Congrats to Seanna Lea, who won Acceleration (Impulse #2) by Amelia C. Gormley! Amelia is releasing Acceleration today.

Congrats to Shelley, who won When Love Flue In by Lillian Francis! When Love Flue In will be released by Silver Publishing on December 1.

Congrats to Lori S, who won Eight Days by Cardeno C! Eight Days will be released on December 1 by Dreamspinner Press as part of their 2012 Advent Calendar collection.

Congrats to Stacia H, who won Snowbound in Nowhere by Andrew Grey! Snowbound in Nowhere will also be released on December 1 by Dreamspinner Press as part of their 2012 Advent Calendar collection.

Congrats to Judi P, who won An Isolated Range (Stories from the Range #5) by Andrew Grey! An Isolated Range will be released on December 3 by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to Josieb1 and Marie A, who won the Oh, Come All Ye Kinky anthology, courtesy of  Kim Dare and Ava March! O Come All Ye Kinky will be released by Riptide Publishing on December 3.

Contests

• Kay Berrisford’s giving away an ebook copy of As Spring Rain by Valentina Heart. Winner announced December 1.

• Armchair Reader Cole is giving away an ebook copy of Making Ends Meet by SL Armstrong and K Piet. Closes midnight CST, December 3.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of How to Tame a Willful Wife by Christy English. Closes January 6. US & Canada.

• Fiction Vixen is giving away an ebook copy of Came Upon a Midnight Clear by Katie Porter. Closes January 7.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Fiction Vixen (various sorts of romance), and Tor.com (UF, genre-benders, fantasy, scifi).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Becky Black takes a look at bad writing advice.

• Becky Black on “why NaNoWriMo is not about writing”.

• Important information for people participating in NaNoWriMo! 😉

• Isa K on co-optation (cultural appropriation) and romance (including m/m romance).

• The complete American Gods mix tape from tor.com.

• How to open a new book.

• Bookcase quilt. (via Bron’s Pinterest)

• 9 lovely European libraries.

• The Smart Bitches gift guide: Part 1, Part 2.

Ebookity

• The modern library…

Learn, Think, Do, Make

• If you’ve ever wondered what all the fuss is about Evernote… (It makes the Misadventures in Stock Photography possible!)

• There are now 43 drugs you shouldn’t mix with grapefruit.

• Dye PVC pipe to match your project.

• 6.5 feet tall prehistoric penguins?!

• 18 memorable Presidential photos.

Cookity

• Gluten-free snowy lemon cookies.

• Chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons.

• Giant peanut butter cup skillet brownie. (via The Kitchn)

• No bake pumpkin creme brulee.

• No bake chocolate coco pumpkin bars. (via The Kitchn)

• Turkey, mushroom, and potato soup. (via The Kitchn)

• Chili-lime roasted butternut salad. (via The Kitchn)

• 10 curry recipes.

Crafty

• Kitchener stitch for stockinette, reverse stockinette, and garter stitch.

• Knit a Lord of the Rings “One Ring” scarf.

• Free Star Wars snowflake templates. (via The Mary Sue)

Cool

• The Calvin & Hobbes search engine!! (via Gizmodo)

• Alas that this Neil deGrasse Tyson action figure isn’t real…

• LEGO proposal.

• LEGO Jayne (Firefly) and his wee knitted hat. (via The Mary Sue)

• Geeky knit Converse sneakers.

• The first episode of Neil Patrick Harris’ new webseries.

• Patrick Stewart’s son had quite an interesting group make dinner for his birthday… (via The Mary Sue)

• Cthulhu mittens.

• Doctor Who themed Christmas tree.

• Wee TARDIS desktop refrigerator. (via The Mary Sue)

• The lioness who stole a photographer’s camera.

Cool or Wha…?

• Moebius clothes hanger.

• Candy cane spoons.

• Knitted power cord.

• R2-D2 hip flask.

• R2-D2 engagement ring.

• Gryffindor Dementor bath robe.

Wha…?

• Bacon shaving cream.

• Rainbow Brite body cozy.

• Sippy cup wine glasses.

• Caffeinated Cracker Jacks.

• Turn your iPad into a tiny foosball table.

LOL

• A cheery video about the dumbest ways to die. (Thanks, Allison Anne!)

• A little Lord of the Rings humor…

• Having no internet…

• Simon’s Cat vs a squirrel.

• If I had Christmas lights, I’m sure I’d be taking May to the vet to have them removed from her stomach…

Teh Cute

• Lioness and babies! Kitten! Baby lions! Baby ocelot! Kittens! Baby lions! Baby lion! Baby black leopard! Red panda! Kitten! Fishing cat kittens! Baby buffalo! Baby panda! Lioness and baby! Baby giant otters! Baby penguins! Cat and kitten!

Reading Update
Of course there were hockey fics. Onward! 🙂
Counterpoint (Song of the Fallen #1) by Rachel Haimowitz. ebook. Very good m/m fantasy romance about an elf who’s captured by humans while trying to protect his sister, then becomes the favored prisoner of the area’s regent. I started reading this nearly two years ago, soon after it was released. Then I learned that the book ended in an evil cliffhanger, so I stopped reading until the sequel came out  (if I’d reached that cliffhanger, I would have been too pissed to ever read the sequel).
Crescendo (Song of the Fallen #1) by Rachel Haimowitz. ebook. Very good m/m fantasy romance picking right up where the first book left off, as a human prince-regent and his elven lover-slave try to find their way through deceit and betrayal and perhaps save both their races.
In the Dark (PsyCop #6.1) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Good short m/m paranormal romance in which Vic and Jacob go to a fancy Halloween party thrown by one of Jacob’s exes.
Jock Straps on Sale (PsyCop Flash Fic) by Jordan Castillo Price. free online short. Ok ultrashort fic about Vic stopping at Crash’s store.
Black Box (Turbulence #5) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Good installment of this serial, with several flashbacks to Marlin, the pilot who killed himself at the beginning of the story.
Khyber Run by Amber Green. ebook. Pretty good m/m suspense about an Afghan-American Navy corpsmen who’s roped into helping a group of Marines track down a deserter without knowing the full story. Having just read the blurb, it makes some things clear that weren’t really clear from reading the story, but would definitely have been good to know when reading…
Fontana by Joshua Martino. ebook. Ok novel told from the first person POV of an alcoholic sportswriter who tries to save his career by outting a record-breaking major league baseball player. In Steve Kluger’s hands, this could’ve been a great story.
Stranger in Translation by Charles Raines. ebook. So-so stream-of-consciousness story of a Englishman living in Marseilles, translating a novel into French and becoming intrigued by a stranger who persists in chattering away when he’s trying to enjoy the quiet of a cemetery.
Lord & Master by HC Brown. ebook. Not sure there’s a likeable character in this kinky m/m historical “romance”. Between the characters and the intermittently overwrought and clumsy writing, this wasn’t for me. DNF.

“Not only can I read your minds, I can control your thoughts!” -Chaos

Nothing much new to report from ’round here. May’s still staying in my bedroom overnight and when I’m gone for any length of time, since Chaos keeps hissing (and occasionally growling) at her. Of course, now May’s asleep on the ottoman and Chaos is in the chair looking baleful but not hissing…