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Congrats to Linda E, who won Finding Eden (Eden #2) by Kele Moon! Finding Eden is being released today Ellora’s Cave.

Congrats to Jennifer, who won Song of Oestend by Marie Sexton! Song of Oestend will be released August 22 by Total-E-Bound.

Congrats to jayhjay, who won On the List (Changing Plans #3) by L.A. Witt! On the List will be released on August 21 by Amber Allure.

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Contests

• Joder’s giving away an ebook copy of The One He Chose by Wendy Burke. Contest closes 11:59 pm CDT, August 23.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away two copies of The Greatest Love on Earth by Mary Ellen Dennis. Contest ends August 25. US & Canada.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Fiction Vixen (PNR/UF/romance), Katiebabs (a little of everything), AAR (romance), and Book Lovers Inc (a little of everything).

• How noir influenced cyberpunk.

• Can fiction change readers’ personalities?

• A school district in Virginia has removed the Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, from the curriculum because of how it depicts Mormonism…

• JL Langley talks about when she was plagiarized a few months ago.

• Smart Bitches highlights some cases of cover art copying.

• The latest Lora Leigh book seems as fraught with errors as the previous one.

• Vacuous Minx weighs in on editing in genre fiction.

• Kassa posted about being “the lone reed” – the person who rates a much ballyhooed book lower than the masses.

• Tam wonders whether we’re rating m/m romance books more harshly now than when we started reading the genre.

• Kibin “is an editing community where volunteer editors will proofread and offer unbiased feedback for free.” Hmm. Not sure I’d trust that for your self-pubbed book’s editing…

• The Good, the Bad and the Unread ponders whether providing ARCs gets publishers and authors better reviews.

• If you’ve been following the amusing the Righthaven copyright troll cases, there’s been a new development.

• Patti posted about books as fashion (gift ideas galore!).

• Convert a book into a gadget case.

• Not a good bookshelf for someone with OCD.

• Spellchecker failures.

• What it’s like to be a writer. (via Wyrdsmiths)

• Who knew? Stormtroopers read.

Ebookity

• Although ebook readers buy more, we expect discounts. (Well, since we can’t buy used ebooks…)

• Dear Author wonders if ebooks have changed your book buying habits.

• Did you get your Pottermore email if you were waiting for one?

• Kindle news.

Do, Make, Think, Learn

• Make a cardboard rocket for your cat.

• R.O.U.S. in Central Park?!

• Five new words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

• You can now buy Triple Double Oreos…

• Look out for contaminated honey.

• An allegedly safe new food preservative that could extend food’s shelf life by years.

• Think twice before using a public charging kiosk for your devices.

• The PC is 30 years old!

• Watching TV might lead to reduced life expectancy.

• Why people are stealing copper.

• Movie theater etiquette manifesto. I’d add “please skip the cologne/perfume/scented lotion/etc” – big reason why I just don’t go to movies anymore.

• Might be handy to keep in the car, just in case…

• Guess what? The pill probably doesn’t cause women to gain weight, contrary to what drug companies have been saying.

• Dogs can smell cancer on people’s breath. And adding caffeine to sunscreen may have anti-cancer effects.

• How did you celebrate Black Cat Appreciation Day on August 17?

Cookity

• Summer squash with baked eggs.

• How to make an exceptional BLT.

• LEGO cake! (via The Kitchn)

• Blueberry upside down cake. (via The Kitchn)

• Peanut butter pie. (via The Kitchn)

• Oreo marshmallows. (via The Kitchn)

• Twenty ice cream recipes.

Crafty

• Crochet a (cat) cozy for your computer mouse.

• Crocheted Tie Fighters.

• Crocheted spare tire cover.

• Microcrochet and nanorigami.

• Linkity from KnittyBlog.

• Nyan cat quilt.

• Organize your fabric using pants racks.

• Sew a laptop bag.

Cool

• What life looks like when you’re two years old.

• Food, cat, and craft linkity from MrsPao and book, geek, and yarn linkity from Book-Wyrm-Knits.

• Use spices to flavor whole coffee beans. (Screams holiday gift idea to me…)

• Warren Buffett wrote an editorial asking Congress to raise his taxes.

• Playing card lampshade.

• Camera lens shot glass.

• Tilt-shift time-lapse video of Chicago.

• Mirrored TARDIS. (via The Mary Sue)

• The New Zealand Mint will be releasing Star Wars coins as legal tender… but they’ll only be available on the island of Niue.

• LEGO Volkswagen camper van.

• I love the picture in this post.

Cool or Wha…?

• TARDIS corset. (via The Mary Sue)

• R2D2 bike helmet. (via The Mary Sue)

• R2D2 sweater.

