the Titanic II?

Wha…?

• Sharpened steel throwing cards.

• Gun-shaped alarm clock.

• Dinner mixes from Larry the Cable Guy.

• Toaster bacon, coffee-flavored Jell-O, “Funky Fries”, and Gerber pureed meals in a jar… for adults.

• Thermochromic jeans…

• 23 really scary runways.

LOL

• Oscar-worthy autocorrects.

• Can’t you hear the sugar rush, just from looking at these cereal boxes?!

• Awesome post title: “Wegmans and King Arthur recall flour due to infestation of blue balls”.

• One reason Chaos doesn’t get to sleep in my bedroom…

• That flip-flop is toast.

• This is why Chaos can’t free feed.

Teh Cute

• Red panda and babies! Kittens! Hummingbird! Kitten! Mouse deer and baby! Kittens! Lynx! Baby penguins! Meerkat and babies!

Reading Update

• H0ckey fics! 🙂

---

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

---

---

Congrats to Morgana, who won Duet (2nd ed) by Eden Winter! Duet will be released on February 18 by Dreamspinner Press.

---

---

Contests

• Tracy’s giving away ebook copies of Because of You and Anything for You by Jessica Scott. Not sure when this closes.

• Armchair Reader Cole is giving two people the chance to win three of Kim Dare’s coming soon or backlist ebooks. So is Joyfully Jay. Both close February 16.

• Pants Off Reviews is giving away an ebook from Megan Derr’s backlist. Closes 11:59 pm EST, February 17.

• Blodeudd’s giving away The Night Is Mine and I Own the Dawn by ML Buchman. Closes February 24. US & Canada.

• Blodeuedd’s also giving away a copy of X Marks the Scot by Victoria Roberts. Closes February 25. US & Canada.

• Two paperback copies of Kaje Harper’s The Rebuilding Year are up for grabs at Goodreads. Closes February 28.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Fiction Vixen (romances) and AAR (romances).

• Bookish news and more from Dear Author.

• Make sure you read Val’s warning post before you sign up for Bookish.com…

• Sloan Parker on the rules of storytelling.

• Charlie Cochet concludes her series on writing historical m/m romance.

• VacuousMinx with the second part of how much promo is too much, specifically focusing on blogs this time.

• And a repeat post from VacuousMinx on m/m and gender politics.

• Orannia’s curious how editing issues affect your enjoyment and rating of books.

• Josh Lanyon on m/m going mainstream.

• The Harry Potter books are getting new cover art.

• “9 very specific rules from real libraries“.

• Part IV of the Romance Reader Workout.

Ebookity

• “Some thoughts on piracy“.

• Many, many thoughts on what a national digital library endowment might look like.

• “How to download properly formatted fanfiction the easy way“. (Read the comments for additional tips.)

Think, Learn, Make, Do

• “Can an Increase in Celiac Disease Be Attributed to an Increase in the Gluten Content of Wheat as a Consequence of Wheat Breeding?“

• “Bee City: A kooky, sweet educational film“. (You can watch it for free.)

• What would the images look like if the Hubble telescope was pointed at the Earth?

• Find out how many heartbeats various species have during their lives.

Cookity

• Italian-style eggplant “sausages”. (via The Kitchn)

• Tri-color slaw with lime dressing.

• 6 warm salads.

• Winter fruit salsa.

• Peanut butter breakfast bites. (via The Kitchn)

• Ganache-topped cheesecake bites. (via The Kitchn)

• Double-chocolate cherry quinoa brownies.

• Chocolate molten lava cakes. (via The Kitchn)

• Salted dark chocolate popcorn.

• 5 truffle recipes.

• 9 chocolate cake recipes.

Gluten-Free

• Red velvet cheesecake protein shake. (via Gluten Free Blog from Triumph Dining)

• Red velvet pancakes. (via Gluten Free Blog from Triumph Dining)

• Dairy-free fudge. (via Gluten Free Blog from Triumph Dining)

• Chocolate bombs (cookies). (Scroll way down.)

