Congrats to Kaetrin, who won Priority One by Stephani Hecht! Priority One will be released on August 1 by eXtasy Books.

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So, last Saturday evening CJ (aka urban fantasy author Carolyn Crane) and I sat down in my living room with some gluten-free beers, our laptops, and Google Docs to polish up a (hopefully) humorous post with a paranormal romance theme. Thanks to CJ’s tireless efforts, our post has been published at Tor.com. Stop by and check it out if you get a chance!

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Contests

• Chappysmom is celebrating 2010 blog posts by giving away a copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting! Guess how many knitting and spinning books she has for your chance to win.

• Bronwyn Green’s giving away all three ebooks in her Celtic Fire Series. Leave a comment by 7 pm EDT, August 1, for your chance to win.

• Over the Edge Book Reviews is giving away two copies of Geoffrey Knight’s new m/m action adventure, The Cross of Sins (Fathom’s Five, Book 3). Contest runs through August 1.

• Anna’s giving away a copy of Julia Barrett’s recent fantasy romance, Daughters of Persephone. Comment by August 2 for your chance to win.

• Sassy Brit’s giving away two ebook copies of AC Katt’s m/m romance, Shattered Glass. If you win and you live in the US, you’ll also get a t-shirt and a notebook. Contest closes at midnight on August 3 and the winner will be announced August 4.

• Janna’s on vacation, but she’s got five contests scheduled while she’s gone! Make sure you stop by each day to check that day’s contest.

• It’s time for Jessewave’s 5th Ugly Covers Competition! Submit your ugly cover nominations by August 11. (And be aware that the sidebars are Jessewave may be NSFW.)

• The Knit Princess blog is looking for knitting horror stories. Submit yours by August 31 for your chance to win a Knit Princess book, t-shirt, and more.

Bookity

• New releases: Lily (m/m romance), Literary Escapism (UF/PNR interviews and more), and All About Romance (August audiobooks).

• Dear Author’s news posts are always interesting. So’s the Monday Morning Stepback from ReadReactReview.

• Hide your iPhone 4 in a gorgeous little black book case.

• The Incase Convertible Book Case for the iPad looks like a good thing to have.

• GoodReads was rated the best book recommendation service by Lifehacker readers.

• August is Michigan authors’ month at Fang-tastic Books – if you’re an author from Michigan, Roxanne still has some spots open!

• Lilith Saintcrow on how not to be a Speshul Snowflake writer.

• The Kama Sutra of Reading – less NSFW than you’d think. 🙂

• What would tech support for the book have looked like?

Ebookity

• The Library of Congress really shook things up this week with its statement about situations in which it’s legal to crack DRM on products you own. Gizmodo has a nice summary of what this actually means and Dear Author speculates on the future of DRM.

• Interesting post at TeleRead about copyright, monopoly, and misconceptions about copyright.

• The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies have issued their final report on ebooks and public libraries.

• How to check ebooks out of the library.

• Confused about all the different varieties of epub? This primer might help.

• Some of the more minor ebook reader manufacturers are going out of business.

• Are second-hand ebooks possible?

• If you’d like to digitize your print books and aren’t in a hurry to do so, here’s a setup you can put together yourself.

• Apple removed erotic books from its bookstore bestseller list.

• How can ebookstores earn customer loyalty?

• K.Z. Snow reveals how the cover for Fugly was made.

• Don’t miss Tam’s free m/m hamster shifter story!

Learn, Make, Think, Do

• Snickerdoodle cake! I don’t see why this wouldn’t work with a gluten-free cake mix…

• What do you think is the top source for dvd “rentals” in the US? If you guessed Netflix or Redbox, you’d be wrong – it’s public libraries!

• How I wish I could draw better, so I could make some tattooed LEGO minifigs…

• Make your own treadmill desk.

• Sew your own snack bags so you can avoid plastic bags.

• If you understand the science behind having a bad day, you might be able to avoid having a bad day.

• Do we live in a black hole?!

• Oh dear – your box spring might be acting like a radiation antenna while you sleep. I’m appreciating my futon lifestyle at the moment!

• The “F-Bomb-A-Thon” video is definitely NSFW, but it’s a very interesting way for a charity to raise funds for cleaning up the Gulf.

• Very, very effective public service announcement on wearing seatbelts. (Not gory!)

• Have you ever used incremental reading to help memorize data? Does it work?

Linkity Peeps

• Nicole’s got a few links that caught her interest this week.

• Kristi’s got more fiber, cooking, and photography links.

• Katiebab’s did her weekly NSFW WTFery links.

• Marsha’s got links to various crafty ways to cover baby toes.

Huh

• Ewwww… beer packed in rodent carcasses. *shudders*

• Talk about a really bad idea for trying to make kids less scared of needles…

• A sleeping dog runs into a wall. But why was someone filming him sleeping?! Does he run into the wall a lot while he sleeps?? (Thanks?, Amy!)

