My new netbook skin arrived! I applied it to my Dell Mini 9 netbook and dubbed said netbook Kuroi Neko (Japanese for “black cat”).
I think it fits right in around here. 😉
When I was taking pictures, I realized that Kuroi Neko is literally half the size of my Toshiba laptop, which has a 14.1″ screen.
Of course, not everyone was impressed…
“Um, Mom? There’s something seriously hinky about this cat.” -Chaos
Don’t forget to leave a comment on the contest post before 7 pm CDT, Thursday, September 3, for your chance to win a copy of Michelle Rowen’s forthcoming paranormal romance, Tall, Dark and Fangsome!
“What are you doing, Mom?” -Chaos
“You’d better not be taking nude bathing pictures of me to post on the internetz is all I have to say…” -Chaos
Many thanks to the Hatchette Book Group for providing five copies of Michelle Rowen’s forthcoming paranormal romance, Tall, Dark and Fangsome, for me to give away!
Sarah Dearly’s vampire life is not all B-positive cocktails. A curse made her a nightwalker, the most vicious vamp there is; the charm she wears to curb her deadly tendencies is losing its juice; and a hunter from hell is turning up the heat. Gideon Chase will kill the ones she loves most if she doesn’t obey his orders. That includes breaking up with master vampire Thierry and turning Gideon into an immortal vamp so he can escape a doom of eternal hellfire.
Making things worse are Sarah’s growing feelings for Gideon, a bad boy who keeps showing a vulnerable side . . . but is it for real? Will Sarah’s dark side take over? Or can she cure herself of the nightwalker curse in time to stop Gideon and finally live happily ever after with Thierry . . . forever?
Contest Rules
Good luck!
Hmm. How about Furry, Dark and Fangsome?
“You know you want me, baby.” -Chaos
Congrats to the commenters who won copies of Dark Hunger: Tink, Anne, Morning Glow, CC, and Dottie! Thanks to everyone who participated – stop back tomorrow for a new book giveaway.
All About Books has a copy of Karen Marie Moning’s Dreamfever up for grabs – comment by 11:59 pm, EDT, August 27, for your chance to win.
You have several chances to win a copy of Devyn Quinn’s latest release, Possession: at Love Romance Passion (comment before August 29) and at Anna’s Book Blog (comment before August 30).
SciFiGuy is giving away two signed copies of Annette McLeave’s new release, Drawn into Darkness. Leave a comment by midnight, August 31, for your chance to win.
For your chance to win a copy of Jory Strong’s Ghostland or Spider-Touched, leave a comment at Literary Escapism by midnight, September 1.
A Journey of Books is giving away copies of Highland Rebel – you have until midnight EDT, September 15, to participate.
Fantasy Dreamer has a great list of book news and contests. So does Cecile!
Sony announced a wireless ebook reader yesterday. Gizmodo compares the major wireless ebook readers and has some info about the virtual library ebook checkout that Sony mentioned.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any crazier than Mr. Darcy, Vampyre… here comes Jane Bites Back.
LOL – if you’re brave and need some laughs, head on over to The Thrillionth Page to read about Miss Doreen’s sordid reading discovery…
How about a random but adorable link to a little black kitty boy?
Reading Update
Blue Fire, 
ePistols at Dawn, and 
The Long Way Home by Z.A. Maxfield. ebooks. M/m romance. Blue Fire and ePistols at Dawn were ok. Sadly, The Long Way Home would definitely have benefited from more editorial attention – the basic story was good, but it rambled, wandered, and fell down more than once due to structural issues.
St. Nacho’s and 
Physical Therapy by Z.A. Maxfield. ebooks. Related m/m romances about the somewhat mystical and strangely healing California town of Santo Ignacio, known as St. Nacho’s. (And hey, there’s a detour to River Falls, Wisconsin!)
Fire on the Mountain by P. D. Singer. ebook. Smokin’ hot m/m about two guys fighting forest fires in the Rockies.
Black Hills by Nora Roberts. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned how much I love the Black Hills, so I was particularly interested in the latest from Nora Roberts. Alas, it’s set in the Deadwood area, which isn’t the area of the Black Hills with which I’m familiar. As usual with the Nora, it was well-written and suspenseful until almost the very last page.
Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9) by Charlaine Harris. Oh, my, just when you think that Sookie’s life can’t get any more complicated and crazy… another book comes out.
