• Then go enter the contest for Chasing Alex by Em Woods and A Special Christmas by J.P. Bowie! Contest closes 10 pm CST, December 10.

Congrats to Courtney, who won Breathe by Sloan Parker!

Congrats to Marie, who won Mistletoe and Submission by Kim Dare!  Mistletoe and Submission will be released by Total-E-Bound on December 6.

Congrats to Brenna and LadyM, who won His for the Holidays by LB Gregg, Harper Fox, ZA Maxfield, and Josh Lanyon. His for the Holidays will be released by Carina Press on Monday, December 6.

Contests

• Lea’s giving away an advance ebook copy of Anne Rainey’s forthcoming short erotic romance, What She Craves. Comment by midnight EST, December 3 (today) for your chance to win.

• Tracy’s giving away a copy of Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately. Comment by 11:59 PST, December 8, for your chance to win.

• Amora’s giving away an ebook copy of Raev Gray and Alexandr Voinov’s new m/m romance, Transit, to someone who answers her question in the comments by midnight PST, December 10.

Bookity

• Author newsletters: Kim Dare (news, free story, and a contest) and Heidi Cullinan (I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I’m sure it’s filled with awesomesauce).

• DIK (Desert Island Keepers) is looking for new team members to blog a few times a year. Hurry – you have to submit your application by December 4!

• New releases and more: Lily (m/m romance), Elisa (GLBT), Tor.com (YA paranormal, SF, UF/PNR), and SciFiGuy (SF/SFR, fantasy, UF/PNR, YA).

• The Monday Morning Stepback from ReadReactReview.

• Check out Gizmodo’s guide to gifts for book lovers. Paperback Writer has ten gift ideas for writers or readers, all for under $10.

• A very amusing “So you want to write a novel” video.

• Go now and read some of Uncle Walter’s Bad Romance Novel Quotes! Hee hee. (Thanks, Stephani!)

Ebookity

• Have you been to Brief Encounters yet? It’s a new blog from Tam and Jenre, devoted entirely to reviews of short m/m stories. Congrats, you two! Were you concocting this in San Francisco?!

• Will Google actually launch its ebookstore by the end of the year?

• Trek shares some thoughts on prices for ebooks from traditional publishers.

• Ereader ownership has tripled in the past two years.

• An American Editor with some things you should consider when deciding which ereader you should buy.

• TeleRead shares the story of how a skeptical writer became an ebook convert.

• Amazon’s been charging for Project Gutenberg books… which you can get for free in Kindle format from Project Gutenberg.

Think, Do, Learn, Make

• Harvey Milk’s speech on hope is as relevant today as it was over 30 years ago. It gave me chills.

• An engineer might have figured out how Stonehenge was built.

• How many of history’s ten most dangerous cars can you name?

• A recent study found that people were able to predict the future… and porn was one of the tools used in the study.

• Without navigational aids and cues, humans walk in circles.

• Umberto Eco muses on the history of lists.

• Imagine – being ambitious and driven to learn matter more than a attending a prestigious (and expensive) college!

• Look at your blog through an “outside eye.”

Gluten Free

• Tips for a gluten–free Hanukkah.

• Does your Walgreens carry Delish gluten-free snacks?

Gift Ideas

• Refreshingly honest hand sanitizers for the OCD people in your life! (Thanks, Jase!)

• Fear in a Can, anyone?

• The Tor.com Zazzle store might have just the thing for your scifi/fantasy geek.

• More geeky gift ideas from Tor.com, including stuffed animals.

• Perhaps a bowl made of melted plastic toy soldiers for the child at heart?

• Very cute felted cat hats (not hats for cats, just to be clear…).

• Knit a Noro hat for a quick and colorful gift.

• Sew a DSLR bag for the photographer.

• Fourth Amendment underwear for the frequent flier?

• CRAFT has a gift guide for chefs, plus links to several other gift guides.

• Gift guides from Gizmodo: cyclists, booklovers, caffeine addicts, and the guy who never grew up.

Holiday

• This rainbow felt ball garland looks pretty easy to make.

• Build a LEGO Death Star ornament!

• With “faker crochet”, you can make doily-covered soaps in five minutes or less!

• Make a holiday wreath out of old books.

Cool

• I can’t believe these are just made from thread!

• Mega Man knit sneakers.

• Transforming purple sneakers!

• Typewriter waffle maker!

• Klein Bottle opener…

Huh

• Naked showering LEGO Santa?!

• High-heeled Tevas…

• Squid shoes…

• Painting murals on toast with jam and Marmite?!

• The Starship Meaterprise…

• Very NSFW USB peripherals…

LOL

• What really happens when a product is supposed to be easy to open?

• Kudos to Chipotle for making the legal jargon on their gift cards amusing.

• It’s obviously a spoof based on the van number, but what a fun thing to rename your wifi network!

• I loved this emergency Thanksgiving pie recipe.

• Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) sings the Periodic Table of the Elements.

• More adventures of Squirrel!Neo and friends…

• Who would win in Hobbes vs. Pooh?! (Thanks, Jase!)

• Whoa! Dramatic animal drama! (Thanks, MamaTulip!)

• How to wrap a cat like a Christmas present. (Thanks, Kim!)

• Only a little “ebil”…

• Eeek!

Teh Cute

• Cat and kitten! Red panda! Albino wallaby! Kittehs in sinks! Snow kittehs! Baby cheetah! Hummingbirds! Donkeys! Otter! Lemurs! Kittens!

