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Congrats to Helena, who won Fanning the Flames (The Match Before Christmas #2) by Eden Winters! Fanning the Flames will be released by Torquere Press on May 7.

Congrats to Lynn, who won Sharing Paul (Portals #3) by Jade Archer! Sharing Paul will be released May 9 by Total-E-Bound.

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Contests

• Tracy’s giving away a copy of Tara Taylor Quinn’s It Happened on Maple Street. Comment by  7 pm PDT May 6 (today) to enter.

• Over at Amara’s place, Cat Grant’s giving away an ebook copy of her forthcoming m/m romance, A Fool for You, and a Nook. Contest closes 11:30 pm PDT, May 10.

• Amy’s giving away two tickets to see Cirque du Soleil in the Twin Cities on May 27. Contest closes midnight CDT, May 12.

• Leontine’s giving away your choice of a romance book/ebook released in May. Answer her question in the comments by May 16 for your chance to win.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Renee (various romance/UF/PNR), Fantasy Dreamer (ongoing list/calendar you can subscribe to for UF/PNR etc), AAR (romance audiobooks), and Book Lovers Inc (various romance/UF/PNR).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author and book linkity from ReadReactReview.

• There’s going to be a Hyperbole and a Half book!

• Another good post from Kassa, this time suggesting that we focus on the authors who respect and do not trash reviewers instead of on badly behaved authors.

• Marie Sexton and Heidi Cullinan talk about snark online.

• Dear Author and Smart Bitches on cliffhangers. (Me? I hate them. I stopped reading Karen Marie Moning’s -fever series because of the cliffhangers.)

• Fiction Vixen explains how she keeps track of her books.

• If you haven’t read War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, go read this review at Smart Bitches to see why you should (besides that it takes place in my neighborhood!).

• For several months, Fleeting Pages will open a pop-up bookstore in an old Borders space in Pittsburgh to sell indie books.

• Make page-corner bookmarks with cute monsters on them.

• Book xylophone. (Thanks, Juni!)

• Minnesota House Majority Leader Matt Dean “launched a peculiar and unhinged attack on noted local author Neil Gaiman.” Here’s the comic book version of the incident (via Wyrdsmiths).

Ebookity

• Digital sales have increased Simon & Schuster’s profits.

Do, Learn, Make, Think

• West-central Minnesota had an earthquake last Friday!

• Some excellent thoughts from Minnesota Representative Steve Simon (DFL Hopkins/St Louis Park) on HF 1613, a proposed amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that “only a union of one man and one woman is valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota.” I know how I’m voting in 2012.

• Let the FCC know what you think about the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile buyout.

• A group gathered in Washington, D.C., to remind the FDA that we’re still waiting for their definition of gluten free, which was supposed to be released in 2008.

• Some foods can help keep weight off.

• Where you should live in order to avoid natural disasters.

• If you’ve always wondered how astronauts use a toilet in space…

• How to avoid spreading misinformation on the internet.

• The number of US households with tvs fell for the first time since 1992. Of course, by their definition (“TVs that aren’t hooked up to traditional programming sources don’t count as TV-having households”), I apparently don’t have a tv. *looks over at 27″ Sony non-tv*

Cookity

• Strawberry margarita popsicles sound pretty tasty, although using Mike’s Hard Lemonade means they’re not gluten-free.

• Solar system cake pops!

• Homemade Snickers bar.

• Homemade Cheez-Its.

• Use Jolly Ranchers to make some brightly colored flavored vodka.

• Extra-dark brownies.

• Gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crumble.

Crafty

• Crochet some flower coasters.

• Adding a crochet edging to tea towels gives them a vintage look.

• Make environmentally friendly cat toys.

• Surely you know a toddler who needs some knitted kitty pants?

• Make baby aprons instead of baby bibs.

• Make a vegetable patch quilt.

• Make and send tiny photo postcards!

• Make a Portal Sentry Turret egg cup.

• Geeky craft books: The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun (NERF blowgun project), The Star Wars Craft Book, and World of Geekcraft.

Cool

• A knitted object so big it can be seen via Google Earth! (Thanks, Cheryl!)

• I’d love to see a movie about yarn graffiti.

• Cat/knitting/food linkity from Mrs. Pao.

• A wonderful quote.

• Maybe you need some new geeky wallpaper for your computer – everything from Batman to a TARDIS.

• The Popular Science DIY archives are sort of mindboggling. (via Gizmodo)

• A new Super Soaker that uses magazines to reload.

• If regular scissors just aren’t versatile enough, maybe you need Cuts+More Scissors.

• The Necono Cat Camera is now available in the US.

• Posters perfect for cat owners.

• Dr. Who shoes.

• A bottle opener with geeky gift potential.

Cool or Wha…?

• Skeletor belt.

• Elliptical bicycle.

• Anatomical fiber art.

• Soft serve ice cream tie.

• Networked Etch-a-Sketches.

Wha…?

• Did you celebrate Hairball Awareness Day (last Friday) by wearing jewelry made from cat hair? I didn’t, either.

• Creepy beetle backpack.

• Fashion mystifies me. I like the “Better” picture, though!

• Spectacularly ugly, creepy boots.

• Lobster bra.

• Kitchen sponge dress.

• Finger-nose stylus for touchscreens… (via Gizmodo) (Very Clockwork Orange-esque…)

• Loungers made from shopping carts do not look comfortable.

• Augmented reality tattoo?!

• Thermochromic urinal…

LOL

• The video in this post has one of the best (and certainly the one with the most cats) explanations of a voting system I’ve seen!