• 10 gluten-free chocolate desserts.

• BLT chicken salad. (via Gluten Free Blog from Triumph Dining)

Drinkity

• Cupid’s cloud cocktail. (via The Kitchn)

• Blackberry margarita. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

• 5 winter liquors.

• 8 bubbly cocktails.

Crafty

• Arm knitting. (via Lifehacker)

Cool

• LEGO iPhone cases.

• Linkity from kmkat.

• Doctor Who cookie cutters.

• Narnia-esque kids’ play area.

• Firefly paintings.

• Stop motion film about the water cycle. (via CRAFT)

• Noirish superhero posters.

Cool or Wha…?

• The Canadian government on zombie invasion…

• Chicken & waffles or sriracha potato chips, anyone?

• Game of Thrones plush toys.

• Astronaut sheets.

• Evil Dead cross stitch sampler.

• LEGO coffee mug.

Wha…?

• Vibrator with up to 16 gb of storage…

• “Chubby Checker suing over male endowment app for obvious reasons“.

• Winged wetsuit.

• Toilet paper tree.

LOL

• Hockey Valentine comic.

• A British columnist watches hockey on tv and is baffled. (via Puck Daddy)

• 14 love-related autocorrect failures.

• 15 request-related autocorrect failures.

• Make your own conversation hearts – includes goth (anti-Valentine’s) version.

• “You can’t take the sky from me…”

• Truth. (Hover your cursor over the comic for additional text.)

• “One woman’s struggle to use her penis pan“. (via Smexy Books) (NSFWish)

• One of the many reasons Chaos isn’t allowed in my bedroom overnight.

• Oh oh…

• Conceptual hobbit-themed litterbox…

Teh Cute

• Kittens! Baby red pandas! Baby lions! Cat and kittens! Penguins! Baby lion! Kitten (that totally looks like Chaos’ tail)! Jaguar and baby! Baby lions! Kitten! Baby snow leopard! Otter and babies! Penguins and babies! Otter!

Reading Update

• Look! Over there! Didn’t distract you? Hmm, how about some hockey hugs – amusingly slashy. 🙂

---

I see your butt, Mayhem! 🙂

“No, you don’t!” -Mayhem

---

---

Congrats to Crissy, who won Shadow Memory by Jennifer Brooks!

Congrats to Donna, who won Once a Brat by Kim Dare! Once a Brat will be released by Riptide Publishing on February 11.

---

---

Contests

• Joyfully Jay’s giving away an ebook copy of Losing Better by Katey Hawthorne. Closes 11:59 pm EST, February 8.

• The Novel Approach is giving away an ebook copy of Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1) by Jordan L. Hawk. Closes 11:59 pm PST, February 9.

• Kay Berrisford’s giving away an ebook copy of Chrysalis Cage (Travelers #5) by Becky Black. Closes February 10.

• Babes in Boyland is giving away an ebook copy of Champion by Jet Mykles, Metal Heart by Meredith Shayne, The Wretched 1.1 by BL Morticia, and Moonstruck by Piper Vaughn & MJ O’Shea. Closes 9 pm CST, February 10.

• Babes in Boyland is also giving away an ebook copy of The Last Grand Master by Andrew Q. Gordon. Closes 9 pm CST, February 11.

• LA Witt is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card, as well as a number of m/m romance ebooks (various subgenres). Even if all the ebooks have been claimed in the comments, you can still comment to win the gift card until midnight CST, February 13.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Once a Bride by Jane Ashford. Closes February 18.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Pants Off Reviews (m/m romance), Rarely Dusty Books (m/m romance), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), Tor.com (PNR),  and Fiction Vixen (romance).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Apparently in the UK, books can now be prescribed instead of medication for various mental health issues.

• Pants Off Reviews has fanfiction recommendations.

• “Can Barnes & Noble be saved?“

• Charlie Cochet continues her guide to writing historical m/m romance with part four (details).

