Tag Archives: Diana DeRicci

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity and a larch walk into a bar…

July 13, 2012 Chris 14 Comments

Congrats to Melinda, who won Owner of My Heart (Mending the Rift #2) by Valentina Heart!Â Owner of My Heart (Mending the Rift #2) will be released by Silver Publishing on July 14.

Contests

Keira Andrews is giving away an ebook copy of her recent Earthly Desires (with Leta Blake). Closes 12:01 am PDT, July 16.

Armchair Reader Cole is also giving away an ebook copy of The Wish (2nd ed) by Eden Winters. Closes 7 pm CDT, July 20.

Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Thunder on the Plains by Rosanne Bittner. Closes July 24. US & Canada.

Fetch Me My Fainting Couch is giving away an assortment of books in her TBR Reduction Giveaway #5. Closes July 31.

Bookity

New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR) and Book Lovers Inc (romance etc).

Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

25 bad behaviors that writers should avoid.

I’m pretty sure that the 26th behavior to avoid should be “creating an ‘anti-bullying’ website that outs reviewers you don’t agree with”… Some eloquent words about that complete wtfery from Smart Bitches, Jennifer Armintrout, Stacia Kane, and Fangs for the Fantasy.

“Kurt Vonnegut’s rules for the short story“. (via Wil Wheaton)

“The difference between passive voice and using ‘was’.“

Paperback Writer applies LEGO logic to creating characters.

Some of the predictions Arthur C. Clarke made 50 years ago about technology have turned out to be very true.

Gary Oldman reading from R. Kelly’s autobiography.

Have you ever found reading to be dangerous? (Um, not that I can think of…)

Proofreading marks you might not see from your editor… but maybe you should. 😉

Smart Bitches with some completely “Wha…?” book covers. (NSFW)

Alternate title for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The lawyer who was suing The Oatmeal’s creator Matthew Inman has dropped his suit. The whole thing is so crazy, it’s completely worth a read.

Ebookity

HQBooks helps you find free pdf ebooks – looks like it leans heavily toward tutorials and manuals. (via Lifehacker)

“Using Calibre and sideloading to keep your reading private.“

Ways in which ebooks are not like paper books. (via TeleRead)

Curious which Avenger is getting the most fanfic action? (via The Mary Sue)

Think, Do, Learn, Make

If you’ve ever been curious how dinosaurs had sex… (via Tor.com) (NSFW?)

Check out the original logos from an assortment of tech companies.

Was your password among those leaked this week? Leaked passwords were from Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, Comcast.net, and MSN.com.

Tips on calling 911 in this mobile world.

Joyfully Jay explains how she moved her blog from Blogger to WordPress.

10 ways to repurpose old toys.

Use a mesh file box to store hair appliances in the bathroom.

How to use black cocoa powder.

Google’s new Legalize Love campaign predictably now has anti-gay conservatives talking Google boycott.

More on how bad sitting all day is for you. Exercises to help counter the negative effects of sitting all day.

New research suggests that it’s better to be obese (although not morbidly so) than to be underweight.

The world’s official kilogram is losing weight, which isn’t such a good thing for the metric system.

xkcd explains visual fields.

xkcd has a new blog called “What if?” that should seriously become a physics textbook because it makes physics WAY more interesting than I remember it being in school. To see what I mean, check out the post on Relativistic Baseball.

Scientists believe that many (but not all) recent extreme weather events haveÂ been caused by human-based climate change.

Cookity

Avocado chili brownies topped with avocado tequila ice cream. (via Wil Wheaton)

Gluten-free cherry almond crisp.

Four-ingredient strawberry-orange sorbet. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

Boozy red berry fruit salad. (via The Kitchn)

Polka dot cake using cake pops. (via The Kitchn)

Single-serving microwave peanut butter cake. (via The Kitchn)

Cream cheese filled snickerdoodles. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

Salmon moqueca.

Cheesy quinoa cakes. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

Many grilled cheese recipes. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

BLT with basil mayonnaise and avocado.

Toasted sesame and white bean hummus. (via The Kitchn)

Eight-ball zucchini with eggs baked inside.

Zucchini boats with mozzarella and olives.

Blue potato salad with lemon basil vinaigrette. (via The Kitchn)

Savory tomato salad. (via CRAFT)

Grilled kale salad with ricotta and plums. (via The Kitchn)

15 cold supper salads.

15 summer squash recipes.

Drinkity

5 non-alcoholic summer drinks.

Cappuccino chip frappe.

Blackberry gin fizz. (via Armchair Reader)

Blueberry lavender vodka spritzer.

Crafty

Make a kitty print t-shirt. (via CRAFT)

Turn handwritten recipes into tea towels. (via CRAFT)

Create a string art typography wall hanging. (via CRAFT)

Make mini bottle necklaces. (via CRAFT)

Cool

Quotes from fathers on how having daughters changed their views on what being a man means. (Thanks, Jase!)

Scrabble wall art. (via CRAFT)

A LEGO Rolls Royce engine – watch it in action.

The Hobbit LEGOs. (via The Mary Sue)

Woman in garden with TARDIS.

Very young Indiana Jones and the jungle spider.

Paper mache bust of Dragon Maleficent.

Batmen at the beach.

Batpenguins. (via The Mary Sue)

Scenes from scifi films done as Ottoman miniatures.

Rocket espresso cup.

Cool or Wha…?

Chair with a wolf’s shadow.

Batmobile golf cart.

Swimmable mermaid tails.

HUSH Pod.

Trap door colander.

The Walker Art Center (very near me) is having a film festival of the best internet cat videos…

New York City is going to turn payphone kiosks into wifi hotspots.

You can actually bake cookies in a hot car. (Probably smells a lot better than an air freshener, too.)

Wha…?

Starbucks in a funeral home…

A mayor in Germany has designated “easy” parking spots for women because “men are better at parking than women.” *must control fist of rage*

Insulated paper bag sleeve for drinking your classy beverages… Or maybe you’d prefer a bearded beer cozy?

Naked girl in a hot tub iPhone case… (strangely, SFW)

Gummy bear dress.

What if bananas were added to your favorite fantasy/scifi stories?

LOL

If you can’t decide whether you should knit or buy a gift, check Franklin’s handy infographic!

14 First World problems from the 90s. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

Bad gadget names.

One way to deal with the heat without air conditioning!

Truth in advertising names for junk food.

Choosing a secure name for your pet.

Do cat people have a higher tolerance for pain?

Very Chaos.

Cat lady obstacle course. (Although Chaos and Mayhem do more creative rearranging of the throw rugs here.)

The Simon’s Cat guide to boxes.

Yes!

Teh Cute

Videos: Squeaky black kitten! Baby tigers!

Tiger! Baby snow leopard! Cheetah and baby! Lioness and baby! Tigers! Cheetah and babies! Swan and cygnets! Swan and cygnets! Cheetah and baby! Baby cheetahs! Baby otter! Seal and baby! Kittens! Kittens! Baby lion! Cat! Baby red pandas! Lemurs! Victoria crowned pigeon and baby! Baby tiger! Cat! Baby lynx! Fennecs! Baby human!

Reading Update
Simple Justice (Benjamin Justice #1) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good gay mystery set in the mid-90s about a former newspaper reporter who’s been working the occasional freelance job to make ends meet since it came out he’d fabricated the story for which he won a Pulitzer. When his former editor tracks him down about working on a story, he doesn’t want to… but he slowly gets sucked in.
Revision of Justice (Benjamin Justice #2) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good gay mystery in which Ben gets pulled into researching a Hollywood story that turns out to be very convoluted, but gives him the chance to face some of his own demons… or flee again.
Justice at Risk (Benjamin Justice #3) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good, but very dark, gay mystery in which Ben meets two very different but compelling men, gets some work putting together a documentary on risky sex, and is drawn into investigating yet another convoluted and dangerous situation. This was dark enough that I need to take a bit of a break from the series…
Every Minute (Max & Skyler #3) by Acer Adamson. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance that manages to cover both Max and Skyler meeting, plus meeting each other’s parents.
One Day at a Time by Dawn Douglas. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a DEA agent on assignment to a small town police force who decides to help a cop depressed about having had to kill a teen gang member.
Making Camp by Clare London. free ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about two guys who work together and are attracted to each other, but don’t do anything about it until the Country Mouse asks the City Mouse to go camping with him.
Healer (The Institute #1) by Cassandra Gold. ebook. reread. Very good m/m paranormal romance about a doctor who can heal people with his mind. Bad guys who want to capture him and use his power for their own ends are closing in on him when a purportedly good guy offers him a way out.
Touch (The Institute #2) by Cassandra Gold. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a member of the Delphic Institute who gets captured by a rival organization. When escaping, he takes a hostage and everything starts to change.
Phoenix Rising by Theo Fenraven. ebook. arc. Good m/m paranormal romance about an NYC cop and his partner who are investigating a series of mysterious deaths. When the evidence leads them toward a charismatic singer, things start to get really weird…
Au Bon Pain by Lee Patton. ebook short. Poignant short story about a guy who has the chance to reconnect with his first love – the first love who dumped him and vanished.
The Good Life by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Cute m/m romance about a guy who suddenly finds himself a single parent with a baby daughter when he’d just planned to be the sperm donor. When his best friend offers them a place to live and help with the baby, things get a bit complicated. This had some very oddly phrased bits that seemed to need more editorial attention.
Roadside Assistance by Heidi Champa. ebook short. Pretty good short m/m romance about a week in the life of two friends who carpool together…
Laurel Heights by Lisa Worrall. ebook. Ok m/m romantic suspense two closeted cops who have to go undercover as a gay couple in a small, exclusive gay community in order catch a killer. The plot was implausible, the writing was over-the-top at times, and the epilogue changed it from neatly tied up into a cliffhanger.

“This is my new kitty bed, not a shopping bag! Silly Mom.” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity welcomes melted kitty season

May 18, 2012 Chris 19 Comments

Congrats to Mary F, who won her choice of Ervinâ€™s Dilemma (Wayne County Wolves #1) by Stephani Hecht or The Helpful Swan (The Cob Brothers #3) by Amber Kell and Stephani Hecht!

Congrats to Michelle, CursingMama, and Tracey D, who won King Perry by Edmond Manning!

Congrats to Peggy C, who won Still Waters (Sanctuary #4) by RJ Scott!Â Still Waters will be released by Silver Publishing onÂ May 19.

Congrats to Paula S, who won her choice of More Than Pride (Supernatural Mates #6) or Switching Payne by Amber Kell! Switching Payne will be released by Silver Publishing on May 19 and More Than Pride will be released by Total-E-Bound on May 28.

Contests

Joyfully Jay’s giving away an ebook from Cat Grant’s backlist. Contest closes 11:59 pm EDT, May 18.

Joder’s also giving away an ebook from Cat Grant’s backlist. Contest closes 11:59 pm CDT, May 18.

Joder’s giving away an ebook copy of Staring into the Eyes of Chance by Kay Dee Royal. Contest closes 11:59 pm CDT, May 23.

Bookity

New releases and more: Literary Escapism (PNR/UF) and Book Lovers Inc (romance of various sorts).

Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

Dear Author on why copyright terms should be shorter.

A new study suggests that Amazon reviews are as accurate as those by “professional” reviewers. Think about that the next time you see an author melting down about a negative review on GRs or Amazon and decrying the review because it’s not from a “professional”. 🙂

Household tips and recipes of famous authors from Brain Pickings. (via Largehearted Boy)

If you’re trying to spark your creativity and write more, check out 750words.com. (via Chrissy Munder)

Writing, publishing, and marketing – life as a self-published author.