• Lara Croft My Little Ponies. (via The Mary Sue)

• Space-warping carpet.

• Spice skulls.

• There’s sock monkey-making school?!

• The intersection of photography and string art…

• A movie about the historical origin of the vibrator?!

• Ridley Scott is going to make another Bladerunner movie.

Wha…?

• Did you hear about the secret WWII plot to give Hitler estrogen to calm his genocidal tendencies? (Had no one figured out PMS or what?!)

• Giant moon pillow (look at the price!)…

• I don’t think it’s ever wise to start a naked sword fight…

• Manx are Spanx for men…

• Bra made from paperclips.

• Jewelry made from dismembered Barbie dolls.

• Temporary teeth tattoos?!

• Um… and Um…

• Braincar.

• I don’t think the “I’m a vampire!” defense is going to work…

LOL

• Terminator is seeking Sarah Connor via Twitter… (Thanks, Bron!)

• As Bron said when she sent this one to me, “Best. Engagement. Pics. Ever.” (Thanks, Bron!)

• Things a 20-year old can’t do. Count me in on the phone thing… and I’m a bit older than 20! 🙂 (Thanks, Juni!)

• Need 4800 rolls of toilet paper and live in Toronto? (Thanks, Lorraine!)

• The last thing he said to his sister before he left for camp was “Stay out of my room”…

• Jaws done as a Peanuts comic.

• When people ask what you do for fun…

• xkcd on why it doesn’t really work to average star ratings for gadgets. (Make sure you hover over the comic for additional text!)

• DYAC’s ten favorite autocorrects ever.

• Anatomically amusing vegetables. (NSFW?!?)

• Franklin’s letter to a nineteenth-century knitting designer.

• The real story behind internet cat videos…

• What is the internet?

• How do Daleks feel about cats?

• Basement cat with minions.

• If cats could talk…

• Cat fight!

• So very Chaos.

Teh Cute

• Kittens! Baby aardwolf! Cat! Baby panda! Cat and kittens! Lion cub! Kittens! Potoroo and baby! Baby aardwolf! Ferret! Baby fishing cats! Baby aardwolves! Dolphin and baby! Hedgie and babies! Lion cub! Puffin chick! Baby red panda! Baby foxes! Lynxes! Heron and water buffalo! Zebra and baby! Lion cub! Fennec! Bower bird! Tiger cubs! Baby cheetahs! Baby penguin!

Reading Update
Breaking Cover (Life Lessons #2) by Kaje Harper. ebook. Excellent m/m romantic suspense that takes place a year after Life Lessons. Things have been going well for out teacher Tony and closeted police detective Mac up until now, but Tony’s increasingly frustrated by the constraints on their relationship… and then they hit the crisis point.
Man Falls Down by Eric Arvin. ebook short. Very good, very surreal, very short story about a guy who wakes up from an odd dream… and can’t really shake the feeling from the dream.
Crying for the Moon by Sarah Madison. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a vampire who’s tired of living with other vampires, so he moves to a remote area with the assistance of his werewolf friends. Too bad the vet living up the road is so persistently friendly…
Shift Happens by Storm Grant. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a Canadian anthropologist who heads to the Colombian rain forest to do some research with his mentor, but gets entangled in illegal drug manufacturing. When he runs into the hot guy he met on the plane to Colombia, things start to get really weird… (This could’ve been tightened up a bit in the middle, which might’ve turned it into an excellent read.)
Wolf Unexpected by Vic Winter. ebook short. Good, but extremely short m/m paranormal romance about a guy who gets really itchy and turns into a werewolf, with no clue what was happening. This really needed at least a few more pages to feel complete.
Guava Red: Almost Paradise by TC Blue. ebook. Good m/m romance about two guys who meet as teens but lose touch due to circumstances, then run into each other years later.
In His Hero’s Shadow (EMS Heat #10) by Stephani Hecht. ebook. Sweet m/m romance about two medics who are always at each others’ throats when their paths cross… well, almost always. 🙂
Twisted Rose by Amber Kell. ebook. Ok kinky m/m romance about a cop who agrees to be a bdsm club owner’s sub in order to help stop a serial killer who’s leaving bodies outside the club. This felt like it needed to be fleshed out a bit more… and it had a critical comma shortage.
Room Number Twelve by Rebecca Leigh. ebook short. Steamy short m/m paranormal that’s basically a sex scene between two vampire cowboys.
Simple by SJD Peterson. ebook. Ok m/m romance about two very insecure guys in a relationship together, neither thinking he’s good enough for the other, and both waiting for the other shoe to drop. This was a bit too sweet for me, and, unfortunately, I found the guys annoying.

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“I didn’t want that stinky old nip toy, anyway. This scratcher is much better.” -Mayhem