Contests
- Leave a comment for LesleyW with some urban fantasy related ideas to muse about for your chance to win a copy of Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day. Winner announced on May 29.
- Largehearted Boy’s giving away a $100 Threadless gift certificate and a Sleigh Bells’ cd – leave a comment with your favorite song of 2010 by midnight CDT, May 28, for your chance to win.
- Blodeuedd’s giving away two copies of Lydia Dare’s recent Regency werewolf romance, Tall, Dark and Wolfish. Contest closes May 29.
- S7anna’s having her very first contest. She’s giving away three different packs of romances and swag (bookmarks, etc). Leave a comment by May 30 for your chance to win.
- Jamie Craig’s giving away an ebook copy of Shawn Lane’s recent m/m romance, Only His Heart (Only #3). Leave a comment by 9 pm PDT, May 30, to enter.
- Luisa Prieto’s celebrating the ebook release of her m/m fantasy romance, Dark Designs, by giving away both an ebook and a print copy of Dark Designs to someone who comments by May 31.
- Leontine’s curious about what sort of smut you have on your bookshelves. Leave a comment letting her know (by June 3) for your chance to win a bookcase!
- All Things Urban Fantasy had 128 urban fantasy-related contests listed this week.
Bookity
- New releases, book news, etc: Lily (m/m romance), Jackie at Literary Escapism (UF/PNR), Renee (all sorts of romance), and Katiebabs (by cover appeal).
- Josh Lanyon writes about taking risks as a writer.
- Linkity from Wendy the Super Librarian, ReadReactReview, and Sydney (hey, the bookcase makes it bookity, right?!).
- Kassa wonders whether readers are bothered by things that can make books seem dated, such as mentioning specific social media.
- Val wonders how the spoiler-avoidant reader uses review sites. (Um, I might have been part of the inspiration for that post.)
- Please just stop with the zombies. ‘k thx bai.
- I don’t ever usually watch book trailers, but I’m glad I watched this one by Tessa Dare. Best. Book. Trailer. Ever. (Thanks, Donna F!)
Ebookity
- Keira of Love Romance Passion offers some suggestions for organizing your ebooks.
- The eBook Reader Blog previews the Pandigital color ereader.
- Several publishing executives spoke out about ebook piracy – I think that the quote from Penguin’s deputy chief executive is spot on.
- Publishing execs are also confused and contradictory about ebook piracy.
- Looking for an inexpensive way to make your own book holder for an ebook reader, iPad, etc?
Learn, Make, Do, Think
- Lovely. Sunscreen may help cancer develop. Make sure you check out where your sunscreen rates via the Environmental Working Group’s searchable database.
- Minneapolis was rated the third fittest city in the US by the American College of Sports Medicine! (Thanks for the link, Trek!)
- TeddyPig’s been featuring letters to the President on repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and they’re amazing, alternately eloquent and heartbreaking.
- Lifehacker posted a guide to the new Facebook privacy controls. They also posted a guide to setting things back to what you probably expected when you signed up.
- You might want to think about Google data privacy, too. And Lifehacker had some more general online privacy ideas.
- Lifehacker explains how to reset your sleep cycle.
- Consumerist on “why paying more for brand name drugs is folly”.
- Have any of you actually used a grapefruit and salt to clean your bathtub?!
- Curious about what the eight worst meals in America are this year? Or perhaps you’d like to visualize the sugar content of popular beverages? (That one was horrifying, actually.)
- Apparently USA Today had a 16-page insert about celiac disease earlier this month! Would’ve loved to have seen it.
Yikes
- These terribly sexist ads from the middle part of last century might cause head explosion. Follow that link at your own peril! (Thanks(????), Jase!)
LOL
- Geek humor: If Mailer Daemon was a real person. Boolean wedding cake.
- Can’t you just hear the Gilligan’s Island theme playing?
- Beware Vampire Cat!
- Don’t ignore your kitteh to talk on the phone or play on the interwebz…
- I’m sure many of you have already seen Lost reenacted by cats.
- Anyone else wonder if this was right after a trip to the vet?
- Beware! Are you already caught up in a sneaky hate spiral?!?
Awww
- The most perfectly sweet yin-yang kitties ever! (Thanks, Jase!)
- If you need something to help you remember which key is for what, the KittyKeys key covers are an adorable option.