Jordan Castillo Price shows how a book cover is put together from stock photography.

Becky Black with some reasons for authors to be on Twitter.

15 favorite GLBT romances from LoveRomancePassion.

Stephen King is writing a sequel to The Shining.

Very cool book sculptures in a small Swiss village. (Thanks, Juni!)

Birth of a book infographic.

Better book title for The Mill on the Floss.

Behind every great novelist is…

Ebookity

Infographic that provides an overview of ebook antitrust lawsuits worldwide.

Dear Author has an update on the DoJ lawsuit.

Do writers feel as if they need to write more/faster because of ebooks?

Do, Think, Make, Learn

All about introverts. This quote sums us up perfectly: “…introverts are people who find other people tiring.” (Thanks, Edmond!)

10 cat facts you may not know. (Thanks, Stephani!)

The statues on Easter Island have bodies. (via The Mary Sue)

Gem corn and genetics. (Thanks, Bron!)

If you’re prone to heart problems, you might want to avoid Zithromax.

New research suggests that coffee drinkers (serious ones) live longer.

What lies does everyone tell on dating sites?

Huh. Well, this might explain why women date jerks – but why do guys date jerks? (Baddest Santa Guy is in the featured photo!)

The history of the vibrator…

There’s not really a lot of water on our planet.

Cookity

15 slow cooker recipes.

14 recipes with six ingredients (plus salt).

10 spring slow cooker recipes.

10 light spring soups.

10 vegan dinners.

10 recipes that will leave you with plenty of leftovers.

10 recipes for take-out foods at home.

10 beet recipes.

10 tasty ways to cook chicken.

7 light meals.

5 more ways to use up leftovers.

Five-ingredient chili.

Cambodian-style spring rolls.

Vegetarian pho.

Grilled fish tacos. (via The Kitchn)

Kahlua bundt cake. (via CRAFT)

Slow cooker Nutella crunch cheesecakes. (via The Kitchn)

Chocohotopots. (via The Kitchn)

One-minute microwave chocolate cupcakes. (via The Kitchn)

Now I’m really hungry.

Gluten-Free

Gluten-free zucchini quinoa breakfast cake.

10 recipes to get you started on the gluten-free diet.

Domino’s Pizza now has a gluten-free crust… that they don’t recommend for celiacs.

Chuck E. Cheese is testing gluten-free pizza and cupcakes in Minnesota.

There’s a link between undiagnosed celiac disease and obesity.

Amusing tumblr called “When I Went Gluten Free”. (via The Kitchn)

Crafty

Use old maps to make a woven map notebook. (via CRAFT)

Hone your origami skills by turning a dollar bill into a tiny camera.

Cool

Crocheted Star Wars mini amigurumi. (Thanks, orannia!)

Another TARDIS cat house. (via The Mary Sue)

Have tea with Alan Rickman.

Sweet short film about a crayon dragon.

Cool or Wha…?

18,000 pound chocolate Mayan temple.

Wha…?

Free gingers?!

Chocolate cat tongues?!

Eat a chocolate replica of your own brain.

Wisdom tooth ring.

Don’t rob an internet cafe when you’re logged in to Facebook there.

“A custom-made, data-driven butt plug for each GOP presidential candidate.“

9 weird coffins.

Crocheted pizza rug.

LOL

Shit my kids ruined. (Thanks, Bron!)

How to pose like a hot guy with a cute dog. (Thanks, Bron!)

If IKEA made the Large Hadron Collider…

Avengers compared to Star Wars. (Thanks, Bron!)

Computer icons that don’t make much sense now.

13 funniest autocorrected texts with a mother.

A scene from my neighborhood.

Find out Australia’s dark secret!

Excellent kitty hiding.

Make sure you recognize your cat’s importance.

I’m a sucker for this, too.

Poor Basement Cat!

Teh Cute

Baby lions! Baby snow leopards! Kitten! Kitten! Kitten! Kitten! Swan and cygnets! Lion and baby! Lioness and baby! Ducklings! Otter and baby! Penguin and baby!

Reading Update
Last Stop by Lou Harper. ebook. arc. Very good kinky m/m romantic suspense about a guy who’s hitchhiking to Seattle, paying his way with sex or a friendly ear. When his latest ride dumps him at a truck stop in Montana, he sees a help wanted sign and decides to stick around for a bit after he meets the sexy, mysterious, older owner of the cafe. And then things start to get more and more complicated…
Where You Hurt the Most by Anne Brooke. ebook short. arc. Very good short m/m romance about an escort who’s asked to spend some time with a young man and perhaps help draw him out of the shell he’s been in since an accident left him terribly scarred. Written in a lovely, literary style, this story was a pleasure to read. My only complaint was that, while the story of the escort and the young man was evocatively told, I wanted to know at least a few more details about the merely implied back story in order to better understand a scene near the end.
Pricks and Pragmatism by JL Merrow. ebook short. Very good m/m romance about a guy who’s almost done with his university degree. He has no money, so he’s been staying with various guys, basically exchanging sex for food and lodging. But what’s up with the nerdy engineer he’s just moved in with, who doesn’t seem interested in him in that way?
Into the Bermuda Triangle (Turbulence #1) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. Very good short m/m paranormal setting the stage for future episodes of this serial about pilots who fly into the Bermuda Triangle. You are definitely left wanting more! 🙂
The Amethyst Cat Caper by Charlie Cochet. ebook. Very good mystery and romance set in Manhattan in the 1930s, in which the owner of a teahouse purchases a cat statue that he assumes is a forgery until a Pinkerton’s man comes knocking on his door…
Still Waters (Sanctuary #4) by RJ Scott. ebook. arc. Good m/m romantic suspense in which a Sanctuary operative, former FBI, is thrown together with his ex (still in the FBI) who believes he was on the take.
She’s Come Undone by Eric Arvin. ebook short. Sad short story about being trapped, be it by your body or by your fears or by the actions of others.
Home Sweet Home by Kim Dare. ebook short. Sweet short kinky m/m romance about a submissive who returns home to discover that his master’s contribution to their home’s decor is not at all what he suspected. (I took the picture that inspired said contribution. Hee hee.)
Glitter (Beach Duo #0.5) by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Good m/m romance about a college student who slowly realizes, over four years, that he’s not actually homophobic but rather the opposite.
The Charlie Factor (Beach Duo #1) by Diana DeRicci. ebook. reread. Very good m/m romance about a former firefighter slowly recovering after nearly dying in a murderous fire. He’s befriended by a straight guy who finds himself developing very confusing feelings for his new friend.
Popping the Question (Beach Duo #1.5) by Diana DeRicci. free ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about a couple celebrating the second anniversary of their meeting. Really, this should be #2.5, as it contains spoilers for the second book.
Doing Love Right (Beach Duo #2) by Diana DeRicci. ebook. reread. Pretty good m/m romance about a wedding planner, recently dumped, who wakes up after a party to discover a strange man in bed with him… a strange man who knows an awful lot about him. This would’ve been better without the near-purple prose during the sex scenes.
Sparks Fly by Clare London. ebook. reread. Pretty good m/m romance about a successful entrepreneur who gets around, but finds himself thinking about the prickly programmer who helped launch his first venture, an online dating service. This suffers from an excess of exclamation points and… I know Clare’s a much more polished writer now than she was when this was written. 🙂
Mark’s Opening Gambit by Lee Brazil. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a high school dropout who’s helping his mom support his younger brothers by working nights. When he meets the snooty owner of a chess shop where one of his brothers is in a tournament, he’s unprepared for the attraction between them.
My First But Not My Last by Leigh Jarrett. ebook short. Ok, but very short, m/m encounter between a guy who’s just been dumped by his girlfriend and a guy he meets at the beach.
The Stars on My Arm by Leigh Jarrett. ebook. Meh m/m romance about a high school senior who’s at first repulsed and then fascinated by the heavily pierced and tattooed guy who moves in next door, much to his girlfriend’s dismay. This book was hampered by a number of things: too much telling and not enough showing, being several times longer than it should have been for the amount of actual story, and a lack of editing (giving someone the finger is rather different than fingering said person).

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity has eyes like limpid pools

February 10, 2012 Chris 20 Comments

Congrats to Morgana, who won Academic Pursuits by Lou Harper!

Congrats to Demetra, who wonÂ The Swimming Swan (Cob Brothers #2) by Stephani Hecht andÂ Amber Kell!

Contests

It’s Rock Star Week at Joyfully Jay and there are lots of prizes. All contests close 11:59 pm EST, February 11.

Kmkat is giving away a skein of Twisted sock yarn – go read the fine print for how to enter the contest, which closes midnight CST, February 11.

Janna’s giving away an ebook copy of Immortal Valentine by Ellis Carrington. Winner will be announced on February 12.

Blodeuedd is giving away a copy of Branded by the Sheriff by Delores Fossen. Contest closes February 14.

Literary Escapism is giving away two $25 All Romance Ebooks gift certificates and Julia Talbot is giving away a $10 Amazon gift certificate. Make sure you read the contest rules before you comment! Contest open until February 28.

Bookity

New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), AAR (romance), and Book Lovers Inc (bit of everything).

Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

The big news of the week was an RWA chapter deciding to exclude same-sex romances from its writing competition… despite same-sex romances having won in that competition before. When the shitstorm hit, the chapter reacted by canceling the competition entirely.

Smart Bitches take on yet another article talking trash about genre fiction.

Go vote in the Sammies for your favorite Samhain Publishing books of 2011. Voting ends March 19. (via LA Witt)

16 misquoted quotations (and what they actually are).

Book tornado.

Teacup bookcase.

What Dr. Seuss books were really about.

I love The Little Prince, but…

Neil Gaiman’s reaction to his SFX award for Outstanding Scriptwriting.

Hey girl…

Ebookity

“You will never kill piracy, and piracy will never kill you.” (via Schneier on Security)

Gah, I don’t even want to think about ads in ebooks…

Another op-ed piece on getting rid of DRM.

Some publishers are trying to claim that ebooks are covered by pre-ebook author contracts.

Some numbers from Sourcebooks on how giving away free ebooks positively impacts ebook sales.

Ben Bova predicted the ebook self-publishing movement in 1989.

How book bloggers help self-published authors promote their books.

The importance of editors.

Piper Vaughn & MJ O’Shea have released a free ebook called Beyond Moonlight, which contains three Moonlight Becomes You short stories.

RJ Scott and other Silver Publishing authors have stories available in a Silver Shorts free read anthology.

The LL’s Word share links to some of their favorite online m/m romances.

You can download the free Valentine’s ebook short, Getting It Right (Life Lessons #1.8) by Kaje Harper, from The LL’s Word.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

Long held political beliefs might actually change your brain. (via maxexistentialist)

If all the reporting about Pinterest being “catnip for women” bothered you, you’re not alone.

Scientists believe they’ve found the first multicellular animal, from which all other animals (including humans) evolved.

Beware beach sand.

Oh my – 53% of dogs and 55% of cats are overweight or obese.

K-cup coffee turns out to be $51/lb.

Five pro photography tips.

If you read blogs and you aren’t using a feed reader to do so, check out ReadReactReview’s introduction to feed readers.

Cookity

Red velvet shortbread bites. (via CRAFT)

Red velvet crepes. (via The Kitchn)

Red velvet chocolate bark. (via The Kitchn)

Red velvet hot chocolate. (via CRAFT)

Steamed chocolate pudding cakes.

