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Congrats to Matthias, who won End Game by Jennifer Brooks!

Congrats to Tina, who won Snow on the Mountain (The Mountains #2) (2nd ed) by PD Singer! Snow on the Mountain is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

Congrats to Ladypessi, who won Texas Heat (Texas #3) by RJ Scott! Texas Heat will be released by Silver Publishing on August 18.

Congrats to Ami, who won Nothing of a Son by L.A. Witt! Nothing of a Son will be released by Amber Allure on August 19.

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Contests

• Mrs Condit is giving away an ebook copy of the Lashings of Sauce anthology. Not sure when this one ends, but the odds were pretty good when I grabbed the link.

• Charlie Cochet’s celebrating her birthday with a contest – comment on any of the birthday posts through midnight EDT, August 18, for your chance to win.

Bookity

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• When paperbacks were the big threat to the publishing industry… (via TeleRead)

• Fanfic and fair use.

• Baby Boomers don’t dominate the book buying market anymore.

• Authors who earn the most, worldwide. (via Largehearted Boy)

• NPR’s controversial top 100 young adult book list.

• VacuousMinx with part one of how Goodreads caters to authors.

• jmc with two great posts: “If you can’t afford an editor, you shouldn’t be publishing” and “Afterthoughts“.

• Lori Toland shares five tips for authors just getting started.

• Paperback Writer with ten things related to outlining your fiction.

• An American Editor on “Value in an ebook world“.

• Writing tips from famous authors. (via Neil Gaiman’s tumblr)

• The Great Expectations film trailer.

• Statue in the Minneapolis Central Library.

• What if fonts had voices?

• Pretty big book for a kitten!

• What’s Darth Vader reading these days?

Ebookity

• Comparing eInk and LCD screens for reading.

• Some ebook humor from Unshelved.

• Free Joey and Aaron short from KA Mitchell.

Think, Do, Learn, Make

• “Life on the internet“.

• Keep this in mind.

• “Is there enough energy to move the entire current human population off-planet?“

• Have new pyramids been discovered?

• See every US state’s stereotypes with Google’s autocomplete.

• The CDC reports that at least 20% of each US state’s adults are obese.

• Time-saving freezer tips.

• Bake cookies on your stovetop so you don’t heat up the kitchen in the summer. (via Lifehacker)

• Half-fat chocolate made with… fruit juice. Hmm. We’ll see.

• Music has a druglike effect on our bodies.

• Is BCG really a wonder drug?

Cookity

• 20 Italian-inspired dinner recipes.

• 15 classic European recipes.

• 5 British pub foods.

• 10 meals to make now and freeze for later.

• Julia Child’s zucchini tian.

• Smoked lentil salad with sriracha miso mayonnaise.

• Spinach salad pizza. (via The Kitchn)

• Shrimp boil with remoulade and cocktail sauce.

• Sweet tea-brined chicken. (via The Kitchn)

• Pan-fried chicken breasts with corn and tomato summer salad.

• Cookie Monster’s sugar cookies.

• Peach pie muffins with brown butter glaze. (via The Kitchn)

Drinkity

• Aurora Jungle Juice (looks like outer space). (via The Mary Sue)

• Gold Rush.

• Angosoda Cocktail.

• Singapore Sling.

• Dark chocolate bourbon cherry soda floats. (via The Kitchn)

Gluten-Free

• 5 tips for traveling gluten-free.

• Gluten-free lunch ideas for celiacs.

• Gluten-free chicken, carmelized onion, and rosemary red potato BBQ pizza. Speedier than it sounds, since it uses Udi’s delicious frozen pizza crusts.

• Gluten-free black bean avocado stir fry.

• Interesting article about sourdough bread, but I’m dubious about certain of its claims. I’ll wait for some more rigorous scientific studies/tests, thanks. (via CeliacChicks)

Crafty

• Yarn-bombed DC-3 airplane.

• Make a big roll of “film” from a five-gallon paint bucket. (via Apartment Therapy)

• Plastic canvas TARDIS phone charging station.

• Crochet a TARDIS wormhole lap blanket. (via CRAFT)

• Sew your own bike panniers. (via CRAFT)

• Sew reusable bowl covers. (via Lifehacker)

Cool

• Two of my photos: Powderhorn Art Fair and clouds over Lake of the Isles.

• A bug bite itch relieving gadget that actually works?!