• “When we defend romance reading as escapism, the critics win“.

• Sunita wonders how much author promo is too much.

• Orannia’s curious about when other readers give up on a series.

• Becky Black shares writerly links.

• Lousy book covers. (Thanks, Emanuela!)

• The four writer personality types. (Thanks, Bron!)

Ebookity

• Amazon just got a patent “on the idea of a marketplace for ‘used’ digital content”.

Think, Do, Learn, Make

• Neil deGrasse Tyson on how much Thor’s hammer would weigh.

• 18 complex scientific ideas explained using only the 1000 most frequently used words.

• When will the bandwidth of the internet exceed that of FedEx?

• The iron is being replaced by a cat in future editions of Monopoly.

• You might want to rinse off that can of soda before you drink it…

• As of August 1, there won’t be any Saturday mail delivery in the US.

• Celebrities and athletes who eat gluten-free.

• 20 unusual February anniversaries and holidays.

Cookity

• 10 dinner recipes using chicken breasts.

• Red beans and rice.

• Lemon-herb hummus. (via The Kitchn)

• Baba ghanoush.

• Avocado-stuffed eggs.

• Salad tacos. (via The Kitchn)

• Mathematically perfect nachos.

• Cauliflower pizza crust. (Thanks, Strive Bst!)

• Garlicky cauliflower steaks with lemon and parsley. (via The Kitchn)

• French silk pie.

• Almond joy butter. (via The Kitchn)

• Buckeye brownies. (via The Kitchn)

• Intensely chocolate sables. (via The Kitchn)

• Baked Nutella ravioli. (via Smexy Books)

• 10 Nutella recipes.

• 10 muffin recipes.

Drinkity

• The midwinter warmer cocktail.

• Orange old-fashioned.

• Spicy grapefruit margaritas. (via The Kitchn)

Crafty

• Ah, vintage knitting pattern books, how you amuse.

Cool

• If you saw my non-contest post yesterday, you’ve already seen what you can do with the Pulp-O-Mizer Cover Maker. 🙂 (via The Mary Sue)

• Crocheted TARDIS blanket. (via The Mary Sue)

• Wire bonsai trees.

Cool or Wha…?

• A most magical wedding…

• Presidential Monsters. (via Tor.com)

• The Avengers mashed up with… The Breakfast Club.

• Death Star lollipops.

Wha…?

• Toilet-paper holding iPad stand.

• Turn your smartphone into an archery simulator.

• Desktop washing machine.

• Tiny roomba-esque robot for cleaning a tablet or smartphone screen.

• Fake newspaper meant to take the place of an umbrella.

LOL

• xkcd takes on the “Would you jump off a bridge if your friends did?” parental response. (Hover cursor over comic for additional text.)

• 25 funniest autocorrects from January 2013.

• Upside Downton Abbey – a spoof by Sesame Street.

• A new Simon’s Cat that’s strangely reminiscent of trying to feed Chaos…

• Cat lying position terminology.

• “The Internet Person’s Workout“.

• Cat tea…

• Eeek! Sofa bison!

• Poor doggy.

Teh Cute

• Kitten! Cheetah! Takin and baby! Kitten! Kitten! Fennec! Zebra and baby! Black kitten! Fennec and babies! Baby penguin! Lioness and babies! Baby penguins! Baby lion! Baby cougars! Baby panda! Kitten!

Reading Update

• Erm. *looks shifty* How about a fun hockey video?! Not a fan of the team, but I do love this video called The Datsyukian Deke. 🙂

---

“So… tired…” -Mayhem

---

---

Congrats to Carey, who won A Volatile Range (Stories from the Range #6) by Andrew Grey! A Volatile Range will be released by Dreamspinner Press on February 4.

---

---

Contests

• Wrapped Up in Books is giving away an ebook copy of Wide Awake by Kade Boehme. Closes 9 pm CST, February 2.

• Joyfully Jay’s giving away an ebook copy of How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by JC Lillis. Closes 11:59 pm EST, February 2.