Reading Update
Unspeakable Words by Sarah Madison. ebook. Excellent paranormal m/m romantic suspense about a very precise San Francisco-based FBI agent who’s been shuffled around a lot because he’s not easy to deal with. He gets assigned a temporary partner from Quantico because of a new lead in an old case. When his temporary partner ends up sleeping on his couch, his orderly world is disrupted and things start to get interesting. I’m definitely hoping for more books about these two!!
Beyond Reckless by Ava March. ebook short. Very good steamy short m/m Regency romance about two men who enjoy the thrill of nearly being discovered…
Idaho Battlegrounds by Sarah Black. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a small-town Idaho sheriff who’s also a lieutenant in a National Guard unit that’s been in Afghanistan for the past four years. He’s now up for reelection against the corrupt interim sheriff, while at the same time getting to know a local dairy farmer who has a few secrets of his own…

Pretty Ugly (Petit Morts #6) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m story about a photographer who describes himself as “plug ugly”. He’s shooting an event when he encounters the elusive chocolatier Chance, who gives him a very special chocolate…
Sort of Stranger than Fiction (Petit Morts #7) by Josh Lanyon. ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance about a small-town bookstore owner who’s quite intrigued by the scarred guy who owns a nearby dojo.
One Less Stiff at the Funeral (Petit Morts #8) by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Very good short m/m paranormal story about a guy who helps family members plan services for their freshly deceased relatives.
Critic’s Choice (Petit Morts #9) by Josh Lanyon. ebook short. Very good short m/m paranormal m/m romance about a film critic who gets the chance to work on a dream project and does so, even though he’ll be working with his cheating ex-boyfriend.
Wishink Well (Petit Morts #10) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Excellent short paranormal m/m romance about a man in a hospice, dying of COPD, who runs into the mysterious and alluring Chance stocking vending machines. This Petit Mort has sharper edge than the others.. and we find out a tiny bit more about Chance.
In a Wolf’s Eyes by Cassandra Gold. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a guy who gets lost in the woods and found by a strangely intelligent wolf…
Copper Country Gold by Taylor Lochland. ebook. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a bobcat shifter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who’s been limiting himself to one-night stands because there aren’t any other gay shifters in the area and he knows his clan leader will never accept an outsider.
WHAT by Missy Welsh. free ebook short. Good free short paranormal m/m romance about a tattoo artist who has a crush on his straight boss.
Dinner and a Movie by Beth Wylde. ebook short. Steamy short m/m encounter about a couple out for dinner and a very unusual movie…
Strings Attached by Nick Nolan. ebook. Good but uneven m/m romance about a high school senior who discovers, after his alcoholic mother ends up in treatment, that his dead father’s family is wealthy. His transition to a life of privilege while he tries to figure out who he is and what he wants does not go smoothly. The author’s afterward reveals numerous references to the story of Pinocchio, only a few of which I caught. I’d suggest including a forward with an abbreviated version of that story to help the reader…
Double Bound (Strings Attached, Book 2) by Nick Nolan. ebook. Ok m/m romantic suspense that was all over the place. This book focused on the butler/bodyguard from the previous book. Unfortunately, especially the closer to the end of this book I got, it felt like the heir (the main character from the previous book) was back to being Pinocchio, with others deciding things for him.
The Christmas Wreath (Tales from the Bell End Cafe, Book 1) by Fabian Black. ebook short. So-so short m/m holiday romance about a young man who fancies himself in love with the older man who saved his life. I think this is the first installment in a serial story… and those drive me nuts. I’d rather read an entire story, not wait for it to be eked out.
The Perfect Tree (The Forbidden Room, Book 3) by J.P. Barnaby. ebook short. Steamy short kinky holiday m/m romance, after which reading you’ll not look at Christmas decorations the same again!
Twinkle, Twinkle by Josephine Myles. ebook short. DSP Advent Calendar. Good short holiday m/m romance about a doctor who, when treating an electrician shocked while checking the wiring for Christmas lights, realizes that the hunky electrician was the fat kid everyone beat up in school.
Biting the Christmas Biscuit (Broken, Book 1.2) by Dawn Kimberly Johnson. ebook short. So-so short holiday m/m romance in which the couple from Broken go to spend the holidays with one’s dead boyfriend’s family. The ending on this was odd – it just sort of stopped.
Storm on the Mountain (Mountain #7) by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance continuing the story of Mark and Allan, this time with a Valentine’s Day blizzard.
On Call: Crossroads (On Call #3) by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. Very good short m/m romance continuing the story of veterinarian Dante and doctor Keith, as Keith tries to come to grips with losing a patient.
Housesitting by M. Durango. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. Good short m/m romance about a guy who’s housesitting for his uncle for the summer, next door to the now-resident who was his teenaged crush.
Little Fishes by Syd McGynley. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. Ok short kinky m/m romance about a master taking his slave to meet his family, who aren’t aware of the nature of their relationship.
How Did I Lose My Passport – And Find My Love by JM Cartwright. ebook short. Doctors Without Borders Charity Sip Blitz. So-so short m/m romance about an absent-minded medical researcher who misplaces his passport while traveling and is surprised when his nemesis, the hospital’s COO, turns up to get things sorted out.

“That was tasty. I’m glad Mom left those crackers near the edge of the counter while she was getting something out of the fridge!” -Chaos