Conversation heart cheesecake. (via CRAFT)

Fruit, nut, & goat cheese salad with pomegranate vinaigrette. (via The Kitchn)

How to make pomegranate molasses/syrup, plus seven recipes for it.

Thai stirfried greens with oyster sauce.

Bacon hearts. (via The Kitchn)

Bacon whiskey sour.

Steak with drunken mushrooms and roasted blue cheese potatoes.

12 recipes to know by heart.

15 unexpected ways to serve spaghetti.

20 chocolatey recipes.

Crafty

Crochet heart scarf.

Crochet a button. (via CRAFT)

Cool

Not that you can tell from the blog, but I’m really into music. 🙂 This week, I’ve been listening to Shearwater’s forthcoming album Animal Joy streaming on NPR. Love (and preordered) it!

Listen to songs that were being played on the radio from the 1940s through the 1980s.

Paper castle.

Craft, food, and photo linkity from Kristi.

The Firefly drinking game! (via The Mary Sue)

Harry Potter tribute.

TARDIS corset.

Dr. Who tube map. (via The Mary Sue)

Batman ring.

Batman Mr. Potato Head.

12 fun and fashionable Darth Vader helmets.

Kraken cake.

Watch the Matthew Broderick Super Bowl commercial side-be-side with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

A one-inch tall coffee pot that works.

Ellen DeGeneres very classily addresses haters.

Cool or Wha…?

Bacon milkshakes.

Express your love with homemade duct tape roses! (via CRAFT)

Wha…?

Cat butt keychain. (via If Style Could Kill)

A basset hound in Texas now has a high school diploma.

Talk about a unique Valentine’s gift – give the gift of naming a cockroach.

Make your own edible beef jerky underwear. (via Gizmodo)

Apparently Facebook unfriending can have deadly consequences.

Colleges are selling bathroom stall naming rights?!

A US representative from Louisiana thought The Onion was an actual news source.

Erm. I just don’t see an m/m romance author being inspired by this awkward stock photo…

LOL

Liam Neeson vs. Patrick Steward in an action figure smackdown!

Stephen Colbert saves the world… (via The Mary Sue)

Darth Vader… on a Vespa. (via The Mary Sue)

Catch up with all eight Harry Potter movies in a minute.

“What superheroines would look like in comfy pants.”

My Little Pony parodies.

Bad day in the Neighborhood.

Social media explained via donuts.

President Obama shooting a marshmallow cannon.

The importance of commas.

10 autocorrect fails from parents.

25 favorite autocorrect fails.

25 most awkward cat sleeping positions. (Thanks, Bron!)

Fortunately neither of mine have tried this!

Keep calm and love cats.

This is sooooo Chaos.

Eeeep!

Teh Cute

Kitten! Egrets and babies! Cat and kitten! Tiger and baby! Tiger and baby! Baby tigers!Â Baby tigers! Lioness and baby! Cheetah and baby! Tiger and baby! Black leopard! Baby polar bear! Kitten! Baby clouded leopard! Kitten! Baby emu! Baby otter and kitten!

Reading Update
Cinder (A CinderFella Story) by Marie Sexton. ebook. Excellent fairy tale m/m romance based on Cinderella. It was cute and sweet and left a smile on my face.
The Rebuilding Year by Kaje Harper. ebook. arc. Excellent m/m romantic suspense about a firefighter who was seriously injured in a fire a year ago and is now going to med school. When he falls down some stairs on campus, the head groundskeeper comes to his rescue and they slowly become friends. What made this book so amazing was how it felt organic to me – the story slowly built and grew and developed… and that worked really, really well. Recommended. Comes out March 6 – and look for a contest here the week before. 🙂
Beyond Moonlight (Lucky Moon 1.5) by Piper Vaughn & MJ O’Shea. free ebook collection. Excellent collection of three short stories that take place after Moonlight Becomes You, but before the forthcoming The Luckiest. The first one tied up a loose end from Moonlight, and the second two bridge into The Luckiest.
Fall into the Sun by Val Kovalin. ebook. Very good m/m romance about two guys who were best friends and then lovers when they were growing up, until one of them broke the other’s heart. It’s 20 years later – is this a second chance? Or will fear and family split them apart again?
Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a guy with a fiancee and a trust fund who works as a police detective and uses humor to keep people at an emotional distance. But for some reason his defenses start to break down when he sees a beautiful young man working at a diner… wearing bunny slippers. This is one wild ride of a book! In fact, I hid in the bathroom at work to finish reading because I couldn’t wait until evening to see how things turned out. Definitely looking forward to reading the author’s next book.
First Impressions (2nd ed) by Josephine Myles. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about an artist who becomes fascinated by the guy wearing a suit and crazy socks who he sits across from on the train every day.
Like the Taste of Summer by Kaje Harper. free ebook short. Very good short m/m romance that flashes back to how a long-term couple got together.
Tougher To Love by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Good m/m romance about a deeply closeted motorcycle mechanic who unexpectedly becomes the guardian of his teenage niece…. and fascinated by the cop who brought her back into his life.
Why Isn’t Becky Twitchell Dead? (Tom & Scott #2) by Mark Richard Zubro. Good gay mystery in which high school teacher Tom is asked to help out a student accused of murdering his girlfriend. I really enjoy the dynamic between Tom and his partner Scott.
The Only Good Priest (Tom & Scott #3) by Mark Richard Zubro. Good gay mystery about Tom and Scott getting involved in the investigation of the suspicious death of a priest who ministered to the gay community. This one was kind of all over the place…
Chicago by Shae Connor. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a guy who finally realizes that his older, mostly long-distance boyfriend is a jerk and dumps him. And then he meets an absolute sweetheart of a guy…
Under One Roof by Diana DeRicci. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a writer who rents out part of his house to a cop newly moved to the area. Neither is aware the other is gay as they mutually lust after each other.
Fire Balls by Tara Lain. ebook. Good m/m romance about a flamboyant artist with a crush on a hunky firefighter – a hunky firefighter who, though gay, stays away from flamboyant guys, even if he finds them attractive.
Packing Heat by Kele Moon. ebook. Steamy m/m romance about a firefighter who thinks his straight cop roommate is going to want to move after their drunken makeout session…

“So itchy!” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity and a new tattoo!

September 9, 2011 Chris 46 Comments

Stop by and enter the contest for Barging In by Josephine Myles! Contest closes 7 pm CDT, September 19.

Congrats to Cayce, who won Love is in the Title (Love #1) and Love is in the Hallways (Love #2) by RJ Scott!

Congrats to D, who won Galen and the Forest Lord by Eden Winters!Â Galen and the Forest Lord will be released by Torquere Press on Saturday, September 10.

Contests

Bronwyn Green’s giving away an ebook copy of Anna Mayle’s Lullaby for a Stolen Child (Stolen Child #2). Contest closes 7 pm EDT, September 9.

Desert Island Keepers is giving away an ebook copy of Katie Reus’ Deadly Obsession. Contest closes 7 pm PDT, September 9.

Smexy Books is giving away five different sets of new releases, in a variety of romance genres. Contest runs through September 10.

Bronwyn Green’s giving away winner’s choice of a print or ebook copy of RA Evans’ Asylum Lake. Contest closes 7 pm EDT, September 12.

MJ O’Shea and Piper Vaughn are giving away two ebook copies of MJ’s new book, A Little Bite of Magic (Little Magic #1). Contests close 9 pm PDT, September 12.

Joder’s giving away an ebook copy of Take Me Down by Lauren Hawkeye. Contest closes 11:59 pm, September 15.

Caught in a FAB Romance is giving away a signed copy of Lauren Dane’s Never Enough. Contest ends September 20.

To win your choice from Devon Rhodes’ backlist and you’re on Twitter or Facebook, guess the date by which she’ll get sick now that her kids are back in school.

Bookity

New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR, plus newsletter), Renee’s Book Addiction (a little of everything), and Book Lovers Inc (a little of everything).

Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

Carolyn Crane on “scarcity thinking” in writing.

All Hallows Read. (via Tor.com)

Man goes to jail because of overdue library books.

Make mini-accordion books.

Vintage typewriters. (Thanks, Bron!)

Bookbath! (via Caught in a FAB Romance)

Less napping, more reading.

Ebookity

Sixty-one percent of ebook readers in the US are female.

Add a solar panel to your ebook reader.

An American Editor on how the Agency 6 changed his book buying habits… and definitely not in the way they intended.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

The results of IBM’s 2011 Commuter Pain Study.

The summer of 2011 was the worst summer for movie theaters since 1997.

Malware prevention and cleanup for your PC.

An award-winning Swedish nature photographer turns out to have been using stock photos and photoshop…

Make a travel flashlight from a soda can and a cereal box.

Scientists still don’t understand female orgasm.

If canning looks to be the only way out of your CSA veggie overload, check out these five canning websites.

JP Morgan explains the Euro debt crisis using LEGOs.

Cookity

Make your own butterscotch Tastykakes. (via The Kitchn)

Twenty-three lemon desserts. (via The Kitchn)

Nutella-filled shortbread. (via The Kitchn)

Chocolate dipped cookie dough gelato sandwiches. (via The Kitchn)

Snickerdoodle pumpkin ice cream sandwiches. (via CRAFT)

Red velvet ice cream sandwiches. (via The Kitchn)

Easy fridge garlic dill pickles.

Shrimp pad thai. (via The Kitchn)

Pizza dip. (via The Kitchn)

Betty Crocker’s Outdoor Cookbook from 1961. (via CRAFT)

Blueberry rum smash.

Crafty

Crochet a Ms. Pac-Man amigurami. (via CRAFT)

Crochet a granny ripple pattern.

Knit zoetrope hat.

A knitted and crocheted garden! (Thanks, Jeanne!)

Knitting with glass.

Encrypted WWII cross stitch.

Crafty non-Wreck cakes.

Cool

Geyser right before it erupts.

Camera desk lamp.

Propane tank that looks like a giant LEGO head.

LEGO dragon.

LEGO kraken.

Disney princesses as Sith warriors.

A capella version of the Doctor Who theme song.

Formal TARDIS dress. (via The Mary Sue)

Dalek art car.

Linkity from Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog.

Cool or Wha…?

The Back to the Future shoes are now available from Nike.

Blunt umbrella.

A mixer with a hood ornament.

Boar’s head balaclava.

Those crazy Aussies drew a penis on a Google Street View camera…

Dumpsters as mobile urban mini parks.

Hipster Harry Potter characters.

Pink Dalek dress.

My Little Pony Ood. (via The Mary Sue)

Knitted BMW engine. (via KnittyBlog)

Wha…?

Google uses more power than Salt Lake City.

Bomb alarm clock.

Eleven foot tall iPod dock.

Dress your dog up like a dinosaur.

Ack! The risk of overused sperm from sperm banks…

LOL

Have you been to PassiveAggressiveNotes.com yet?

The Oatmeal’s recommended curriculum for high school seniors.

August 2011’s 15 funniest autocorrects.

Hmm. I wonder if I could get away with putting this up on my cubicle wall?

Evil shouldn’t smell like strawberries.

New Simon’s Cat!

Cat ideology.

Teh Cute

Kittens! Swan and cygnets! Kitten! Swan and cygnets! Cat and kitten! Muntjac and baby! Cat and kittens! Lion cubs! Young cheetahs! Lioness and cub! Tiny turtle! Fawn and fox kit! Painfully cute kitten! Young panda! Owlet! Fennec kit! Baby bat! Tiger and cub! Lion cub!