• Jelloware cups sound so, so messy.

• The defibrillator toaster is only a concept for now.

• An espresso machine made from concrete…

• You can now get a refillable stainless steel Sharpie.

• Trying to make helmets more fun (concept only).

LOL

• Although I know many of you have already seen the Jane Austen’s Fight Club “trailer”, if you haven’t, you must!

• Romeo and… Julian?

• xkcd on period speech (make sure you hover your mouse pointer over the comic).

• Mass Media: Theory Vs Reality…

• Comic-Con attendees held a counter protest against the Westboro Baptist Church.

• Some examples of why English is such a confusing language. (Thanks, Jase!)

• Go try your hand at writing a family reunion haiku and read the ones already there!

• A very unique Nokia sign…

• A country music video that spoofs the Twilight movies.

• This is how I feel on Monday mornings, too.

• Keep your toes safe!

• The lolcats history infographic you’ve been waiting for.

• Do you really appreciate how lucky you are not to have Basement Cat as your brother?

• What a deal – you can get your own “Start Your Own Evil Empire” starter kit!

• Beware the ninja kitteh!

• This is why the toilet paper at my condo is in the vanity and not easily accessible to people… or Chaos.

• A little Frogger humor – make sure you hover your mouse pointer over the comic to get additional text!

Teh Cute

• A cat and a bunny take a nap! (Thanks, Jase!)

• Kitten! Melly in a box! Melly being a cute pest! Kittens! Kitten! Kitten! Kittens! Kittens! Kitten on a puppy! Orange kitty overload! Gray cat and kitten! Pile o’ kittens! Kittens! Heart-shaped kitties!

Reading Update
Bound and Determined by Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow. ebook. Excellent kinky m/m romance about a college senior who realizes he’s submissive, which is simultaneously difficult for him to accept and something he craves.
Blinded by Our Eyes by Clare London. ebook. Very good m/m mystery about a gallery owner who discovers an artist murdered in his gallery and slowly begins to realize that nothing he’d believed about the people in his life is as he thought it was.
Fair Game by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Very good m/m mystery about an FBI agent turned professor after being injured in the line of duty who’s asked to look into the disappearance of a student on campus. (I received this book via NetGalley. Fair Game will be released on August 2 by Carina Press.)
A Game of Chances (Farmingdale Gentleman’s Club, Book 1) by T.C. Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense with lots of little twists and turns. The Farmingdale Gentleman’s Club is a private grey ops organization. And I don’t want to tell you anything else because being surprised by the twists and turns was a big part of what I liked! I’m definitely looking forward to the next book.
Safe in His Arms (Wicked Hearts, Book 2) by Claire Thompson. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about the seemingly irredeemable cruel and controlling “best friend” from the previous book, who’s slowly spiraling toward rock bottom. If you’d told me after I finished reading Wicked Hearts that Claire Thompson could make me care about and like this guy, I would not have believed you.
Ports of Call by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a couple on vacation at the beach, trying to get past one of them having been mugged.
Two Steps Up by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Cute short m/m about a teen standing across the street from where a gay teens support group meeting will be held, trying to work up the nerve to go to the meeting.
Protests and Proposals by Sean Kennedy. ebook short. Another cute short m/m romance about two guys protesting Proposition 8 being repealed.
Blue Skies by Diane Adams. ebook short. Decent short m/m romance about a conservative businessman who’s very attracted to a flaming younger man, but stays away because he thinks being “so gay” brings the wrong sort of attention to the gay community.
Gay Best Friend (G-A-Y, Book 10) by Kim Dare. ebook short. Good kinky short m/m romance about an allegedly straight guy who kisses his gay best friend on a dare from his obnoxious coworkers, then realizes that he might not be as straight as he’d always believed.
A Limited Engagement by Josh Lanyon. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about an actor who gambles everything when he outs his closeted lover to end his lover’s engagement to a woman.
Bargaining by Rhianne Aile & Madeleine Urban. ebook short. Steamy short m/m romance about two friends who finally get together, only to discover they’re both tops. This story will work best for those unconcerned about realism in refractory periods or condom use.
Lilacs by Megan Derr. free ebook short. Ok free short paranormal m/m romance about two guys who hate each other due to a big misunderstanding… and then discover they’re about to become stepbrothers.
News at Eleven by Jack Greene. ebook short. Cute’n’steamy short m/m romance about a tv station manager who’s been admiring the very out star news anchor from a distance.
Cold Steel by Morgan Lee. ebook short. So-so kinky short m/m interlude about an undercover cop who’s “arrested” by his partner at the end of his assignment. This teetered on the edge of purple prose… and I’m pretty sure those handcuffs would’ve messed up the finish on the cop car…

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“This is an advanced technique. Don’t try this at home without the assistance of a qualified kitty.” -Mayhem