• LEGO lenticular mosaic.

• LEGO Lord of the Rings trailer.

• If IKEA made the TARDIS… (via The Mary Sue)

• “If Stars Wars was an 80s hijinks movie.”

• Star Wars pincushion cats.

• If you want to know more about NASA’s “Mohawk Guy”…

• The Oatmeal is trying to raise money for a Nikola Tesla museum.

• Linkity from Fiction Vixen.

Cool or Wha…?

• Stuffed hamburger press.

• Sriracha popcorn.

• “Who’s Your Daddy?” roving DNA testing truck in NYC.

• Fish skeleton sculpture made from plastic cutlery.

• Bat signal sculpture from thread and nails.

• “100 of film’s greatest maniacal laughs collected into six minutes“.

• An iPad case that looks like a 1984 Mac.

Wha…?

• Free 1/3 scale replica TIE Fighter for fervent Star Wars fan near Salt Lake City…

• eBay has banned the sale of magical items.

• Why the heck would people have these things in their carry-on luggage?!

• Famous album covers recreated with… socks. (via Wil Wheaton’s tumblr)

• Christopher Walken latch hook.

• Baby’s first… butcher shop.

• Cthulhu purse. (via The Mary Sue)

• Psychic animatronic cat ears.

LOL

• Sir Patrick Stewart as an Olympic ticket scalper.

• If you’re familiar with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and you think Romney and his running mate seem awfully familiar…

• On human subcultures. (Make sure you hover your cursor over the comic for additional text.)

• “When will we forget?” (Again with the hovering.)

• Some paranormal humor.

• Skeery cake.

• Happy lion is happy!

• Curses. Thwarted again.

• Truth.

• Awww!

• Eeek! Eeek! Eeep!

• No one would fall asleep in that lecture if he did!

• I wouldn’t wait up for George…

• Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the kitchen…

Teh Cute

• Dalmation adopts orphaned spotted lamb.

• Horse! Jaguars! Black cat and kitten! Black kitten! Lioness and baby! Lion and baby! Baby cheetahs! Baby tigers! Tiger and baby! Donkey and baby! Herons! Flamingo and baby! Kitten! Baby panda! Baby tiger! Kitten! Polar bear and baby! Kitten! Baby ocelot! Baby lion! Baby cheetahs! Tigers! Kitten! Polar bear and babies! Baby plover! Kitten! Baby snow leopards! Baby turtles! Baby tawny frogmouths! Baby otter! Baby penguins! Kitten!

Reading Update
Blind Eye (Benjamin Justice #5) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good gay mystery in which Ben’s been given an advance to write his autobiography and is trying to track down a priest who made a big impression on his preteen self… These mysteries are good, but Ben goes through so much… and so much of it he brings upon himself.
Moth and Flame (Benjamin Justice #6) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good gay mystery in which Ben is hired to finish a brochure for the city of West Hollywood after the original writer was murdered. I realized after finishing this that the really horrific things have happened to Ben in the odd number books (excluding the first), so now I’m nervous about reading book 7…
Rhapsody in Blood (Benjamin Justice #7) by John Morgan Wilson. Very good gay mystery in which Ben and Templeton stay at a hotel notorious for being the location of the murder of movie star 50 years ago and the suicide of her daughter 25 years later. Templeton’s there to report on a film about the movie star’s life being shot at the hotel… and then things get messy.
Into the Flames by Mel Bossa. ebook. Engrossing but disturbing gay literary fiction in which Bossa skillfully pulled together her seemingly disparate plot threads. I’m still not sure what I think about this book. On one hand, I did sit down and read it straight through. On the other, I’m absolutely sure I’ll never reread it and I was reminded why I don’t particularly enjoy literary fiction. Your mileage may vary…
Connecting Flight (Turbulence #4) by Jordan Castillo Price. free ebook short. Very good short paranormal m/m romance in which we get to see both Paul and Dallas on their home turf after returning from Bermuda.
Locks of Love: A Modern Gay Fairy Tale (2nd ed) by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Good short m/m fairy tale about a guy who can convince locks to open… but there have to be doors for his talent to work.
Hot August Nights by Kate Roman. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a grad student from New York who’s in Austin, Texas, for a week-long spring vacation and meets the cowboy of his dreams. This was very instalovey, which just didn’t work for me.

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Can you figure out this Mayhem puzzle?! The white spot is on her chest, if that helps…