Reading Update
Lullaby for a Stolen Child (Stolen Child #2) by Anna Mayle. ebook short. Very good short m/m/m dark fantasy about a human stolen by the Fae as a child, the Redcap who took his place, and the golden Fae hunter who’s been entranced by him for years.
In Darkness Bound (The Society #1) by Christine Price. ebook. Very good m/m/m paranormal romantic suspense that I had to read after reading The Usual Apocalypse. And maybe I was more forgiving of its faults than I might’ve been if I’d read it first, but it totally sucked me in and worked for me.
Not Knowing Jack (Regularly Scheduled Life #2) by KA Mitchell. ebook. Very good m/m romance about Jack, a chef, and Tony, Jack’s younger bartender boyfriend. When Jack begins to act mysteriously, Tony realizes how very little he actually knows about Jack, even after living together for a year. This book had the potential to be a five-star read; however, I found the ending rushed and thus rather unsatisfying. (“Wait, where did the previous year go?!”)
Bullied by Jeff Erno. ebook collection. Very good, if somewhat heavy-handed, collection of short stories about gay teens being bullied in school. The stories are told primarily in first person, from a variety of perspectives: the student being bullied, the bully, the parent who’s been lying to herself about her open-mindedness. While the stories are painful and moving, the overall message is hopeful: things can get better, but not without help.
The Hunting Moon by Evelyn Shepherd. ebook. Good but inconsistent paranormal m/m romantic suspense about two cops, a powerful psychic and a werecoyote, on the Columbus Preternatural Task Force. As the werecoyote pursues the mutual attraction that the psychic denies, they’re also trying to solve a string of murders and capture a deranged stalker from the psychic’s past. Several things kept me from rating this book higher: an ongoing issue with word usage and substitution (“saddled” instead of “sidled” being the most memorable) and inconsistencies in the psychic’s powers (if he could lock and unlock doors with his mind, why couldn’t he get out of handcuffs?).
Ash Swan (Cob Brothers #1) by Amber Kell & Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance loosely based on the fairytale of the Six Swans. In the first installment of this series, the crown prince, who’s living on Earth for a few years before taking the throne, rescues a handsome bike courier who’d fallen into a pond while feeding ducks and geese in the park, then proceeds to get to know the courier better…
Hey, There’s Fur in My Wedding Cake (Lost Shifters #12.5) by Stephani Hecht. free ebook short. Good short paranormal romance about an exiled wolf shifter who returns to the pack that exiled in order to attend a wedding reception, where he meets a very intriguing feline shifter…
Change on the Fly (Blue Line Hockey #5) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Sweet m/m romance about an NHL player who sustains a career-ending injury and isn’t doing so well until his best friend from high school shows up at his door.
Swept Away (Beach Bums #2) by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who’s retreated to his beach house to try sorting out his thoughts after he drunkenly kissed a guy in a bar on a dare… and enjoyed the kiss so much, his fiancee ended their engagement after he told her about it.
In From the Cold by Mercy Celeste. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a sheriff’s deputy and a country singer who were each others’ firsts in high school, but who’ve taken different and equally self-destructive paths since then… and that doesn’t end when tragedy brings the singer back to their hometown. This book had a lot of unrealized potential, which was unfortunately overshadowed by somewhat choppy writing and the absolutely worst case of pronoun confusion I’ve ever encountered.
The Playwright (The Male Room #3) by Carolyn LeVine Topol. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a playwright whose writing partner and roommate signs him up for The Male Room online dating site, hoping to help him get over a broken heart years before. The insta-love was more insta-lovey than usual in the this one.

I got a new tattoo on Sunday. 🙂 This one first, so you can see where it’s located:

And a close-up, so you can see the bright green eyes!

(Please ignore the bruising…)

My other tattoo is located in the same spot on the back of my left arm.

“May and I have noticed that your new tattoo doesn’t look like us, but instead some freaky black cat. Any last words?” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity ah-choo!

May 20, 2011 Chris 23 Comments

Congrats to Lea W, who won Impossible to Resist by Em Woods and Keeping House by Lee Brazil!

Contests

Blodeuedd’s giving away two copies of The Legend of Michael by Lisa Renee Jones. Ends May 20. (US & Canada)

Bloeuedd’s also giving away two copies of Carolyn Brown’s Love Drunk Cowboy. Ends May 23. (US & Canada)

Bookity

New releases and more: Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), AAR (romance), Katiebabs (UF/PNR/romance), and Book Lovers Inc (UF/PNR/romance).

Book/publishing news and more: Dear Author and ReadReactReview.

If you like to read urban fantasy and you don’t know about Bordertown, catch up now (well, on May 24). I love how similar the book’s cover is to this photo that I posted a few years ago and thought looked like it belonged in the Borderland.

VacuousMinx on reading outside your comfort zone (and don’t miss the cool comic about how hard it can be to write romance!).

Paperback Writer highlights the free application Story Lite (Windows, Mac, Linux soon), which authors and editors might find useful.

Tam shares what she’s learned about herself from reading m/m romance.

Turn a vintage book into an expandex file.

Ruby slippers/Wicked Witch bookmark.

Sew a bookcase cover to help your books blend into your decor.

The Author Fan Letter Blog Crawl kicks off on June 1! I’m not participating this year – I’m pretty sure nothing will ever top my experience last year. I posted about Charles de Lint; his wife read my post and then she and Charles donated a signed special edition book for me to give away!

Ebookity

Eden Winters posted an epilogue to Settling the Score.

Ava March posted a free short story that takes place about seven months after Bound Forever.

Another waterproof case for Kindle or iPad, but this one allows you to use your headphones.

Kindle ebooks are outselling print books on Amazon.

Dear Author has an indepth look at the Amazon and Google Cloud Players, which aren’t making the music industry very happy.

An author writes of his experiences pirating and crowdsourcing his own out-of-print books.

Piracy puts a not-yet-released children’s book at the top of the Amazon bestseller list.

If you were a fan of the ElfQuest comics, they’re all available to read free online.

The New York Public Library has released a free iPad app that lets you browse their 1939-1940 World’s Fair materials.

Some self-publishing humor from Paperback Writer.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

Want to vacuum seal stuff without any specialized supplies or equipment? Try ziploc bags and a bike pump.

Thoughtful post from VacuousMinx called “Americans are not the only readers on the internet.“

Netflix streaming makes up more online traffic than piracy – I’d really think about this if I was one of the studios opting out of Netflix…

Sir Ian McKellen is visiting secondary schools in the UK, talking about gay equality.

Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. But why?

New experiences may slow down our perception of time.

Drinking a lot of coffee might reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancers.

Be careful about eating melatonin brownies…

Healthiest sleeping positions.

The Center for Disease Control let us know that they’ll have our backs in case of a zombie apocalypse…

It’s a bad year for allergies – maybe some of these things can help.

Flowchart on proper office coffee-making etiquette – perhaps you could post this near the coffemaker?

Cookity

Literal cup-cakes. (Thanks, CursingMama!)

Ladybug cupcakes! (Do not contain actual ladybugs.)

Cake shooters.

Converse sneakers cake. (via The Kitchn) (Does not contain actual sneakers.)

Dark chocolate-covered bacon turtles. (via The Kitchn)

Review of the new Gluten-Free Cupcakes cookbook.

Several mainstream companies are adding and discontinuing gluten-free products.

Homemade veggie chips.

Crafty

Knitted clock frame. (I might need to buy a clock for this project!)

Gnome socks! (Thanks, Juni!)

Embroidered growth chart.

Embroidery sample magnets.

Crocheted cup cozy.

LEGO necklace.

Cross-stitch stamped cards.

Cross-stitched Donkey Kong bookmark.

Who is this mystery knitter?! 😉

Cool

George Takei vs. Tennessee’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

Altoids tin mini garden.

Quote.

Linkity from MrsPao.

Amazing origami and dioramas.

Geeky plush kitties.

Interesting way to save wineglasses from the evils of the dishwasher – if enough preorders are placed to make the product a reality.

It looks like a painting, but it’s a photo.

Use office supplies to make an X-Wing Fighter!

Photo of Endeavour’s launch – make sure you read the first comment. 🙂

Cool or Wha…?

A computer mouse made out of felt?! (Prototype only.)

VW bus tent.

3000 new words were added to the official Scrabble dictionary, including “grrl”…

The Cosby Sweater Project.

Wha…?

Fair is fair: pejazzling has arrived.

Triple Double Oreos arrive this summer…

Creepy garment made from udon noodles…

Someone’s named a baby after the Facebook “Like” button…

LOL

Handy flowchart to help you determine if you will be raptured this weekend.

Whoops. Apparently the TSA at the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport forgot to notify the local police that it was running a bomb detection test…

Found a website that you think would look better with a piece of bacon? Like Google maybe? Here’s how to add bacon to any website. (Thanks, Jase!)

Beware of slippers that look like they want to devour your feet.

Promotional kitten basket!

Flying spider marmoset! (Thanks, Jase!)

How kittehs perceive themselves…

Teh Cute

Kitten! Pesky cheetah cub! Safe kittens! Fox kit! Kitten! Fox! Kitten! Polar bear and cubs! Kittens! Ferret! Cat and kitten! Tiger! Opossums! Kitten! Baby mongoose! Kitten! Baby platypus! Kittens! Tigers! Kitten! Baby ferret! Kitten! Lion cub! Baby fennec! Lemur and baby! Koala twins! Black cats and kittens!

Reading Update
Camwolf by JL Merrow. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a Cambridge fellow who becomes fascinated with one of the students – a student with secrets and a past darker and more painful than his own.
Lonewolf by JL Merrow. free ebook short. Good short m/m paranormal romance about Carl (who turned the main character from Camwolf into a werewolf) as he tries to find the man who turned him into a werewolf.
Riley’s Regret (Lost Shifters #11) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about Eagle shifter Riley, whose behavior has become increasingly unpredictable and erratic.
Heart in Hand (Warder #3) by Mary Calmes. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a hearth who’s in love with his warder, but doesn’t want to burden him and so hasn’t been completely open with him. And then it’s almost too late, as things take a nightmarish turn. This went way too quickly, but I didn’t want to put it down.
The Trouble With Angel by JM Cartwright. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a pro baseball player who suddenly has two kids to take care of, so he shanghais his agent’s assistant into helping him with the kids.
Back Home by RJ Scott. ebook. Very good m/m romance about an architect from Vermont who’s been living in London to avoid his brother’s boyfriend, even though his brother died two years ago. Then his dad gets sick and his sister begs him to come home to help salvage the family construction company…
Galaxy’s Heart (Sutter’s Bay #3) by Shawn Lane. ebook. Good m/m romance about an artist who moves to Sutter’s Bay with his traumatized brother, hoping it will be a good place for his brother to get better, and runs into someone from his past. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long for Leo’s book… 🙂
Language Lessons by Jay Bell. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about a promiscuous high school senior who doesn’t really understand what love is.
Trust in Me by Lori Toland. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who unexpectedly runs into the first guy he slept with, and it brings up all sorts of memories and issues for him. (I did get a titch frustrated by the Big Misunderstanding.)
Remember Me? by Lynn Lorenz. ebook. Very sweet (occasionally a bit too) m/m romance about a doctor who recognizes a nearly dead man in the ER as his first love from ten years ago.
Cover Art by Caroline Stephens. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about a brutally shy romance writer who has a crush on the cover model who’s on all his books.
Off the Page by Ryan Loveless. ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about a writer who finds himself writing his interactions with his roommate into his historical romance. I had one niggle about the actual sex scene, which lacked any sort of prep, lube, or condom.
Doing Love Right (Beach Duo #2) by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Good m/m romance about a wedding planner, recently dumped, who wakes up after a party to discover a strange man in bed with him… a strange man who know an awful lot about him. This would’ve been better without the near-purple prose during the sex scenes. (Eyre, there’s an orphan!)
Man Whore (Personal Demons #1) by Pia Veleno. ebook. This so-so paranormal m/m romance consisted of two storylines that took way too long to converge, giving the book an incoherent and disjointed feel. The first storyline was about an artist who slept with a different man or woman every night. The second storyline was about a bunch of demons who seemed to be up to no good.
Cum for Now, Stay Forever by P. Lee. ebook short. Meh short m/m paranormal about a guy staying at a beach house who has a hot encounter with a mysterious stranger. The euphemisms, they hurt me.