• Have you used the Lovecraft knot to tie a tie before? (Thanks, Juni!)

• I think this shall be my new favorite saying.

• Simon’s Cat super short. 🙂

• Aw, who wants to be on the rescue party!?

• LoTR-themed cat humor.

• Flee, kitteh, flee!

• Chaos is the evil twin…

• Yes, Chaos, it was my shoe…

• Whoops!

• Oh oh…

Teh Cute

• Video: Mama cat adopts baby red panda…

• Kitten silhouette! Hummingbird! Kitten! Sugar glider! Kittens! Mama and baby cheetahs! Kittens! Mama and baby jaguar! Kitten! Bull moose and cow moose! Alvin! Rainbow bee eater! Kittens! Bun! Bun! Kitten! Polar bear family! Kitten! Hedgie! Pygmy marmosets! Baby penguins! Fox kit!

Reading Update
Shifting Sands by Jet Mykles, Ally Blue, Willa Okati, JL Langley, Kimberly Gardner, & Brenda Bryce. ebook collection. Very good paranormal m/m collection about the cowboys of the Shifting Sands Ranch, who have been cursed to shift into animals from the Chinese zodiac each full moon. The stories were smoothly integrated, with the exception of one author who got carried away with the puns. Thanks to to Tam’s review for reminding me I had this one!
Some Kind of Magic by R. Cooper. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romantic suspense about a werewolf detective who’s known for two years that the half-fairy consultant is his mate, yet hasn’t done anything about it because everyone knows that fairies don’t do anything for the long haul.
The Red Thread of Forever Love by Nicole Kimberling. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a Canadian folklorist traveling in Japan who has somehow attracted a very amorous spirit…
A Rose is a Rose by Jet Mykles. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a beautiful young man, just dumped by his sugar daddy, who becomes friends with the very sweet straight owner of his apartment complex. I got a little sniffly while I was reading this one.
Alphabet Soup by CB Conwy. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a carpenter who keeps going to a BDSM club and hooking up with different Doms as he tries to get what he needs. He hasn’t been at all successful… and then he meets CK, who doesn’t behave like any of the other Doms. This story starts immediately after A Russian Bear and the free short Malaria, Cholera and Bubonic Plague takes place during this story.
Hotwired Heart (Tales from Rainbow Alley #1) by Jaime Samms. ebook short. Good short kinky m/m romance about a guy, trying to escape from his life as a gang member, who ends up in the Rainbow Alley part of town.
Finders, Keepers (Tales from Rainbow Alley, #2) by Jaime Samms. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a guy who’s inexperienced about bdsm and trusts the wrong Dom, who basically abuses him. This book would’ve worked better for me if it hadn’t been told in first-person, alternating between three different people. Also, stalker alert! 🙂
Fix This, Sir (Tales from Rainbow Alley, #3) by Jaime Samms. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a guy who’s not doing so well recovering from a crippling injury on top of numerous other issues. I am so glad that this book was alternating third-person instead of the alternating first-person of the previous book! Made a huge difference for me. I was a little worried that this book suffered from Omniscient Dom Syndrome, but it turned out ok in the end.
A Helping Hand (Tennessee Cops #2) by Shayla Kersten. ebook. reread. This story of a closeted cop with a crush on his straight best friend was one of the earliest m/m romances I ever read, and I like to reread it periodically.
Mr. Plum by Sue Brown. ebook short. Sweet short m/m romance about two guys who always see each other at the same coffee shop and then in the train station before their morning commute. I love this cover.
Cup Check (Blue Line Hockey, #3) by Stephani Hecht. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a deeply closet hockey player who’s terrified that coming out will ruin his chance of ever making it to the NHL.
Anything For You by Ethan Day. ebook. Good m/m romance about a deeply closeted ad exec who gets involved with a coming-out advocate. This generates some tension… Maybe it’s because they’re mostly (all?) written in first person, but Ethan Day’s books are starting to all feel the same to me.
Going the Distance (Driven to Distraction #2) by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox. ebook. Good short m/m romance following up with the professor and the mechanic who got together in Driven to Distraction as they sort out what they are to each other.
Sonoran Heat by Katrina Strauss. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy in his 40s, recently single for the first time in nearly 20 years, who starts to date a much younger artist and student.
Wishing Star by Jambrea Jo Jones. ebook short. Cute short holiday m/m romance about a guy, sitting outside his stalled car in the middle of nowhere on Christmas Eve, who wishes on a star for true love and wakes to find himself miles away. This felt a bit rough due to some missing words and pronoun confusion.
Broken Rules (Broken #1) by Jade Buchanan. ebook. Good m/m romance about a guy who hasn’t been to his home town for ten years (ever since his parents kicked him out of the house when they discovered he was gay), but returns for his mom’s funeral and runs into his former best friend. I was frustrated by the sheer number of names introduced during the first third of the book. I’m not sure if that frustration was the reason I never fully connected with the characters or the story. Maybe.
Second Chance by Derek Adams. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a jogger and a cop who meet after the jogger chases down a burglar, then slowly get to know each other better.
Full Release by Marshall Thornton. ebook. Ok m/m mystery about an accountant who slowly realizes he’s being framed for a murder and tries to figure out who’s the actual killer. Unfortunately, he spent most of the book doing the most stupid thing he could in any given situation – TSTL characters frustrate me. A lot.

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“If you loved me, you would feed me right now and forget this whole ‘It’s not time for dinner’ thing.” -Chaos