- Don’t these kittens look like a wedding party?
- Comparison pictures of how different kittens look when they’re young vs. when they’re a bit older.
Reading Update
The Blue Moon Cafe by Rick R. Reed. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m chiller about a guy who becomes involved with a mysterious restaurant owner who never seems to be available at certain times of the month. At the same time, Seattle’s gay community is reeling from a series of brutal murders…
Witness by L.A. Gilbert. ebook. Sweet m/m romance about a cop who meets a bike messenger while on a routine call, then runs into him again when he backs over the guy’s bike. This book would’ve benefited from a bit more conflict (or perhaps conflict not effortlessly resolved) and fewer point-of-view shifts, particularly near the beginning of the book.
Idaho Pride by Sarah Black. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a sports writer who ends up in an altercation between some hockey players and staff members of the Idaho Pride newspaper – an altercation that changes the lives of many of the guys involved.
Betweentimes by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about a businessman who is surprised (but pleased) when his cute bohemian neighbor invites him out for dinner at the tacky local Mexican place.
Special Delivery by Heidi Cullinan. ebook. Very good m/m romance about Sam, a nursing student who hits the road with trucker Mitch and learns a helluva lot about himself in the process. Those of you who know I’m not a fan of books with menagey bits are probably surprised to see that I read and liked this one, huh? This book worked for me because it didn’t neglect the emotional to focus strictly on the physical. While I had to stop reading several times because I was a bit overwrought about Sam’s emotional safety, I kept returning to the book and am very glad that I read it.
An Uncommon Whore by Belinda McBride. ebook. Very good m/m scifi romance about Pasha, a whore whose master, unable to cover a bet, loses him for 24 hours to a rough and fascinating man. Pasha can’t remember the man, who seems to know more about him than he knows about himself. I’m glad Jase warned me that this stopped abruptly, so I was prepared. *commences impatiently waiting for sequel*
Winner Takes All by Jenny Urban & Elizabeth Silver. ebook. Very good m/m romance about two competitive friends and business rivals (one gay, one straight) who fool around when they’re drunk… and then a business crisis escalates things a bit.
Black: Black Leather by Vic Winter. ebook short. Steamy short m/m romance about a band that’s touring for the first time since the previous lead singer overdosed. The lead guitar player isn’t looking forward to being in charge of keeping the new lead singer in line.
8 Seconds on the Mountain (Mountain #4) by P.D. Singer. ebook short. Oh oh – is Kurt trying to get himself and Jake beaten up at the rodeo?!
And Is Never Shaken by Alexi Silversmith. ebook. Good May-December m/m romance about a professor who keeps running into a book restorer. Will the secrets from the professor’s past be insurmountable?
Only His Heart (Only #3) by Shawn Lane. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a nurse, new to the hospital, who can’t resist the handsome doctor that the rest of the staff calls the Ice Queen.
Forces of Nature by Lily Grace. ebook short. Cute short m/m romance about a physicist who’s had a huge crush on his actor best friend since college, but has always been afraid to do anything about it until they get caught in a thunderstorm together.
Time Zone Impaired by Andy Slayde & Ali Wilde. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a guy who stops at a restaurant after a flight from Australia, not realizing it’s Valentine’s Day until his cute waiter tells him. This had that unfortunate open-ended feel that makes me suspect it is the first in a series of shorts about this couple. I hate that – I’d much rather buy a longer completed story than read a serial.
Where the Moon Touches by Kiernan Kelly. ebook short. Good short m/m paranormal romance about a werewolf who’s being forced to marry a female and plans to go on sex binge with as many guys as he can during his last 30 days of freedom. His plan gets short-circuited almost immediately. (This also had that “part of a serial” feel.)
Left of Center by Zathyn Priest. ebook. Somewhat bizarre m/m romance about a non-Goth veterinarian who shamelessly lies on an online site for Goths so he can pick up guys – and then the player gets played.
Skipping Stones by D.J. Manly. ebook. I started out liking this book about a young artist who retreats from Paris after the end of an affair and seeks shelter with his best friend, who’s part owner of a gay friendly resort in Florida. Alas, by the end of the book, I wanted to slap the three main characters.