“What? Can’t a girl hang out in her toy basket without being disturbed?!” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity wants spring to arrive in Minnesota

April 15, 2011 Chris 28 Comments

Congrats to Nicole A, who won Snapshots & Bylines (Friends to Lovers #1) by Stephani Hecht! Snapshots & Bylines is being released by eXtasy Books today.

Congrats to elaing8, who won Boots by Angel Martinez!! Boots will be released by Amber Allure on April 17.

Contests

Caption the photo for your chance to win your choice of ebook from Devon Rhodes’s backlist!

Blodeuedd’s giving away two copies of What Would Mr. Darcy Do? by Abigail Reynolds. Contest closes April 18. (US & Canada)

Tracy’s giving away three copies of Inseparable by Brenda Jackson. Comment by 7 pm PDT, April 22, for your chance to win. (US & Canada)

If you’d like the chance to be flown to NYC to be part of the full-cast recording of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods audiobook, you’ll have to submit your entry by 5 pm EDT, May 5.

Bookity

New releases and more: Lily (m/m romance), Book Lovers Inc (romance/UF/etc), AAR (romance), and KB (romance/UF/etc).

Lots of good stuff this week in Dear Author’s book and publishing news.

Have you read the cyberpunk classic Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson? It’s pretty amazing how well he did predicting the future. (Every time I think of that book, “Poor Impulse Control” runs through my mind…)

Some scifi authors and their kitties.

Josh Lanyon weighs in on reviews, reviewers, and authors. So does PD Singer.

Jenre contemplates the marriage of convenience in m/m romance.

Kassa wonders “is kinky the new black?” in m/m romance.

So what exactly is happening with chain bookstores?

Will libraries disappear?

How are you celebrating National Library Week? Some library humor (rest of site is NSFW).

Probably just as well this tiny typewriter doesn’t actually work.

Make your own concrete bookends.

Curious about the creative process of writing? Check out this humorous graphic! (Thanks, Juni!)

Very funny slideshow about why meditation doesn’t work for writers.

Ebookity

Kansas libraries discover an expensive downside to licensing rather than owning content…

Kindlefolk might want to check out eReaderIQ, a database of discounted and free Kindle books on Amazon.

Ten budget ebook readers, including the Kindle with Special Offers.

Do, Think, Make, Learn

Today is the National Day of Silence aimed at raising awareness of anti-GLBT name calling and harassment. (Post is SFW, but be aware that rest of blog is NSFW.)

In what seems like a bad precedent, Congress removed the Rocky Mountain wolf from the Endangered Species List.

Lovely – some povidone iodine pads are being recalled because they may be contaminated with invasive meningitis.

Physicists have built a desktop model of the Big Bang.

Photos of Japan, one month after the quake. (via Gizmodo)

If you’re curious what using a standing desk is like before changing things around, this trick might help you get the feel for it.

Make your own map book using Google Maps. (This actually has gift potential.)

What do lucky people do differently than unlucky people? (This is actually pretty much what I do!)

Cookity

The six best gluten-free sandwich breads.

Coffee vs. tea infographic.

Red velvet strawberry shortcake.

Red velvet crepes.

Homemade strawberry-Nutella pop tarts.

Crafty

Use old negatives to make a really cool lamp.

Old knitting needles can give a clock a retro look.

Crochet some spring bunnies.

Or… crochet an entire Viking costume, if you’re feeling more ambitious.

Some fun crafty (and more) linkity from MrsPao.

Crafty take on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album cover.

Cool

An animated short film set to Tim Minchin’s beat poem, Storm. (Thanks, Jase!)

Gorgeous origami animals.

Brazil just broke Chile’s record (set six months ago) for tallest LEGO tower.

Watch the slideshow to see some of the inventions that have come out of MIT (which turned 150 last weekend!).

Cool or Wha….?

You can donate toward building a fully operational AT-AT (from Star Wars).

Photos taken with 50-year old film.

Edible shoe.

Wha…?

Octopus chair… (Thanks, PD Singer!)

Sears sues company that makes sex-enhancement spray…

Jeans boxer briefs.

Skeery ventriloquist dummies…

Bacon bazooka.

Inflatable movie extras?!

Tiger riding in a Range Rover…

LOL

This epic m/m romance tale of two Girl Scout cookies is very NSFW.

This is our spring weather, too! (Thanks, Amy Lane!)

xkcd for the hardcore geeks (make sure you hover your mouse pointer over the comic for additional text!). (Thanks, trek!)

Pain rating, xkcd style (again with the mouse pointer hovering).

As Consumerist writes, “It was inevitable that these two businesses would someday end up next to each other.”

Stop playing with it!

Feline reassignment surgery…

Some Lord of the Rings humor…

Your brain after you’ve watched a Harry Potter movie. (Rest of site is very NSFW)

I find the “blackout” spots very funny.

Wait, Basement Cat is the good cop?!

Teh Cute

A cat begging for pets from a…dolphin?! 🙂

Kitten! Fennec and kitty! Fennec bouquet! Bean and kitten! Baby flamingo! Kittens! Tiny tortoise! Kitten! Baby fennec! Kittens! Cow and calf! Cat and kitten! Red panda! Kitten! Kid! Baby leopard!

Reading Update
Hard Fall by James Buchanan. ebook. Excellent kinky m/m romantic suspense about a deeply closeted Mormon sheriff’s deputy in Utah who needs the help of a handsome young climber to retrieve a body.
The Salisbury Key by Harper Fox. ebook. Excellent m/m romantic suspense about an archeologist who abruptly loses his partner without warning or explanation and isn’t doing so well. I spent a bit of the first half of the book sniffling and blotting my eyes and wondering how this could possibly be romantic suspense!
Driftwood by Harper Fox. ebook. Excellent m/m romantic suspense about a former British Army doctor who hides out in a crumbling tower on the coast of Cornwall, alternately working at the village clinic and binge drinking. He rescues a handsome surfer caught in the undertow, with no clue what the consequences will be…
Paris A to Z (Code #6) by Marie Sexton. ebook. Very good m/m romance in which the four guys from Coda, Colorado, are on their way to Paris for Cole and Jonathan’s wedding. What could possibly go wrong?! 🙂
The Charlie Factor by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a former firefighter slowly recovering after nearly dying in a murderous fire. He’s befriended by a straight guy who finds himself developing very confusing feelings for his new friend.
Ethan’s Freedom (Portals #1) by Jade Archer. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a cat shifter, raised with his twin brother to be pleasure slaves to a mage, who manages to escape his world and find his way to Earth, through the cat door and into the home of a very surprised nurse.
Devon’s Revenge (Portals #2) by Jade Archer. ebook. Very good m/m paranormal romance about Ethan’s cat shifter brother who’s out on the streets, trying (not very successfully) to fend for himself and feeling vengeful toward Ethan for ruining their cushy, sheltered lives as pleasure slaves.
The Alpha’s Pet by Louise Gough. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about an omega werewolf who becomes mutually fascinated by the alpha’s latest bed pet and is subsequently inspired to change his status in the pack.
Binding the Wolf by Kay Derwydd. ebook short. Meh kinky short m/m paranormal romance about a couple who’ve been together for six years when one tells the other that he’s not exactly human… Waiting for six years into the relationship to share that and another revelation made absolutely no sense. Add to that the way the story jumped around abruptly and it just didn’t work.

“Wherefore art thou, stripey socks?!” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity: The one with the tiara (oh, come on, you had to see this coming)

March 11, 2011 Chris 35 Comments

Congrats to LoriO, who won Memories by Valentina Heart! Memories will be released by Silver Publishing on March 12.

Daylight Savings Time starts on Sunday, March 13, at 2 am. All contest end times will be adjusted accordingly! (aka whoops…)

Contests

Patti’s giving away two ebook copies of the Hanaford Park series (Eve of Samhain and Pleasures Untold) by Lisa Sanchez. Contest closes midnight CST, March 12.

Nicole’s giving away a book (winner’s choice from Nicole’s list) and handcrafted cards. Answer her questions in a comment by the evening of March 14.

Blodeuedd’s giving away two ebook copies of the paranormal anthology Kiss Me, Kill Me. Contest closes March 15.

Book Lovers Inc is giving away a copy of Icebreaker by Deirdre Martin. Leave a meaningful comment about the interview with Deirdre by March 26 for your chance to win. (US & Canada only)

Bookity

New releases and more: Lily (m/m romance), Book Lovers Inc (romances & more), Katiebabs (romances & more), and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR; news, contests, etc).

Elisa Rolle’s looking for reader judges for the 2011 Rainbow Awards.

Heidi Cullinan on her writing process.

Josh Lanyon with the first of (several? at least two?) posts on editing.

Kassa wonders why rating books at three stars (out of five) is seen as being a tough reviewer.

Jackie of Literary Escapism is curious whether people prefer reviews of freshly released books or older books. (I like a mixture of both.)

Make some really cute bowtie paperclip bookmarks.

Sassy Gay Friend meets Great Expectations (link is to a video). (Thanks, Jase!)

Some kitty and book humor. (Thanks, Jase!)

If you find business books too dry to bother with, maybe you need to check out the comic book versions.

Ebookity

You can download Details of the Hunt by Laura Baumbach (m/m, scifi), L.A. Boneyard by P.A. Brown (m/m, mystery), and The Hitch-Hiker by Stevie Woods (m/m, romantic suspense) for free through March 12. The download links are to the right of the Read an Ebook Week banner.

Tam has a great round up of the various Read an Ebook Week m/m deals.

Some observations on ebook pricing.

Do publisher pricing and quality issues make piracy more attractive?

Very interesting post at Jessewave about ebook prices and lengths.

Think, Learn, Make, Do

Lifehacker on how to stay focused.

I’d never considered the physics of pruney fingers before.

The Smithsonian discovered 3-D color photos of San Francisco taken after the 1906 earthquake.

De-clutter your Google search results by adding a comma to the end of your search term.

Disney’s CEO thinks that people are buying fewer DVDs simply because they’re too busy.

People who have celiac are more likely to develop asthma, and people who have asthma are more likely to develop celiac.

Try some cognitive therapy on internet trolls.

Some of the things that your health insurer isn’t telling you.

Miss typing on a typewriter? Have an old typewriter? With a little work, you can add USB to it and plug it into your computer.

Crafty

Sew yourself a knitting needle roll.

Make dinosaur tails for your kids to wear.

Cool tesselations cross stitch pattern.

Knit a LEGO brick doorstop!

Knit Ferrari.

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.

Cookity

How to make rainbow pudding.

Ninjabread men. (via The Kitchn).

LEGO cookies.

“Smores”trooper cupcakes. (via The Kitchn)

Make yourself an orange mocha Frappuccino from Zoolander.

Assorted red velvet cake links, including a felt red velvet cake and red velvet cheesecake cake.

Nutella meringues.

Make your own Pop-Tarts.