Somebody Killed His Editor (Holmes & Moriarity, Book 1) by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Mystery writer Christopher Holmes is trying to revitalize his career at a writing retreat and things don’t go quite as planned… This was really well-done and poked fun at publishing and crazyily targeted mystery niches. Speaking of Josh Lanyon, Love Romances & More is deep in their m/m focus series and had a great interview with him yesterday.
May appears to have forgiven the toy basket… mostly.
“I’m keeping an eye on this toy basket, and keeping one foot on the floor. Just in case.” -Mayhem
For your chance to win a copy of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, leave a comment at Suburban Vampire suggesting the next vampire-classic mashup you’d like to see. Contest closes 8 am PDT, September 1.
Park-Avenue Princess is holding an assortment of book contests right now – some of the books up for grabs are Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, How to Tame a Modern Rogue (which I read and loved), and How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World.
For a chance to win The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, leave a comment at Book Smugglers by 11:59 pm PDT, August 29.
Lea has links to several more contests: one for an Amazon gift card and another for copies of Eve Silver’s books.
For a chance to win copies of Kiss of Darkness (NK cover!) and Bride of the Wolf by Jennifer St. Giles, leave a comment at The Knight Agency Blog before tomorrow morning (August 26).
Shayla Black’s giving away her Doomsday Brethren novella, Fated, as a free download. I enjoyed the first book of the Doomsday Brethren (hunky wizards – what’s not to enjoy?), Tempt Me with Darkness, and am definitely reading more of the series as it’s released.
Lynne Connolly’s historical romance, Yorkshire (Richard and Rose, Book 1) is available as a free download at Books on Board.
Definitely not dead. 😉
“Gee, Mom, it’s too bad about you having to work so much…” *yawwwwwn* -Chaos
Aw, thanks for your kind words on Friday. You guys rock!
And now, I go forth to prepare myself for a week of workhell, as things get really, really crazy on my project. Send happy work project thoughts my way, please!
“Hmm. What is the meaning of life?” -Mayhem
Don’t forget to leave a comment on the contest post before 7 pm CDT, Monday, August 24, for your chance to win a copy of Rita Herron’s paranormal romance, Dark Hunger! (And hey, you can download the ebook of Herron’s paranormal romance Insatiable Desire for $1.99 this month.)
Crap. Apparently this is post #1000. Um… rah?! 😉 I know I should throw a party, but I think that’s going to have to wait until after the work craziness winds down. Anyway, many thanks to all of you for making the past nearly four years so enjoyable and interesting. The small, near-daily acts of creativity that blogging requires (taking photos, editing photos, captioning photos, writing posts) have been good for me. And getting to know all of you – through my blog, through your blogs, through email exchanges, through face-to-face meetings – that has been the very best thing of all. So, again – thank you.
Ok, enough mushy stuff. Onward! 🙂
Anna’s giving away a lovely hanging bookcase – leave a comment by August 26 for your chance to win.
Donna (Fantasy Dreamer) is giving away two books from Jeanne Stein’s Anna Srong Vampire Chronicles. Leave a comment by August 25 for your chance to win.
Author Kelly Moran’s giving away five copies of Karen Rose’s new romantic suspense, I Can See You. Leave a comment for your chance to win.
Lea explains what exactly The Great Western Drive is and includes a link to a related contest. Hmm. The closest I’ve gotten to reading any Western romances is the sort of cowboyesque Love at First Bite vampire series by Kimberly Raye. Not sure that really counts! 😉
Book Junkie has links to more, more, more book contests!
Hee hee – several people have pointed out that this seems perfectly Chaos. It does indeed!
Awww, look at the cute little black kitty…
Hmm. An artist who works with the fur of her black kitties. Creative use of cat hair, I must say!
Looking for a good, inexpensive book light? J. Kaye has a review of one she liked.
Minnesota publishers talk about ebooks.
Reading Update
I Spy Something Bloody, 
The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks, 
The Adrien English Mysteries, Books 1-2 (Fatal Shadows & A Dangerous Thing), 
The Hell You Say, and 
Death of a Pirate King (Adrien English Mysteries, Books 3-4) by Josh Lanyon. ebooks. More excellent mystery and romantic suspense from m/m author Josh Lanyon. I really can’t say enough good about the Adrien English series. I devoured the books, and yet had to put them aside periodically because of how emotionally invested and worried I got about Adrien English. It’s been a while since I spent so much time (outside of reading the book) thinking about a character and caring so much about what happened. Highly recommended. (And check out Elisa Rolle’s feature on Josh Lanyon!)
