---

---

Congrats to Tracy W, who won In His Hero’s Shadow (EMS Heat #10) by Stephani Hecht! In His Hero’s Shadow will be released by eXtasy Books on August 15.

Congrats to Majken, who won the Cross Bones anthology, courtesy of Piper Vaughn and M.J. O’Shea! Cross Bones will be released on August 15 by Dreamspinner Press.

---

---

Contests

• MJ O’Shea and Piper Vaughn are giving away an ebook copy of Moonlight Becomes You plus swag. Contest closes 7 pm CDT, August 14. They’re also giving away a signed copy of the Cross Bones anthology – that contest ends 9 pm CDT, August 17, and is US & Canada only.

• Ava March is giving away a print copy of the Japanese edition of her books Bound by Deception/Bound to Him. Reading Japanese not required to enter! 🙂 Contest closes midnight EDT, August 15.

• Fiction Vixen is giving away three different sets of recent romances/urban fantasies/PNR. Contest closes August 19. US only.

• Book Lovers Inc is giving away ebook copies of Bound by Honor and Bound by Law by SE Jakes. Contest ends August 20.

• Book Lovers Inc is giving away an ebook copy of Deadly Obsession by Katie Reus. Contest closes August 27.

Bookity

• New releases: Book Lovers Inc (romance and more) and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR).

• Publisher and book news from Dear Author.

• The Twin Cities used book sale to benefit Feline Rescue is August 13 and 14.

• The only surprise is how long it took: a class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Agency 6 publishers and Apple for price fixing.

• The top 100 science fiction and fantasy novels, as nominated and voted on by NPR listeners. (For sure I’ve read 46 of them… and maybe a few others so long ago I can’t be sure.)

• Why there’s not a perfect time to write.

• Paperback Writer reviews free journaling program RedNotebook, which is available for many platforms.

• The Vonnegut Memorial Library offers free copies of Slaughterhouse-Five to students in the school district that banned the book.

• VacuousMinx on what a recent study revealed about spoilers. (I’m notoriously spoilerphobic.)

• Wise advice.

• The history of beefcake.

• August 6 was Do Nothing But Read Day.

• Books as art.

• Adorable edible books!

• Very funny book video that Tessa Dare made for Maya Banks using her kids’ toys.

Ebookity

• Lifehacker shares some tips for finding pdf manuals using Google and Amazon.

• Beware the Pottermore scam.

Make, Do, Learn, Think

• If July seemed hot to you, it wasn’t your imagination: nearly 9000 US heat records were broken in July.

• Ouch. 64% of Americans couldn’t cover a $1000 emergency.

• Does technology lead to incivility?

• Fruits and vegetables used to be more nutritious.

• Seemingly random migraines might be triggered by undiagnosed food allergies.

• How to keep from getting scary cell phone bills when you travel out of your country.

• Name your wi-fi network something alarming to discourage freeloaders.

• Tips for photographing your food in a restaurant.

• How we ended up with the FDA’s recommended 2000 calories/day. (via The Kitchn)

• Babies in utero experience strong flavors such as garlic and vanilla (hopefully not combined…).

• Researchers have developed rewritable epaper.

• A straw that can detect date rape drugs.

• DNA might have originated in outer space.

• Whoops! Google Maps has no idea where California’s Mt. Whitney is.

Gluten-Free

• Smart Balance bought Glutino.

• Gluten-free chocolate chip zucchini brownies.

• Triumph Dining takes a look at the FDA’s labeling laws.

• The FDA reopened comments on Gluten Free Labeling.

Cookity

• Lucky Charms ice cream sandwiches.

• Chocolate mudslide cookies. (via The Kitchn)

• Marshmallow-filled chocolate cookies.

• Sweet zucchini cobbler?

• Space shuttle cake!

Crafty

• Make a flying noodle monster suncatcher.

• Knitted engine.

• Knitted weather.

• Yarn ball earrings and mini-skein necklaces.

• Crocheted Star Wars AT-AT Walker.

• Tiny needle-felted landscape brooches.

• Potato print your very own kitty t-shirt.

Cool

• Camp treehouse. (Thanks, CursingMama!)

• Not-LEGO LEGO TARDIS.

• Doctor Who and Harry Potter fight over scarves… sadly, the t-shirt was only available for a single day. (via The Mary Sue)

• Other geeky t-shirts!

• Spaceship tub faucet!

• Superhero aprons!

• Kitten with a rainbow tail!

• Moon lamps.

• Coffee with space designs.

• Models of Star Wars characters as you’ve not seen them before.

• Awww! (via The Mary Sue)

• Batosaur? (via The Mary Sue)

• Truth.

• Definite gift potential – a site that lets you create customized cases for Kindle, iPad, laptops, or journals (although read their terms before you upload any of your own work). (via TeleRead)

• Amazing customer service: the story of the Dalek pencil topper.