Cooking with gluten-free beer.

Cool

Fun kitty and book linkity from mrspao – don’t miss the cat library or the video about kitties having thumbs. (Trivia: Chaos has abnormally flexible dewclaws, which I’m pretty sure are proto-thumbs…)

Photos of animals taken by automated cameras.

Comic book photo frame.

Star Wars and snow.

Camera pencil sharpener.

Up-inspired balloon house.

TARDIS bag.

Surreality from Google Earth Images.

Pirate bedroom!

Aquarium phone booth.

A digital camera shaped like a cat – too bad it’s so expensive.

A Minnesota man built an ice castle larger than his house.

Wha…?

I have no idea where to put this one: When a semi carrying 8000 gallons of printer ink flipped over in Massachusetts, it resulted in the most colorful crash ever.

Will there be a market for compact fluorescents shaped like brains?

Life-size Play-Doh SUV?!

The gallery of alarming cereal boxes…

You might make better decisions if you wait until you really have to pee to decide?!?

An automatic tattoo machine that randomly chooses a tattoo for you…

The Flaming Lips are releasing their next three songs on a USB stick that will be inside a life-size gummi candy skull…

Ewww – a human-shaped phone that feels like skin?!

LOL
Hmm. Apparently I didn’t find things very funny this week.

Kitties and the Magnetic Fields! (link is to a video)

Funny warning labels.

Yoda kitten!

Black cats aren’t really evil…

Woe!

Teh Cute

Pandas! Baby otter and goat! Kitten! Baby pandas! Lion cubs! Lamb! Kitten! Lion! Kitten! Baby otters! Kitten! Lions! Tiger and bear! Sloth! Fox! Kittens! Bunny!

Reading Update
Bound Forever (Bound #3) by Ava March. ebook. Very good kinky historical m/m romance in which Vincent and Oliver need to work out some issues of trust and respect if they hope to have a future together.
The Duty of a Beta (Pack Discipline #3) by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good kinky paranormal m/m romance about a beta wolf who was brought into the pack to be mated to a troublemaking gamma, but who finds himself drawn to the omega…
With Love (With or Without, Book 1) by J.L. Langley. ebook short. reread. Well done m/m paranormal romance about werewolves, set in North Carolina. (It doesn’t feel like it fits as part of the series, however.)
Without Reservations (With or Without, Book 2) by J.L. Langley. ebook. reread. Very good m/m paranormal werewolf romance about a straight vet (and werewolf) who realizes that the injured male wolf brought in to his office is actually a werewolf… and his mate.
With Caution (With or Without, Book 3) by J.L. Langley. ebook. reread. Very good kinky paranormal m/m romance about a guy who was recently transformed into a werewolf to save his life. He’s a little freaked out to discover that he has a mate and his mate is male, but is absolutely terrified that his homophobic, abusive father will find out and hurt his younger brother (who still lives at home) as a result.
A Sterling New Year (With or Without, Book 3.1) by J.L. Langley. free ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance in which Sterling shows up with a friend at Rhys’s door just after the New Year starts.
A Lot To Be Thankful For (With or Without, Book 3.2) by J.L. Langlely. free ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance about Rhys arriving home from work the evening before Thanksgiving to discover Sterling waiting.
Not My Wolf (Fenrir Wolves, Book 1) by Eden Cole. ebook short. Blame it on Tam’s review at Brief Encounters. 🙂 Good short paranormal m/m romance about a straight alpha werewolf who’s been dreaming that he’ll meet his mate soon, but isÂ so not prepared for his mate to be male.
Treasured by Cari Z. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a grad student in magic who works at a museum and is surprised to be wooed by a mysterious shifter he runs into at the museum.
My True Love Sent to Me (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 4.5) by Charlie Cochrane. free ebook short. Good short holiday m/m romance about Jonty feeling taken for granted and Orlando realizing Jonty’s right.
Lessons in Seduction (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 6) by Charlie Cochrane. ebook. Very good historical m/m mystery/romance, in which Orlando, Jonty, and Jonty’s father look into the death of the king’s former mistress.
Lessons in Trust (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 7) by Charlie Cochrane. ebook. Very good historical m/m mystery/romance, in which Orlando discovers that most of what he believed about his family isn’t true – a discovery that leaves him feeling very lost.
Once We Won Matches (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 7.5) by Charlie Cochrane. free ebook short. Good, albeit brief, historical m/m mystery that takes place behind-the-scenes at a cricket match between England and Australia.
All Lessons Learned (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 8 ) by Charlie Cochrane. ebook. Excellent historical m/m mystery/romance that takes place ten years after the seventh book, after the Great War. I cried quite a bit during this one, which I’m pretty sure is the last book. But rest assured that there’s a happy ending, copious tears notwithstanding.
Between the Pipes (Blue Line Hockey #2) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Good m/m romance about another of the battling hockey brothers of Battle Creek. He doesn’t want to date a cop because of a dark family secret or two, but he just can’t help himself. I wanted this to be a bit longer, because an awful lot of things were included for a story of this length.
Ivory by J. Rocci. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about an oncologist who’s been trying to be the person his family expects him to be, even though it’s killing him.
Beneath the Shield by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Good m/m romance about a cop, filled with self-loathing for the one he couldn’t save, who doesn’t get involved with anyone and stays beneath his emotional shield. Then a guy gets pushed into him at a club… could that be the first crack in the shield? (Although a guy punching himself in the groin hard enough to drop himself to the floor seemed damned unlikely to me, no matter how much self-loathing was involved.)
Acquired Taste (Icing on the Cake #2) by Shayla Kersten. free ebook short. Good short kinky m/m scene that takes place about three months after Icing on the Cake, when things aren’t looking so good for Ollie and Jeff.
Driving Me Crazy by L.M. Brown. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a guy who keeps failing his driving test so that he can keep spending time with his driving instructor.
A Good Bargain by D.C. Juris. ebook short. Ok short m/m encounter between a man (who hasn’t been with another man in nearly 20 years) and a much younger guy.

“Smells… pink. And feathery. And sparkly!” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity means that I can happily overindulge in exclamation points!!

February 18, 2011 Chris 33 Comments

Contests

Jackie at Literary Escapism is celebrating her blogiversary by giving away some very cool PNR/UF prize packs. Contest open until February 26.Â (Make sure you check back to see if you’ve won.)

Patti’s giving away three m/m books as part of her M/M Romance Month celebration: College Boys (anthology), Inland Empire (Taking the Odds #2) by James Buchanan, and Love & Loyalty (Faith, Love & Devotion #2) by Tere Michaels. Contest ends February 28.

Bookity

New releases and more: Lily (m/m romance), Book Lovers Inc (PNR, UF, more), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), and Smexy Books (various sorts of romance).

The news that Borders filed for bankruptcy spurred all sorts of commentary: Smart Bitches, Dear Author, and An American Editor.

Bookity linkity from ReadReactReview.

Kris shared a great quote that reminded her of the reviews/reviewers brouhaha recently.

Kassa wondered whether reviews were professional and got some great discussion going.

A very cool literacy project: The Ministry of Stories (via The Kitchn).

An artist turns old books into art via 3-D typography. (Not for those sensitive to book maiming.)

Ebookity

Head over to Kris’n’Good Books to pick up Ally Blue’s unforgettable free paranormal m/m romance, Dead Men Don’t Wash. Um, you might have me to blame for the corpse soap…

The excellent paranormal m/m romance Without Reservations (With or Without #2) by J.L. Langley is currently free for Kindle and Nook.

Fifty Kindle cases that you can make for yourself.

Some thoughts from An American Editor on citing sources from the internet and ebooks.

Apparently, Borders going bankrupt does not affect Kobo customers or books purchased through Borders.com.

Are you ready for Read an Ebook Week, which is March 6-12?

Do, Learn, Think, Make

Global map of alcohol consumption. (Thanks, CursingMama!)

If red wine or chardonnay usually gives you headaches or migraines, a new yeast could mean you can drink them again (via The Kitchn).

Is there a giant planet hidden in our solar system?

How good is the internet connectivity in your area? (US only)

Easy ways to keep your online life secure.

Improve your memory by tapping into your spatial memory sense. (I’m having a flashback to Aristotle here…)

Sleep can help you commit things to long-term memory. (I figured that out in college – no all-night studying sessions for me!)

Keep zinc lozenges on hand if you’re prone to catching colds.

Have scientists accidentally discovered the cure for baldness?

If your young’un plays with your iPhone, maybe you need to get a Fisher-Price case for it.

Crafty

Knit headphone cozies. (Although I only seem to know people with earbuds… hmm.)

Knit a flying pig!

Knit tiny hearts!

Check out Kristi’s free Infinite Scrunch scarf pattern.

Crochet an amiurumi doll for the Chinese New Year.

Willie Nelson yarn bomb!

Giant ball of yarn!

Giant knitted squid!

Make a cross stitch initial mug.

Love this basket woven from paper – the sample is woven from old maps.

Cool

Make heart-shaped hard-boiled eggs (via The Kitchn).

Seanna Lea put together a simple and delicious looking gluten-free ice cream cake recipe.

Smoke monster!

Huh

I bet you’re all going to make cookie-stuffed cookies for dinner tonight (via The Kitchn). 😉

Can’t decide if this is cool or huh, but a guy took pictures of everything he ate for a year.

Double-barreled marshmallow rifle?!

Knitted engagement ring?!

I’ll pass on the giant toasted snacking ants, thanks….

Bacon toothpaste?! (Thanks, Jeanne!)

A jacket with a built-in sleeping bag and tent?

LOL

This might be my favorite Valentine’s comic ever. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

Although this knitting-themed Valentine’s comic from Franklin is pretty great, too.

The Oatmeal on Valentine’s.

A flowchart to help you decide whether or not you should shave your legs. (Thanks, Jeanne!)

A flowchart to help you figure out why your text hasn’t been responded to.

Are you the insomniac they’re looking for?

Secks FAIL.

The Blogess talks about penises at the post office…

Nevermore.

When May did something similar, she fell onto my head. Eeep!

You’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t) how often this happens around here… 😉

And probably surprised that this never happens around here.

What is the circumference of a lolcat?

Teh Cute

Baby albino sugar glider! Black kittens! Baby polar bear! Ducklings! Pudu! Kittens! Foxes! Kittens! Ferrets! Kitten! Black kitten! Tiger cub!