• Joyfully Jay’s also giving away an ebook copy of winner’s choice from JL Merrow’s backlist. Closes “around lunchtime” GMT, February 4.

• Kay Berrisford is giving away an ebook copy of Christmas Magic by Pelaam. Closes February 5.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of The Wicked Wedding of Miss Ellie by Jayne Fresina. Closes February 7. US & Canada.

• The Babes in Boyland 2nd Annual Valentine’s Day Lovefest contest runs through February 15, with all sorts of prizes.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), Tor.com (fantasy, UF, genre-benders, sci-fi), and Fiction Vixen (romance).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Bookity links from Smart Bitches.

• Charlie Cochet’s series on writing historical m/m romance continues with setting.

• Tidbits from Neil Gaiman.

• Tam wonders how others use Goodreads and shares how she does.

• Fictional libraries. (via mental_floss)

• Tetris shelves. (via Lifehacker)

• Best way to spend a day. 🙂

• “15 colorful entries from Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words“.

• 7 different takes on Pride and Prejudice…

• The third part of the Romance Novel Reader Workout!

Ebookity

• What have publishers actually accomplished by using DRM?

• De-DRMing Kindle ebooks.

Think, Learn, Do, Make

• On being a female hockey fan. (via Puck Daddy)

• Fascinating tale of how a typo in an online game cost thousands of dollars in the real world.

• “Chicken and egg problem surprisingly complex“.

• Twinkies for sale.

• How a Cessna would fare elsewhere in our Solar System.

Cookity

• Ranchero breakfast tostadas. (via The Kitchn)

• Corn tacos with roasted winter vegetables and red cabbage slaw.

• Brussels sprouts hash. (via The Kitchn)

• Beef and lentil chili. (via The Kitchn)

• Salted caramel oatmeal. (scroll down for English) (via The Kitchn)

• 10 winter comfort foods.

• 10 cabbage recipes.

• Low-carb, gluten-free “bread”.

• Baked whole grain chai cake donuts.

• Vegan chocolate cake.

• 15 quick desserts.

• The Thin Mint Cocktail.

Cool

• Doctor Who definitions from the Bloggess.

• Clever TARDIS cosplay. (via The Mary Sue)

• Mini David Tennant.

• Illusion knitted TARDIS scarf. (via The Mary Sue)

• New Zealand’s making a Doctor Who commemorative coin.

• Math, science, and embroidery.

• Snow sculpture of Batman fighting a shark. (via The Mary Sue)

• Scifi gargoyles.

• Tour the Grand Canyon, virtually. (via Gizmodo)

• Watch Paperman, an animated short nominated for an Oscar.

• “If Downtown Abbey were a Super Nintendo game“.

• Rotary phone flashback. (Hey, I work in telecom, what can I say?)

• Hockey hugs!

Cool or Wha…?

• R2-D2 heels.

• Can’t say I’ve ever seen these cycling outfits on the bike trail…

• 12 weird radiators.

Wha…?

• Tentacle toilet plunger?!

• Utility ring.

• Another for the moldy tampon files… o.O

• A funeral procession that went through a Burger King drive-thru.

• Kemp’s dairy products promo.

LOL

• Ah, Wikipedia… (Make sure you hover your cursor over the comic for additional text.)

• “Politically (Auto)Incorrect“.

• Problem-solving in Middle Earth. (via The Mary Sue)

• LEGO cakes…

• If winter is getting you down…

• Also applies when a cat is sitting on your lap.

• A cat using the Force…

• Chaos would be perfect for this!

• Oh, kitties.

• Zodicat.

Teh Cute

• Meerkat and baby! Black cat! Baby bat-eared fox! Baby bat-eared foxes! Lynxes! Bat-eared fox and baby! Kitten! Baby lions! Baby lions! Baby lion! Baby lions! Lions! Tiger! Kitten! Fox! Baby fishing cat! Kitten! Kitten! Baby red panda!

Reading Update

• *waves*

---

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem