Congrats to Leigh, who won Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Clare London!
And congrats to elaing8, who won The Third Floor by Stephani Hecht!
Congrats to Tam, who won Eat Me by Mia Watts! Eat Me will be released on Monday, October 25, by Total-E-Bound.
I suppose you’re curious about the title of this post, huh? Early next week, I’m heading to San Francisco with Kris, Tam, Jenre, and Tracy to see the city and attend Yaoi Con. Subsequently, blogging will be a little spotty for the next two weeks. On Monday, October 25, I’ll have a vampire-themed edition of the Misadventures for Halloween. A new Kim Dare contest will automagically post on Thursday, October 28. I’ll post contest winners in the evening on October 25, October 28, and October 29 – please consider 7 pm CDT as a rough ending time for those contests! Contests are still open until I shut off the comments on the contest posts. Also, I’m not going to be able to reply to all of the contest entries and I apologize in advance for that.
Vacationy sorts of random posts may appear without warning. 🙂
Contests
- CRAFT’s giving away a copy of the cupcake cookbook, A Zombie Ate My Cupcake. Comment on why you would like to win the book before 5 pm PST, October 22, for your chance to win.
- Lea’s giving away signed copies of the first two jaguar shifter books by Juliana Stone. Comment by midnight EDT, October 22, for your chance to win.
- Katiebabs is giving away a signed set of the Market romance trilogy by Louisa Edwards. Contest closes October 23.
- Smexy Mandi’s giving away five copies of Daughter of Darkness by V.C. Andrews. Comment through October 23 to enter.
- Cecile’s giving away two ebook copies of Lori Brighton’s paranormal romance, Ghost Hunter. For your chance to win, answer her question in the comments by October 24.
- Katiebabs is giving away a copy of Jennifer Estep’s Venom to someone who asks Jennifer a question in the comments by October 25.
- Ginger’s giving away Bisquick Gluten Free baking mix, a silver dollar pancake pan, a spatula, and a “pancake pen” to someone from the US who comments by 7 pm EST, October 26.
- Leontine’s giving away a signed copy of Olivia Cunning’s latest romance, Backstage Pass. Answer the author’s question in your comment before October 30 for your chance to win.
Bookity
- New releases: Renee (October books that intrigued her), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR news, contests, etc), Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog (November releases she’s looking forward to), SciFiGuy (UF/PNR news, contests, etc.), Fantasy Dreamer (UF/PNR/fantasy/YA, etc), and Smexy Mandi (some upcoming PNR).
- Misadventures in Stock Photography found elsewhere: Gizmodo, Smart Bitches, and Smart Bitches again.
- Book news and linkity: Dear Author, Smart Bitches, and ReadReactReview.
- Go take the Romantic Times survey – is it just me, or do others feel like having the lowest range spent on books being $0-$20 is weird? My spending $0 on hardcovers, trade paperbacks, and mass market paperbacks (buying ebooks instead) gets lost…
- Reasoning with Vampires dissects the writing in the Twilight saga, with delightfully incoherent results. (Warning: This site is addictive!) (Thanks, Bron!)
Ebookity
- The big networks’ fear of Google TV reminds me a bit of big publishers’ fear of ebooks.
- The word on ebook piracy continues to be conflicting – is it zOMG or no big deal?
Learn, Think, Make, Do
- The Minnesota History Museum’s Chocolate Exhibit runs through January 2, 2011. (Jeanne, we should go!)
- Speaking of chocolate, how about making a batch of Nutella chocolate thumbprint cookies? (Note to self: Try Nutella on the most awesome of all peanut butter cookie recipes.)
- I guess it’s not that surprising to learn junk food has the same effect on the brain as crack.
- Remember that article about willpower being a finite resource? Not everyone agrees – instead, maybe willpower is as strong as you think it is.
- The top ten jobs, according to Money magazine.
- Do you know how to clean and disinfect your gadgets safely? (Consumerist reports on a new study that found mobile devices to be “excellent virus vectors.”)
- Who knew that putting limes in your beer could lead to spotty skin?!
- Maybe you should be deciding which tv shows you watch based on how likely they are to be renewed…
- See part of southeastern Minnesota via Amy’s roadtrip. (I love Great River Bluffs State Park, which used to be named O.L. Kipp State Park).
- Did you know that Wednesday was World Statistics Day? Take a minute to read this post at Lifehacker that will help you interpret survey statistics better.
- …which leads us to some rather shocking statistics on Facebook games. 😮
- Did you hear about the amazing breakthrough in solar power… by the inventor of the Super Soaker?
Linkity Peeps
Halloweeny
- Amazing knit skeleton.
- Lion Brand has some cool free Halloween-themed knitting patterns. I must make those black kitty mitts!
- Instead of carving pumpkins, maybe you should knit pumpkin cozies instead.
- Cats that look like demons… eep! (Thanks, MamaTulip!)
- Make owl pellets! Or crochet owl pellets! (Not to eat…)
- Carve your own R2D2 or Death Star pumpkin. Or maybe you’d prefer carving turnips instead?
Cool
- Not that I feel the need to spend $130 on LEGOs, but Hogwart’s Castle is pretty awesome.
- I hope this “Getting drunk at the spacebar” t-shirt got enough votes to be printed.
- Is there a Michigander in your life who would appreciate some Michigan Mittens?
- Broadway sings for The Trevor Project and It Gets Better. If you haven’t seen Fort Worth city council member Joel Burns’s It Gets Better video, grab some tissues and watch it.
Huh
- It takes a lot of USB ports to cook meat.
- I find these Homer Simpson slippers disturbing, too. Can’t you just hear Homer saying, “Mmmmmm…. feet”?
- Talk about a traumatizing bath toy for little boys…
- It seems sort of dangerous to be hurling snowballs 150 feet…
- Are you supposed to mix the contents of the instant coffee straw with water, or snort them straight?
LOL
- The difference between Facebook and Twitter, summarized in a single sentence.
- Hee hee – the 2001: A Space Odyssey monolith “action figure” has definite gag gift potential.
- I had no idea Wayne Manor moved around so much!
- Not sure of the best way to store and organize your cats? Here are 119 different ways that might appeal. 🙂 (Thanks, Juni!)
- Are you sure you know how to properly pet a kitty?
- Looks an awful lot like trying to eat around here…
- Mayhem loves yarn this much, too. Hopefully she never gets into my yarn storage!
- Franklin offers up the Stash Attack Advisory System.
Teh Cute
- Congrats to Stewie, the new Guinness record holder for world’s longest domestic cat! (Thanks, Lea!)
- Kittens! Kitten! Very young kittens! Meerkat! Kitten! Kitten! Baby fennec fox! Kitten! Melly! Hedgehog! Baby otter! Meerkats! Kittens! Fawn! Red pandas! Kittens! Kitten! Fossas! Kitty and a book!
Reading Update
Dudleytown by L.B. Gregg. advance ebook. Very good Halloween-themed m/m romance about several college students taking a “shortcut” on their drive home for the weekend. Things go a bit more spectacularly awry than is usual for such shortcuts… Plenty of trademark L.B. humor and insight make for an entertainingly suspenseful read.
The Third Floor by Stephani Hecht. ebook short. Cute short Halloween-themed m/m romance about two guys working the admission booth of a haunted house, one of whom insists he’s not at all interested in the other. I wonder if there will be more books about these two? 🙂
Dance with a Vampire by Fabian Black. free ebook short. Very good, very short Halloween-themed m/m romance about a guy, trying to get in to a club for a Halloween party and becoming upset with the man at the door who won’t let him in.
Through the Red Door (Vampires & Mages & Weres, Oh My!, Book 2) by Devon Rhodes. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a demon enforcer out house hunting who finds a house that would be perfect if it wasn’t for the warded red door and his inexplicable reaction to the owner’s scent… Alas, I felt this book was marred by an abrupt ending – spending a few more pages tying things up after the conflict was resolved would’ve helped immensely.
Trick of the Senses (Sensational #4) by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox. ebook short. Good short paranormal m/m romance about a psychic and his lover, who also shifts into his service dog. This probably would’ve made more sense if I’d read the previous three stories. 🙂
Calendar Boys of October: Trick of Silver by Jamie Craig. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a werewolf hunter sent to kill an allegedly murderous werewolf… but the evidence doesn’t add up. And the werewolf is really sexy…
On the Ragged Edge of the World (Trick of Silver, Book 2) by Jamie Craig. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance continuing the story of the werewolf hunter trying to fit into the pack that his werewolf lover leads.
Out of Bounds by Viki Lyn. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a well-known and openly gay artist who returns to his small and bigoted hometown to get away from memories of his ex. Against his better judgment, he becomes involved with the deeply closeted football coach.
The Way You Say My Name (Reed, Book 2) by Sara Bell. ebook. Meh m/m romance about two 18-year old high school students. Besides the insta-love and chicks with dicks, there was just way too much going on in this book and it dragged on way too long.
Winston Quirk by Martin Delacroix. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance set on a small and very racist island in the Bahamas in the mid-1970s. A white professor on vacation from Florida finds himself rethinking his beliefs about race after meeting the title character.
“……..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……….” -Mayhem