Reading Update
My Summer of Wes by Missy Welsh. ebook. Really sweet story about figuring out what you want, coming out, first love, and dealing with bullies. (Although I don’t like this cover at all…)
Lessons in Love (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 1) by Charlie Cochrane. ebook. Very good historical m/m mystery/romance set at a small Cambridge college in the early 20th century. The newest English fellow at the college starts to get under the skin of a repressed mathematics fellow… and then they find themselves working together to help the police try to figure out who is murdering students.
Lessons in Desire (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 2) by Charlie Cochrane. ebook. Very good historical m/m mystery/romance in which Jonty drags Orlando off to Jersey for the first holiday Orlando’s ever taken.
Lessons in Discovery (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 3) by Charlie Cochrane. ebook. Very good historical m/m romance/mystery – influenza and amnesia and a centuries-old murder, oh my!
The Back Passage (Mitch Mitchell Mysteries, Book 1) by James Lear. Delightfully raunchy m/m mystery in the best 1920s English country house style. Protagonist Edward “Mitch” Mitchell manages to be endearing as he attempts to solve the mystery… when he’s not distracted by sex.
Hot in Here (Time To Do, Book 2) by Kim Dare. free ebook short. Steamy short m/m interlude that takes place as Brennan and Rigby move into a flat together after graduating from university.
A Thread of Deepest Black by Finn Marlowe. ebook. Very good kinky paranormal m/m romance about a werewolf and a shifter who become involved with each other in a very complicated fashion, even though their people are mortal enemies. Some pacing issues in the first half of the story prevented me from rating this higher.
Dead Men Don’t Wash by Ally Blue. free ebook short. Completely insane (and fun!) short paranormal m/m romance about an octopus shifter and his soap thief lover.
Oscar’s Soul by Missy Welsh. free ebook short. Wickedly funny free short paranormal m/m romance about the devil collecting a soul and realizing he’s fallen in love.
Dinner and a Movie by Alex Marcus-Jacobs. free ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about a straight guy who’s more than little surprised that the blind date his coworker set him up on is with a guy.
The Queen of Wands by Jenna Jones. ebook short. Good short May-December m/m romance about a guy who’s spent the last 15+ years working as the behind-the-scenes problem fixer for his vast family, atoning for a night he can’t quite remember – the night his best friend drowned. The ending felt a bit too quick and tidy for me.
Whatever It Costs (Whatever You Want, Book 2) by Taylor Lochland. ebook short. Ok short holiday m/m romance about a guy who loses his job, which makes it seem impossible that he’ll be able to afford to take his boyfriend to Ireland for Christmas so his boyfriend can see his grandfather before he dies.
Keeping Secrets by L.D. Madison. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about an injured police officer who won’t take off his shirt and reveal his dark secret.
A Fated Love by Diana DeRicci. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a guy whose vintage car is damaged in a hit-and-run. Fortunately, an attractive stranger was able to snap a few pictures of the accident… I think I would’ve liked this one a bit better if it hadn’t been for all the unclear pronoun references and ongoing editing/writing oddities.
Raising Seth (First Time, Book 1) by Eden Cole. ebook short. So-so short m/m romance about a straight guy whose foster sister dumps her 18-year old ex-stepson on him for a month…
Lemon Kisses: A Yaoi Anthology edited by Augusta Li; A. Steele, Eon de Beaumont, Imari Jade, & B.J. Franklin. ebook collection. So-so collection of yaoi-inspired short stories.

“Oooooooh, shiny!” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Long ago, in a linkity land…

January 28, 2011 Chris 29 Comments

Contests

Cecile’s giving away an ebook copy of Strange Familiar by Cassidy Hunter. Contest closes January 29.

Tracy’s giving away a copy of books 10 and 11 in the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr. Contest closes 11:49 PST, January 31.

Larissa’s giving away a signed copy of Catch Me If You Can (Romano & Albright, Book 1) by L.B. Gregg. Contest closes February 4.

Blodeudd’s giving away two copies of Yours for the Taking by Robyn Kaye. Contest closes Feb 3. Patti’s also giving away two copies of Yours for the Taking and her contest closes February 4. (US & Canada)

Juniper Moon Farm is holding a fundraiser to help a Vermont organic vegetable farmer who basically lost his entire business to a barn fire. There are many, many fibery prizes to help encourage people to donate! Donations will be accepted until February 6. (Thanks, Seanna!)

Bookity

New releases and more: Tor.com (YA paranormal; UF/PNR; fantasy; scifi), Katiebabs (books she’s looking forward to), and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR).

Via Dear Author, a post from Ursula LeGuin mocking the new morality clause HarperCollins has added to its author contracts. Definitely read the comments on the post!

Neil Gaiman on seeing words he wrote in an unexpected place.

Eric Arvin shares some writing wisdom.

Ten websites Paperback Writer would love to see on the internet.

Paperback Writer would also like a checklist for returning ideas to her muse.

Ebookity

Trying to get pdfs to fit on your ereader’s screen better? Briss might help.

Ebooks are now outselling paper books at Amazon.

Tired of your Kindle? Microcosm Publishing will trade you paper books and magazines for it.

Publishers need to decide whether they’re selling ebooks (providing full ownership rights for the purchase price) or providing a rental (at rental prices). Another, longer opinion piece on the same topic. Dear Author weighs in, too.

The first all-indie ebookstore in Australia is called SPUNC. *ahem*

Make, Think, Do, Learn

Writing helps you learn better than typing does.

If you need help visualizing how big the internet is…

How to modify your google searches to give you better results.

Do you need a mouse that works on your couch?

Eighty percent of US divorce lawyers say that social media is now mentioned by their clients as one of the reasons the marriage failed.

Use an old gift card as a headphone cable wrapper.

ModernCat’s odor elimination survival guide could come in handy.

How to determine the cost of clutter.

Check out The Kitchn’s tips for removing baked-on food from pots and pans.

Make some spicy dark hot chocolate to drink!

McGyver would be proud of you for modifying a hand-crank flashlight with a usb port so you can manually charge your tech gear.

Try a 15-minute no-equipment workout developed in 1904! Or you could use Craigslist to put together a home gym.

Cool

Jase and Juni started a blog called Happiness Is Shy! (NSFW)

Last week, The Kitchn blog focused on gluten-free foods and concerns. Recommended! (Thanks, Jodi!)

Tape art – way better than you expect.

ThinkGeek has a Molecular Cuisine Starter Kit.

A 1:35200 scale toy train set is very, very small.

Maybe a child you know needs a homemade TARDIS.

Geek jewelry links from EPBOT.

Extemely geeky tote bag.

Turn a soda can into an embossed box.

These yarn words are pretty nifty.

I have a very similar fabric keychain that I love.

Kristi’s got crafty, photography, and food linkity.

Print free US Patent Valentine’s cards.

Amazingly, this fun short action film (Lazy Teenage Superheroes) was made for $300.

Gorgeous animated short film about a little girl on a carousel.

Huh

You can’t even take a three-inch toy gun through airport security…

Using bombs for snow removal instead of shoveling – not recommended.

I hope that this isn’t really what Lady Gaga’s forthcoming fragrance will smell like.

Now you can buy frozen pizza and frozen cookies in a single handy package.

The L cup bra size just debuted.

T-shirt fail.

Air pollution monitoring t-shirt…

MeatWater. Just say no.

LOL

I’m a fast listener, too. (Thanks, CursingMama!)

Bronwyn Green on dropping off her son at a birthday party with an apology… and more.

Fun video mashup of the Minnesota-Wisconsin December 2010 blizzard, including a cute song.

Toni Andrews on how to excavate a buried car “using only a small hand shovel and your own wits”.

Guillotine by Gillette.

Infographic humor.

The Oatmeal’s State of the Web, Winter 2010 edition.

Bottled water addicts should skip this link.

Not kitty treats!

Kitty law #1?

I’ll pass on the skwerls, but the rest sounds good to me.

I’m sure many kitty boys have this same question.

Yeah, I can picture Chaos saying that.

Teh Cute

Kitten pile! Baby flying squirrel! Kitten! Baby polar bear! Red panda! Wee hedgehog! Bunny! Panda! Fennec fox! Baby skunk! Kitten and bunnies! Red panda! Lynx kittens!

Reading Update
The Tourist by Clare London. ebook. Excellent paranormal m/m romance told from the perspective of a tourist, a spirit who can head hop, albeit with limited control. Usually he just stays for the sex and then moves on… but something’s different for him this time. This totally sucked me in and I couldn’t go to bed until I finished it. To be released 2/28.
Another Enchanted April by Eric Arvin. ebook. Excellent and cleverly written m/m romance about three friends on vacation in a seaside town, staying at an Italianate villa with intoxicatingly lovely gardens. Each of them will be profoundly changed… but not necessarily in the ways they expected. (And I may have gotten sniffly whilst reading this. I can neither confirm nor deny.)
A Strong Hand by Catt Ford. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a famous photographer of erotica who’s shooting a catalog of high-end sex toys when he begins to realize he’s attracted to his assistant after his assistant models for the shoot.
Ruby Slippers by Alexi Silversmith. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a police detective who thinks that men shouldn’t wear makeup or do anything feminine, so when he finds out what his boyfriend does for a living, things get ugly. I enjoyed the chance to see James and Ethan from What They Say About Love as secondary characters.
Boystown: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Very good collection of three m/m mysteries featuring Chicago PI Nick Nowak. Set in 1980 before AIDS devastated the gay community, these gritty stories reminded me of Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski mysteries, only with a lot more sex. 🙂
Boystown 2: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Another very good collection of three mysteries featuring Chicago PI Nick Nowak. I really, really hope that the author is busily working on Boystown 3, because the final story ended on a surprising (but sadly realistic) dark note.
Out on the Net by Rick R. Reed. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a guy who finally accepts that he’s gay 20 minutes before he’s supposed to get married to a woman. The story is told via his blog as he tries to figure out being gay and meeting guys in his small town.
Bloodlines by Jessica Lee. ebook. Very good (and smokin’ hot) paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shapeshifter, supposed to be the next alpha of his pack, who’s kicked out of his pack when his father discovers he’s gay.
Red Hot by Kate Roman. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a straight guy who breaks up with his girlfriend because he can’t stop thinking about his male roommate.
Brush with Desire by Chrissy Munder. ebook short. Very good steamy m/m short that starts with an exhausted IT guy drooling over a hot man in a suit he sees in the grocery store and ends with a smoking hot (and humorous!) encounter between them.
Hearts and Flowers by Chrissy Munder. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about an accountant, a found puppy, classified ads, and quite a bit more. While I enjoyed the story, I felt there was just too much going on for the story’s length.
Driven to Distraction by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox. ebook. Good m/m romance about a professor who inherited his grandfather’s collection of classic cars. When he damages one of the cars, he has the chance to get to know his mechanic much, much better…
Possession (Devlin Island, Book 1) by S.W. Vaughn. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about an unfortunate vacationer who runs aground on Devlin Island with the worst possible timing, then meets a crabby male witch trying to figure out if there’s a demon loose on the island.
Where He Belongs by D.C. Juris. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m/m romance about a sub who left his two masters and now has to try to convince them to take him back.
Sandpipers’ Secrets (Sandpipers, Book 1) by Jade Archer. ebook. Good m/m/m romance about a guy who desperately needs a job to keep he and his brother off the streets and so is happy to get a kitchen job at Sandpipers, despite the attraction he feels to the couple who own the restaurant.
Xavier’s Way by Diana DeRicci. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who realizes that his now ex-fiance was siphoning money out of his business. But what are these strange feelings he has for the handsome auditor he’s hired to gather evidence of his ex’s wrongdoing?
A Measure of Discipline by Diane Adams. ebook short. Ok m/m short about a guy who’s leaving his university number crunching job and needs to train two student workers to take his place. I haven’t read the two previous stories and, alas, this was just confusing as a standalone.
Best Man by Shelley Munro. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about two closeted rugby players and teammates, neither of whom knows the other is gay, who’ve been lusting after each other.
Work of Art by Rob Knight. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a neurotic artist and a guy who manages musicians. This was basically just a little slice of their life together and I couldn’t really see a point to it.
Tryst by Stone Richards. ebook. Meh m/m romance about a PI who gets sent to London to investigate a prominent businessman for a company considering a deal with the man. The whole thing was so implausible…

“Ok, you’re right, your phone doesn’t have a flash…” -Chaos

“…But the big kitty and I think you need to stop taking pictures of us anyway, flash or not.” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Should auld lang linkity be forgot…

December 30, 2010 Chris 34 Comments

Yup, linkity’s on Thursday because there won’t be a post on Friday this week. Happy New Year to all of you!