Partners in Crime 4: The Art of Dying by Josh Lanyon and Jordan Castillo Price. This ebook contains suspenseful, non-series m/m stories from the always excellent Lanyon and Price.
Bring the Heat and 
Out of My Mind by M.L. Rhodes. ebooks. Well-done and steamy m/m romance, with excellent covers. 😉
Double Play by Jill Shalvis. Contemporary romance about a major league baseball pitcher and a reporter who’s supposed to find out dark secrets about the team. Shalvis definitely knows how to write a solid and enjoyable story and I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.
How To Tame a Modern Rogue by Diana Holquist. Kudos to Diana Holquist for her absolutely delightful contemporary and Regency romance mash-up! Highly recommended.
Skin Deep (Laura Blackstone, Book 1) by Mark Del Franco. Very well-done urban fantasy set in the same world as Del Franco’s Connor Grey series – I’ll definitely continue to read this series. (But I still prefer the Connor Grey series!)
Many thanks to Jeanne for “squirrelizing” this picture for me:
“Dang, he looks tasty, but he’s as big as I am!” -Chaos
“Who are all you people?” -Squirrel
*dreaming of birds* -Mayhem
Thoughts?
While you’re trying to decide, don’t forget to leave a comment on the contest post before 7 pm CDT, Monday, August 24, for your chance to win a copy of Rita Herron’s paranormal romance, Dark Hunger!
Oh, and we are all fine here – the tornado that hit Minneapolis was a mile or so to the east of us! Yesterday was a very exciting day to work from home, what with the crazy rain, the tornado sirens, and then the flood warnings.
Don’t forget to leave a comment on the contest post before 7 pm CDT, Monday, August 24, for your chance to win a copy of Rita Herron’s paranormal romance, Dark Hunger!
Congrats to the winners of the So Into You contest: Limedragon, Park Avenue Princess, Catie, CursingMama, and Marie!
I Read Romance is offering the chance to win a Cool*er eBook Reader. (Please note that you will be added to some authors’ mailing lists by entering.)
For your chance to win a copy of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, leave a comment with your favorite ghost story at Literary Escapism by midnight, August 25.
If you’d like the chance to win three of Roxanne St. Claire’s romantic suspense novels, leave a comment at Jaci Burton’s blog sharing the title of your favorite romantic suspense novel. Contest closes Friday, so stop back after that to see if you’ve won.
ScifFiGuy’s giving away two copies of John Shirley’s new urban fantasy novel, Bleak House. Leave a comment by midnight, August 24, for your chance to win.
You have many opportunities to win a copy of Julia London’s latest, Summer of Two Wishes: Seductive Musings (closes 11:59 pm EST, August 22), Park Avenue Princess (closes September 9), A Journey of Books (closes midnight EST, August 31), and Book Binge.
Dear Author’s giving away an assortment of Bantam titles – head on over and check out the details.
For your chance to win a copy of Dawn Halliday’s historical romance, Highland Obsession, leave a comment at Yankee Romance Reviews by the end of the week.
Not enough book giveaways for you? Donna (Fantasy Dreamer) has links to more! So does Literary Escapism.
I love it – two librarians rummage around in the stacks at Awful Library Books, including such classics as a title about cats’ sex lives…
Could by Mayhem, but not quite…
This is an amusing cover for your Kindle or other ebook reader.
Check out the linked picture of how one ebook title looks on an assortment of different screens.
Ah, the joys (not) of ebooks with DRM. This is going to be the same issue I have with my Astak EZReader/Hanlin V3.
“The toy basket totally started it, Mom! I’m sure it’s out to get me!” -Mayhem
Don’t forget to leave a comment on the contest post before 7 pm CDT, Monday, August 24, for your chance to win a copy of Rita Herron’s paranormal romance, Dark Hunger!
I’ve notified the five winners of the So Into You contest – as soon as I hear back from all of them, I’ll post the winners. Thanks to everyone who participated!
Lea’s giving away an ebook copy of Dirty Love by Lacey Savage – leave a comment by August 21 if you’d like the chance to win what looks to be a scorching hot read.
Amy’s giving away an autographed copy of the mystery Fatal Encryption. For your your chance to win, leave a comment about what job you’d choose if you could choose any job.
“Arrrrgh! I’m a pirate, hi ho, hi ho. Avast there, Mom, and prepare to hand over the kitty treats!” -Chaos