Picture Me Perfect (Sammy Dane, Book 2) by Stormy Glenn. ebook. So-so m/m romance about a photographer who moves in with a cop to hide from his abusive drug dealer ex-boyfriend. Typical Stormy Glenn. What else can I say, other than please get a better editor? (Or maybe any editor…)
Screwed by Amanda Young. ebook short. So-so short m/m romance about a teacher who was fired after racy pictures of he and another guy showed up online.
“Dear internetz: Please send help. This woman continues to hold me prisoner under the most miserable conditions imaginable.” -Mayhem
No, I’m not canceling the Misadventures – they will be on Tuesday next week.
Phew! *relaxes*
Oh, and I like the sound of Special Delivery and An Uncommon Whore!
And May…I don’t believe you. I’ve seen you sunning yourself in previous photos!
.-= orannia´s last blog ..Loyalty =-.
Yeah, nice try Mayhem.
Those ads? SCARY. Douching with Lysol??? I realize it’s not what we think of as Lysol now – but. Still?! The stereotypes! No wonder women have had such a difficult time breaking out of the mould, when their “place” in life and society had been drilled into them at every turn.
.-= Brigitte´s last blog ..WIPs Gone Wild! =-.
I think I need that cougar training manual because I don’t seem to be having much luck. No one is just showing up and
ringing my doorbell. 🙂
I have quite a few of those books waiting for me. I too get a bit frustrated with sips and shorts that turn into a series. Just write 40 pages of story and be done with it.
Will have to check out all the links later. Gotta run.
.-= Tam´s last blog ..Happy Birthday Kiddo! =-.
Chris- I think we could send Floyd for Mayhem, but he may not be much use.
Ask Brgitte about my major Keen envy.
.-= Lorraine´s last blog ..The Dog That Smiled =-.
Awwww those itty bitty cats break my heart of cuteness
*hides from vamprie kitty*
Observation on book dating… I read a book a while back (murder mystery) in which a character commented that tracking the murderer would be hard because he could have paid cash for a ticket and hopped on a plane anonymously.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
(Book was © 1985.)
.-= trek´s last blog ..On FiOS and fabric =-.
Mayhem, you are such a drama queen!!
.-= margene´s last blog ..Monday Woes Continued =-.
once again, with the right font (and some man nipple), any book title looks sexy… “Skipping Stones”, “Winner Takes All”, “Screwed”… ok maybe that last one didn’t need the nipples and font
Yeah, the poor girl doesn’t have access to her rum boy or masseuse…
.-= lisa´s last blog ..and we have a winner!!!! =-.
like the lifehacker links. will be wandering over there shortly. Also, why do you have May in a crib?
.-= ikisti´s last blog ..long time no blog =-.
Oh, the humanity! Let that kitty go!
Oh Noes! How can a kitty escape such a horrible cushy prison?!?
Third fittest, dude!
That was an interesting article on whether authors should rate their own work. I don’t do it, though my husband wrote me an Amazon review, and there would’ve been BIG trouble in the Crane household if he’d given that sucker low stars. LOL. Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t be confessing that. Though, he loves the book and read several versions, so it’s not like it’s fake.
.-= Carolyn Crane´s last blog ..The shocking truth about Katiebabs cruise! =-.
Oh. Just hi. That’s all.
Oh, I forgot all about the itty bitty kitty committee. So super duper cute. Worlds better than reading the news!
.-= Seanna Lea´s last blog ..matcha matcha man! =-.
Mayhem’s futon looks comfier than my couch. I have no sympathy.
I’ll have to go actually read the Lifehacker pages over the weekend.
.-= naomi´s last blog ..random-ish wednesday =-.
Thanks for the great links. Those sexist ads were pretty unbelievable! Thanks for the mention as well.
As usual I’m in awe of your mad reading skillZ! 😀
I agree with you on the four I’ve read and have a few others on my TBB.
Happy Friday!
.-= Lily´s last blog ..New Books Available – Week 21 =-.
I use salt to scrub my coffee mugs and coffee/tea pots when they get stained. Works great.
As for the grapefruit, I’d rather eat it. Or drink the juice with some gin.
.-= Cheryl S.´s last blog ..The River Continues, to Wurzburg =-.
I liked the 16 items they only sell at the Chinese Walmart: http://consumerist.com/2010/05/16-items-they-only-sell-at-chinese-walmart.html
Scary!
Wow it looks like you read some really good books this past week. Definitely some more to put on my wish list.
How dare you keep that cute kitty prisoner! 🙂
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..DIK Reading Challenge Review & M/M Challenge Review: A Strong and Sudden Thaw by RW Day =-.
May, you’re not being a drama queen, are you?
zOMG – the yin-yang kitties are beyond adorable.
And the sexist vintage ads gave me The Rage!!!!
OMG – almost forgot about the worst beverages in America. That was more than a little terrifying!
Silly Mayhem…you know that you know that your the Captor and not the captive!
.-= Anna Shah Hoque´s last blog ..Hottie of the Day =-.
My stomach is still shaky after seeing the worst drinks article…I’m never going to Starbucks again.
.-= Anna Shah Hoque´s last blog ..Hottie of the Day =-.
Those sexist ads did cause my head to explode.
The yin-yang cats are cool.
Must follow other links later.
Mayhem, I think you might be exaggerating just an enormous bit.
.-= Brenda´s last blog ..Catching up in photos =-.
The suncreen bit was just scary!
I had to laugh at the grapefruit to clean your bathtub, I prefer to eat my grapefruit. And the line about the costs of cleanes, etc. Well my goodness the price of grapefruits around here anyway, I could buy a whole gallon of a cleaner for one grapefruit. Okay well maybe that’s exagerating a little, a very little 🙂
.-= Rebekah´s last blog ..Border Stories =-.
Ummm. I’m not sure if I’m amused or horrified by those ads. Ack!
And the ying yang kitty is adorable.
I shared the links of the nasty foods with some friend. The kid was telling me about the sugar one the other night. I didn’t realize what exactly she was talking about but she was throwing some of the comparisons out there. I drink diet soda and coffee black no sugar. LOL Sure I’ll get cancer from the diet soda but you won’t need to bury me in a piano case. Always a silver lining.
.-= Tam´s last blog ..Happy Birthday Kiddo! =-.
Hey Chris, I just wanted to pop in and say have a wonderful weekend!
Great links!
I’ve seen the Lysol ad before, and it still makes me squirm.
May, I’m still willing to sneak you that cell phone. Maybe you can escape while the human is sleeping?
.-= Eyre´s last blog ..Cookies because I have nothing else today . . . =-.
That piece about sunscreen really freaks me out! I’m very pale and always slather myself in sunblock before spending much time outside, and of course I’ve been using the kind that has vitamin A in it. Yikes! At least there were lots of cute kitteh links to cheer me up, and I’m dying to try the grapefruit/salt tub cleaner.
.-= Jodi´s last blog ..exile in boxville =-.
Don’t worry Mayhem, the Demon kitteh will assist your escape.
Thanks for all the cool linkety Chris and I hope you have a nice long weekend.
I’m looking forward to reading your Author’s letter..
.-= Lea´s last blog .."Soul of the Wildcat", by Devyn Quinn – Review & A Little Promo Giveaway! =-.
Hi, Chris! I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write a little review of my story, Forces of Nature. It’s much appreciated!!
Take care,
Lily
That sneaky spiral of hate is hilarious.
I’d check the sexist ads but my guess is that a)I’ll recognize them b) I won’t have noticed it back then and c) it will send me into a sneaky spiral of hate. 🙂
OTOH, 3 day weekend starts now! Let the Love Begin!
.-= Carrie K´s last blog ..Change is Evil. Well, mostly. =-.
Oh I made bookity! Thanks for the mention.
I saw the thing about using grapefruit and salt to clean you tub. I just can’t see myself doing that.
Poor May. It must be awful being held prisoner under such awful conditions. 😉
.-= Sydney´s last blog ..The "Be Careful What You Wish For" Post =-.
Have a great weekend 🙂
.-= Amora´s last blog ..Blog Love: awesome blogs =-.
silly Mayhem.. you cannot fool us. We see that huge fluffy comforter you are lounging on…. you’re just begging for more treats!
Alas, poor Mayhem! Not only is your mom mean, the blog commentors aren’t taking you seriously, either! Woe.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..June Is Busting Out All Over! =-.
Fittest City – congratulations, MN! Kitties? I am ded from all teh cute.
.-= Karen B.´s last blog ..Progress is good. =-.