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.
Ebookity
- 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.
Make, Think, Do, Learn
- If you need help visualizing how big the internet is…
- ModernCat’s odor elimination survival guide could come in handy.
- 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
- Last week, The Kitchn blog focused on gluten-free foods and concerns. Recommended! (Thanks, Jodi!)
- Tape art – way better than you expect.
- Maybe a child you know needs a homemade TARDIS.
- These yarn words are pretty nifty.
- I have a very similar fabric keychain that I love.
- Kristi’s got crafty, photography, and food linkity.
Huh
- Using bombs for snow removal instead of shoveling – not recommended.
- Now you can buy frozen pizza and frozen cookies in a single handy package.
- MeatWater. Just say no.
LOL
- I’m a fast listener, too. (Thanks, CursingMama!)
- 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
I’ve been up since just before 3 a.m., so I am dazed at all of the linkety you have here!
If I have time this weekend, I will see how Briss does with the insanely graphic heavy double column format of the Players Handbook I have taken off my ereader. It was too hard to use there (likely stupidly difficult to navigate and read), so anything that converts it into something more streamlined and clean cannot be completely bad!
A recent post from Seanna Lea..Om
I have The Tourist in my TBR pile. I shall read/review it nearer the release date but I’m looking forward to it now!
A Brush with Desire is just so funny and also really hot. Loved the cat in that story.
A recent post from Jenre..Sins of the Heart by Allison Cassatta
Wow, the number of hours of video uploaded onto YouTube every min. is frightening.
Facebook doesn’t end marriages, being caught cheating does, Facebook just brings the activity into the home. Before that you flirted outside the house where you couldn’t get caught.
The cost of clutter = too much math for me.
Congrats to Jason and Juni on the new blog.
Loved the tape art.
I don’t have to time to watch the two videos but I’ll check them out later. They look good.
Meat Water, wasn’t that Jordan Castillo Price’s thing in Hemovore? 🙂
Wow, out of all those books the only one I’ve read is Driven to Distraction. Weird. LOL Usually I’ve read at least a few. Have a great weekend.
A recent post from Tam..Wednesday already
AS always, you are making me late for work. I don’t think a bomb would budge the giant frozen piles on either side of my driveway.
A recent post from Mary Lou..The Mystery of Tea Towels
An L-cup bra. Really. You could probably fit someone’s head into that.
I agree – you don’t need to spend a year’s wages to have a proper home gym. I bought my eliptical machine for $75 from Kijiji. And there were at least a dozen other ads for similar machines. You could outfit yourself from Craigslist or Kijiji for a fraction of the cost.
A recent post from Brigitte..Rome Wasnt Built In A Day
So there’s a school in St. Louis that’s gone completely paperless. All the kids have electronic tablets, etc. I wonder if they know they are hindering the kids educational development :-). Which I completely agree with writing is better for the brain than typing.
Poor kitties. Maybe choas and May think they are Amish and that by taking their picture you are abusing their soul.
A recent post from Rebekah..Working at It
I have to come back and read some more of these. But two stand out for me on the first pass. Meat water? Ick. And that statistic from the divorce lawyers about social networking is pretty shocking!
A recent post from Val Kovalin..Review For Love of War by Kiernan Kelly
I enjoyed Kitchn’s GF week. Sad to say I agree with her on TJ Brownies. BC does a better job if you like mixes. I’m going back and spend a little more time with all of today’s info. Grrl, you keep us busy on Fridays!
A recent post from margene..Obsession du Jour
Chris- I do need a couch mouse.
Are the kitties in the Himalayas?
A recent post from Lorraine..Still Crazy After All These Years
I’m glad to know that there’s scientific proof that writing helps you learn. It’s always been my method!
Jase and Juni’s new blog is sure to be fun.
I’ve only read “A Strong Hand” of all the ones in your list. I may have to buy “Bloodlines”.
Dear Chaos and Mayhem,
If Mom stops taking pictures, I’ll never get to see you and your luxurious, velvety coats.
A recent post from Marji..progress
How do you expect us to get anything done on Fridays with all these linkities?
Briss? *gigglesnort*
A recent post from Cheryl S…Could there be anything cuter
Oh, Jase and a new blog? I have to check this out!
According to his blog, Marshall Thornton is working on Boystown 3 and the book should be published this winter. I like the stories but didn’t like this ending – realistic it may be, but conveniently disposes of one of Nick’s boyfriends (and the one I was rooting for *sniff*).
I’ll have to spend the entire weekend browsing through all these links. ^^
Hehehehe 🙂 I love Cat vs Human!
A recent post from mrspao..All by myself
OMG, social media being one of the reasons for marriage failure is something to keep in mind! Better try to get hubs sign up for Twitter too before he can use it against me. 😉
Jase and Juni’s new blog looks promising! Made me giggle a few times.:)
Yeah, Bloodlines was hot wasn’t it? Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Happy weekend!
A recent post from Janna..Happy Gay Friday & Book related stuff
It’s so exhausting, being famous.
I’m a fast listener too! And I’ve found some new favorite sites I wish existed.
A recent post from Carrie K..Thank You- thank you!
I’m completely in the pro-writing camp — it seems to stick better. That said, I wonder if using a stylus on an ipad gives you the best of both worlds.
I seriously want that totebag….really bad
A recent post from blodeuedd..Early Review- The Mistress House – Leigh Michaels
OK. I want a homemade TARDIS.
Meat water. I can’t begin to describe the nastiness.
May has been sporting some very anti-social attitude lately. Have the winter doldrums got her down and cranky?
Have a great weekend!
A recent post from Brenda..Pictures from the Week
That tape art was much better than expected.
I wish I were a craft person who could knit or do thinks like the drank can art. Alas, I am not.
I love how the first comment on the bra size post is “Pics or it didn’t happen.”
As an overly endowed woman, I can honestly say that boobs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
A recent post from Eyre..The Dangers of Reading
The soda can tinbox looks cool, but…scrubbing off the paint on the cans? Way too much effort there. Same thing with the flashlight USB port – could definitely come in handy, but scary amount of effort and it involves electricity which means I’d find some way to shock the hell out of myself, so nope. Staying away from that one.
Got quite the chuckle out of Jase and Juni’s 11 stages of procrastination. Stage #11 was actually kind of mesmorizing – around and around and around and around… 😉
A recent post from Ava March..First Lines
I absolutely love the graphics in the short film about a girl and a carousel.
I like pizza and I like cookies but putting them in the same package just seems wrong.
Spicy hot dark chocolate sounds wonderful!
Good links!
A recent post from Sydney..Between Snow Storms
Those cats are so darn cute!
Gawd the idiot that blew up the snow to remove it? What. A. Knob! You get me linkety laughing every week Chris.
I like that mouse that will work on fabric, pretty cool.
Another great reading week for Chris!
A recent post from Lea..I Love This Song!
Thank you for the linkity!
I think A Strong Hand might be my kind of book 🙂
May – but…I’d be lost without photos of you and the big kitty!
A recent post from orannia..Amy Lane Weekend
Wow – I’m blown away by the HarperCollins morality clause. Yikes!
Determining the cost of my clutter made my head hurt – so I stopped. 😉
Thanks for the birthday party mention. 🙂
A recent post from Bronwyn Green..I dont even
I just required a trainee of sorts to hand write some things – even after he protested that he could type so much faster. I am avenged.
Love those linky…
and even found some new sites to add to my already overloaded google feeder – thanks a lot you…
I really need ot go check out more of Catt Ford work – I loved her vocie and style in that one…
You went through quite a few shorts last week..
E.H>