Cool or Wha…?

• Have online dating sites become niche markets? (Thanks, PD!)

• Copper underwear?

• Fang rings.

• Hand soap…

• Giant bathing lady statue. (via The Mary Sue)

• Zombie head bowling balls.

• Jordan’s building a $1.5 billion Star Trek theme park.

Wha…?

• The studio where they filmed the original Raiders of the Lost Ark snake scene is still filled with descendents of snake escapees!

• You can buy an iPad case made from Bernie Madoff’s old pants…

• I find these latch hooked cat pelts disturbing…

• The phone number on a toy tow truck turns out to be for a sex line.

• A web game in which you match genitalia photos with Craigslist ads… NSFW!!!!

• Learn penis puppetry…

• Creepy Jell-O Pudding Man.

• Wedding dress made from balloons. (via The Mary Sue)

• I have no idea.

• Googly eye dress.

• Zombie sandals.

LOL

• Best signs in support of gay marriage.

• Smart alecky sign annotations. (Thanks, Bron!)

• Lifehacker’s guide for the zombie apocalypse.

• Some geeky password humor/truths.

• Indexed nailed this one.

• xkcd on missed connections in the personals.

• The sad thing about this? It’s totally true for me…

• Top 15 July autocorrects from DYAC.

• EPBOT meets Hyperbole and a Half!

• Navigating IKEA.

• How kitties see their people.

• Seven stages of cat recovery.

• No, Basement Cat, please, not the coffee…

• Basement Kitten!

Teh Cute

• Kitten! Baby red panda! Kitten! Tiger! Kitten! Swan and cygnet! Swan and cygnet! Kitten! Puppy and lion cab! Kittens! Twin wallaby joeys! Kitten! Baby fennec fox! Kitten! Tiger! Kittens! Red panda! Kitten! Liger and baby! Birdwatching cat! Moose family! Baby elephant! Red panda!

Reading Update
Ashton and Justice by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Sweet m/m romance about the abused son of a prominent district attorney and the son of a notorious criminal. Their fathers hate each other – how can things possibly work out?
More Than Moonlight by MJ O’Shea & Piper Vaughn. free ebook collection. A collection of three sweet short m/m romances, about two of the band members of Luck in the band’s early days.
Moonlight Becomes You by Piper Vaughn & MJ O’Shea. ebook. Excellent m/m romance about two bands, Luck and Moonlight, going on tour together. The lead singer of Luck becomes fascinated by the lead singer of Moonlight, and is increasingly frustrated because Moonlight’s lead singer treats him coldly and keeps his distance.
A Change of Pace (Change #3) by JM Cartwright. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a guy who moves to North Carolina from Chicago with a chip on his shoulder about the whole thing and then meets a local carpenter he develops confusing feelings for.
Lucky by KM Mahoney. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a bear shifter who moves to a small town in Wisconsin known to be paranormal friendly and meets an extremely unlucky (but cute!) fairy.
The Tower by Chris Owen. ebook. Good m/m romance, set in the indeterminate nearish future, about a guy who works in an office tower where career advancement literally involves moving up the tower/ladder. When the CEO’s administrative assistant (from the very top of the tower) takes an interest in him, he has no idea what to think.
Seeking Kokopelli by Shelley Munro. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about the lead singer of a band who’s subtly pursuing one of the roadies (a widower), not realizing that his own odd paranormal secret might need to come out.
Change in Attitude (Change of Heart #2) by Kiernan Kelly. ebook. Ok paranormal m/m romance in which veterinarian and werewolf Dae is called by his brother back to the pack that cast him out, and his human mate insists on going along despite the danger. This felt less polished than other work I’ve read by this author.
Only Yours by JR Patrick. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a guy who asks his boyfriend to move in with him… and when he wakes up in the morning, his boyfriend is gone.
The Attorney (The Male Room #2) by Carolyn LeVine Topol. ebook. Ok m/m romance about the lawyer from The Male Room, who’s now trying the gay dating site himself. He’s not doing so well with his picks, though, so one of the site’s owners sets him with someone he’d never have picked for himself.
To Love Again (Bound Hearts, Book 1) by Simone Anderson. ebook. Ok kinky m/m romance about a writer and dominant whose vanished ex-boyfriend turns up on his doorstep as an abused and escaped slave. While the storyline had potential, I never connected to the characters and felt, at times, as if I was reading parts of a research paper or something.
Buried Treasure by DC Juris. ebook short. Ok short m/m romance about a guy who visits his father at the nursing home and one of the orderlies from the nursing home. I just couldn’t suspend disbelief that six months of weekly platonic lunches would seamlessly flow into one dinner date and then moving in together…

---

Yes, they are built very differently! 🙂 And although you can’t tell from that picture, Chaos isn’t overweight.