Congrats to Tj, who won The Stroke of Twelve (Perfect Timing, Book 6) by Kim Dare! The Stroke of Twelve will be released by Total-E-Bound on January 3, 2011.

Congrats to Susmita, who won Offside Pass by Stephani Hecht! Offside Pass is the first book in Stephaniâ€™s new hockey series and will be released by eXtasy Books on January 1, 2011.

Contest

Tracy’s giving away a pdf copy of Karen Mercury’s m/m/f Western historical romance, Working the Lode, to someone who comments by 11:59 pm (PST), January 4.

Bookity

New releases and more: Elisa (GLBT); SciFiGuy (UF/PNR, YA); Tor.com (UF/PNR, fantasy, scifi); and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR).

Book linkity from Dear Author and ReadReactReview.

Does the Library Journal article that listed some m/m romances to get libraries started on an m/m romance collection mean that the genre is gaining mainstream acceptance?

Sign ups are now open for the 2011 M/M Romance Challenge.

An American Editor wonders if Amazon has too much power.

Aw, a lamp for your nightstand that’s shaped like a little house and your book becomes the house’s roof when you’re done reading for the night. Not quite so cute if you’re reading an ebook. 🙂

Ebookity

The state of ebooks at the end of 2010. Some ebook publishing predictions for 2011 from Smashwords. The Electronic Frontier Foundation reviews its predictions from the beginning of 2010.

Ebook readers are putting classics on best-selling (free) ebook lists.

How to use your new ebook reader or iPad.Â Helpful tips for new Kindle owners.

How to do more with your Kindle.

Make your own inexpensive iPad or ebook reader stand.

Think, Do, Learn, Make

Gluten-free cookie recipes.

Amazing bee facts! (Thanks, Jase!)

Build a magnet-free compass from Legos.

Two no-sew techniques for inserting a zipper into knitwear.

Dealing with the compulsively neat person in your life.

Turn the Christmas cards you received this year into Christmas postcards you can send next year.

Some ideas for keeping the holiday spirit alive throughout the year.

If you got a new gadget for Christmas, check out Gizmodo’s handy setup guides.

You might be able to get rid of your texting plan by using one of these eight applications.

Why one Gizmodo writer ditched iTunes for mp3s from Amazon.

Idling your car for longer than 30 seconds isn’t a good thing.

Are gift cards good gifts? Some tips on how not to waste gift cards.

An infographic on the personal economics behind holiday gift giving.

Is it better to “self insure” your pets than to buy pet insurance?

Even if you know you’re getting a placebo, it can still work.

Ack! The Nintendo 3DS can actually mess up kids’ eyes! 🙁

Best Of

Craft 2010: Knitting & Crochet

Craft 2010: Geek Crafts

Doctor Who crafting

Belated Gift Idea

Recreate your classic family photos.

Cool

Fallingwater… in gingerbread.

A rainbow making machine.

A coffee table that splits in half to reveal storage.

Amazing photo of running horses.

Twenty hours of blizzard compressed into 38 seconds.

Turn your crappy old kitchen cupboards into chalkboards.

A Clockwork Orange Chucks!

Nothing says geek quite like percentile dice hanging from your rearview mirror…

Cheryl continues to outfit her Barbies in high style. (The kitty is my favorite addition to Barbieland!)

If you’re having trouble coming up with New Year’s resolutions, this handy generator might help. (via Paperback Writer)

Huh

2010’s silliest sales taxes.

Um. If it’s cold enough that you’re using the Nose Dialer instead of taking off your gloves to dial the phone, you’re probably going to get snot all over your phone…

Male/female plug rings (not as dirty as you’re thinking)…

CDs that look like lunch meat…

Panther paw/claw boots…

Pink “shoehawk” heels…

LOL

The secret beind bad GPS directions.

Pets and the Christmas tree…

Poor Ceiling Cat!

Woe the unladen swallow!

Teh Cute

Kitties! Baby bun! Baby cougars! Kitten! Squirrels! Tiger cub! Bunny! Charlene Butterbean! Kitten! Cheetah! Kittens! Baby reindeer! Baby penguins! Kitten! Baby chinchilla!

Reading Update
Ummm… So I’ve been on vacation since last Friday and have gotten rather a lot of reading done… and I read a lot of shorts. Don’t freak. 🙂

Life Changes Everything (Life, Book 2) by T.C. Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romance mostly about Ben from Life or Something Scary Like That as he goes on with, well, life after the events of that book. This book does a nice job tying up the loose ends, even if I was kind of cranky about one of them while it was in process.
Sno Ho by Ethan Day. ebook. Reread. Very good m/m romance about a guy staying at a ski resort whose boyfriend was supposed to join him there, but instead dumped him over the phone. Funny, yet touching.
Life in Fusion (Sno Ho, Book 2) by Ethan Day. ebook. Very good m/m romance that picks up exactly where the first book left off and continues the story of Boone and Wade during the six months Boone said needed to pass before he would move in with Wade. And like the first book, this manages to be both funny and touching.
Big Balls and Trouble by Sarah Black. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a pro football player who’s in Boise for the summer and ready to admit that he’s always loved the childhood friend he hasn’t seen for years. I found this story frustrating because it was so short – it felt more like a fragment from a longer story than something that could stand on its own.
Tooth and Nail (His Hearth, Book 2) by Mary Calmes. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a big, tough warder who takes too many chances because, according to the other warders, he doesn’t have a hearth (i.e., a mate). And then he rescues an angel…
Just One Bite (Volume 1) by Scarlett Blackwell, J.L. Merrow, Josephine Myles, Erik Orrantia, Nix Winter, & Stevie Woods. free ebook collection. Scarlett Blackwell: Very good, want more! Vampire. :: J.L. Merrow: Very good. Stone circle. :: Josephine Myles: Very good. Genie. :: Erik Orrantia: Pretty good. Mayan. :: Nix Winter: Ok. Fantasy. :: Stevie Woods: Pretty good. Vampire.
Delany’s Catch by Diana DeRicci. ebook short. Pretty good short paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shifter who walks into a bookstore to ask for directions and realizes that the proprietor is his mate.
Same Time Next Year by Eden Winters. ebook short. I’m not usually a fan of ghost stories, but this one, about a guy whose true love died when they were in college, worked pretty well, although I found it to be very sad.
Vanilla: The Dominant Ingredient by Andy Slayde & Ali Wilde. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a sub-for-hire, escaped from a bad situation, who is desperately trying to convince the man he’s staying with while he sorts out his life that he’d be the perfect sub. I want to read more about these characters!
Commanding Acquisitions (1-800-DOM-HELP, Book 2) by Christine d’Abo. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a dom, struggling not to lose his bookstore, who’s also lonely and needing something more than just casual encounters. He finds the mysterious 1-800-DOM-HELP business card in his office…
Floggers’ Holiday Sale by Stormy Glenn & H.C. Brown. ebook. Meh two-story kinky m/m holiday romance collection. The two stories were supposed to be about two different doms, each of whom purchased a sub at the Floggers’ (bdsm club) holiday auction, but things weren’t consistent between the two stories: in one, the dom’s not allowed to take possession of the sub until they both negotiate contracts; in the other, the club owner sends the virginal sub with the notoriously brutal dom and just tells the dom to bring the sub back to the club at the end of the week. Editing was consistently horrible across both stories, although perhaps a bit worse in the Stormy Glenn story – for the first part, “dominate” was substituted for “dominant” and “dominant” was substituted for “dominate”…
Hang a Shining Star by Ashlyn Kane. ebook short. Very good m/m holiday romance about a high school teacher who runs into a former student working at a Christmas tree lot and, discovering that the former student has no one to spend the holiday with, impulsively invites him over. My only complaint with this one was that the main characters were named Evan and Eric – I kept getting the names mixed up, as did the editor/proofer at least once! 🙂
Snow and Mistletoe by T.C. Blue. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about a guy with a really bad self-image who hasn’t had any luck finding journalism work. He starts finding mysterious presents outside his apartment door – he’s sure they’re from his friends, trying to cheer him up, because no way could he have a secret admirer…
Christmas with Danny Fit by Amy Lane. ebook. Very good m/m holiday romance about a guy who’s still living with his mother at 30, not really living his life, until his burgeoning friendship with his sexy assistant at work inspires him to start making changes.
You Can’t Choose Your Family by Zahra Owens. ebook. Very good holiday m/m romance about a couple who’s been together for 20 years. One guy’s family is fabulously accepting; the other’s was controlled by his fire and brimstone father. Now that his father is dead, will anything change?
Christmas Bells by Andi Deacon. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about an assistant professor, staying at his parents’ house for Christmas, whose brother brings home a very attractive friend from grad school who doesn’t have anywhere to go for the holidays.
Silver Thaw by Nora Catherine Price. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about next door neighbors who get the chance to know each other a bit better because of an ice storm.
Sharing Christmas by Shae Connor. ebook short. Steamy short m/m holiday romance about a guy, recently moved to Atlanta for work, whose next door neighbor invites him over to help put together packages for the homeless shelter.
The Santa Mug by Patric Michael. ebook. Very good m/m holiday romance about a guy whose boyfriend died four years ago and who’s basically retreated from the world since then, until a friend drags him along to a family Thanksgiving celebration.
A Very D Christmas by Jane Seville. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about D and Jack from Zero at the Bone, reconnecting with family, and being a bullied teenager. (Through 1/31/2011, a portion of the purchase price will be donated to the Trevor Project.)
The Christmas Visit by Marshall Thornton. ebook short. Good short m/m holiday romance about a guy returning to the small town he grew up in to see his dad at Christmas. He keeps running into the deputy who he’d had a crush on and who is now married…
Secret Santa by Deanna Wadsworth. ebook short. Steamy short m/m holiday romance about a guy waiting naked, blindfolded, and wrapped up with a bow as a present for his boyfriend, hoping to revitalize their fading relationship.
Well-Hung by the Chimney by E.M. Lynley, Ryan Field, & Chloe Stowe. ebook. Pretty good m/m holiday romance collection. I really liked EM Lynley’s story about the difficulties involved in mixing business with pleasure. Ryan Field’s story about a couple dealing with career changes and meeting family was ok. I found Chloe Stowe’s story about an Air Force colonel and a doctor at the Air Force base to be sort of confusing. I might’ve enjoyed Field and Stowe’s stories more had I realized they were about characters from a previous collection and read it first.
A Little Something for Santa by J.M. Snyder. ebook short. Ok short m/m holiday encounter about a guy waiting tables at an all-night diner who confesses to the cook that he has the hots for Santa.
A Christmas Eve Wish by Nicole Dennis. ebook short. So-so m/m holiday romance about a celebrity chef, planning to escape to his mountain cabin for a few days, who gets caught in a blizzard and discovers his cabin is trashed. This one didn’t work for me because of instalove and awkward writing.
All I Want for Christmas by Aeryn Traxx. ebook short. So-so short holiday m/m romance about a guy dreading his friends’ holiday party because his cheating ex will be there.
It’s a Calling by Mara Ismine. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance that I actually read in October, but I somehow managed to not write down the dates I read it or what I thought about it beyond “Huh.”
My Life in Your Hands by A.R. Moler. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about an ER doctor and an undercover detective who get together.
Eyes Wide Shut by Meredith Shayne. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a doctor and a miner who care deeply for each other, but that’s not enough, because the miner doesn’t want anyone to know they’re together. Part of this takes place in Perth!
Of Sound Mind by Elizabeth Brooks. ebook short. Good short futuristic m/m romance about a guy who has cancer and doesn’t want to telepathically bond with his destined mate because if he dies, his mate would die with him.