Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

ADWOFF Cares for Tennessee Flood Victims

Nora Roberts’ ADWOFF fan community is raising money for flood victims to donate to Disaster Recovery Services of Dyer County, TN, where one of their community members lives. Dyersburg is about 3 hours away from Nashville. You can see aerial footage of the flooding in Dyersburg on YouTube.

According to the Dyer Disaster website they are “a volunteer group which provides Recovery Services in the event of a disaster affecting the residents of Dyer County, Tennessee. We do so by coordinating the work of governmental authorities, non-profit organizations, businesses, and caring individuals to meet the needs of persons in Dyer County affected by disaster. We are a United Way Partner operating under the authority of the YMCA of Dyer County.” I am not finding an organization by that name on Charity Navigator, but the organization has been around since 2006 after a tornado caused massive destruction in northwest Tennessee.

Nora Roberts has pledged to match the donations up to $100,000.00. Checks can be made out to Dyer Disaster Organization and mailing are on the ADWOFF site. You can use Paypal to make a gift. To do so, click “Send money,” then click the personal tab & choose gift; otherwise… read more »

Haterz!

On the Contact Us page, we have a pretty obvious disclaimer about hate mail. To quote ourselves:

If we choose to, any hate mail we receive can be mercilessly mocked in public. In Smart Bitch legalese, this translates to: “We hereby reserve the right to publish your ranty asshattery as an example of fine ranty asshattery and protect therein our opportunity to mock the ever livin’ shit out of your ass.”

We will mock you for an email that says, “u suck and ur ugly i bet ur bad in bed so why dont u just get laid and stfu.”

We will not necessarily mock you for an email that says, “I am so upset at you and here is why.”

There’s a big difference. Those of you who don’t know it, e-mail us at your own peril.

Yes, we get hate mail here at Smart Bitches HQ. Like the one I received tonight in response to this review. From 2005. About the Carpathian series by Christine Feehan. I’ve read a few of the early ones. I really liked the first one, especially the psychic connection in the beginning where Emo Vampire McMiserable is all about to off himself and… read more »

I am so mean

And so is P.N. Elrod, who sent me a link, so that I could show you THIS GRAPHIC:

Best Link Evah

From RWA Librarian of the Year Jennifer Lohmann (can you tell I’m still giddy about that? NO? I will endeavor to be MORE SUPER EXTRA DOUBLE GIDDY) (Tomorrow. I am le tired) comes this link. It’s so fun and awesome, it’s the whole entry: Hot Guys Reading Books.

It was brought to her attention due to Jason Pinter’s post on (Huff)PoBooks about the fallacy that men don’t read. Now, the men I know absolutely do read. And I’ll be hiding around corners taking pictures of Hubby reading now. It’ll drive him nuts.

Buffy vs. Edward Remix Up for Webby Award

Way back in the day, Buffy vs. Edward: Twilight Remix was featured as a Friday Video. now it’s up for a Webby Award among the remixes and mashup videos. It’s up against Auto-Tune the News, which I also featured on Friday Videos. Man, I have some strange taste, it seems.

Voting ends tomorrow, 29 April, so if you want to go show Buffy some love, get on it soon.

Hoping Jennifer Haymore Kicks Cancer’s Ass

Author Jennifer Haymore has posted on her blog that she’s been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and is beginning treatment, which is a long, arduous and utterly not fun road. I wish her every happy ending to this story, and a collection of absolutely fabulous hats during her treatment.

To send positive thoughts her way, I’m going to give away five copies of her latest book to five random commenters. I think just about everyone knows someone who has battled cancer or an illness that requires treatment almost as bad as the illness itself. So what’s your best advice or best wish for Jennifer? Any tips on surviving the survival part? Popsicles and romance novels? Super soft slippers and macrobiotic meals? Bring it on. I’ll select five winners and send the books.

[Disclaimer: I’m not being compensated nor is anyone else funding the giveaway. Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear. Your mileage may vary. Many bags look alike. Cancer blows.]

I hope you kick cancer’s ass, ma’am.

ETA: Lisa Heermann has sent over her pathfinder entitled Cancer Resources for… read more »

Team USA Wins International Mullet

That might be the best headline I’ve written yet.

After frenzied voting and trash talking and mullet admiration all around, let’s tally the votes.

Over at KristieJ’s site, where Canadian mullets brought it and brought it long and hard,Team USA gathered 142 votes, and Team Canada gathered 102.

Over at the hot pink palace of Bitchery, where His Majesty, The Mullet King Billy Ray Cyrus held court, Team Canada picked up 307 votes, while Team USA gathered 784.  So, the winner: Team USA, 926 to 409.

Which means KristieJ is going to be sporting for national Canadian pride, Ye Olde Mullet Wig, currently living on my kitchen counter. Oh, the mullet, it is amazing. This is so awesome. I hope she lets me try it on. I’m indubitably envious!

Thanks to KristieJ for the International Mullet competition - I was so sure Canada had it down cold (ha!) as a victory, since they not only have hockey but also more mullets per capita, according to eyewitness reports. But it’s the double power of Dog the Bounty Hunter and Billy Ray Cyrus who put Team USA over the top. Wow. I’m absolutely surprised at this victory.

Mullet-Off: Getting Dirty

Y’all. KristieJ is CHEATING. She ADMITS IT. She’s CHEATING in the mullet competition! Oh, the shame the shame.

She thinks a pre-glitter vampire Keifer Sutherland in a mullet is going to top TEAM USA?! Ha.

I give you the much-suggested Dog the Bounty Hunter. I didn’t want to bring him out unless necessary. But Billy Ray + Dog? It is SO on.

I mean, come on. He has shells in his mullet. Oceanic aquatic life is supported by the power of his mullet.

To say nothing of the Luuuuuuurve™ baby, the Luuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrve™.

The Dog mullet: you can’t beat it. You can only hope it stays within the United States borders.

I’m reloading the poll in this entry -so remember: the loser wears a mullet at RT and RWA. This could be epic win, yo. GO TEAM MULLET USA.

Imagine the Production Meeting on This One

So imagine you’re a producer for CTV up in Ye Olde Canada, and you have this great idea for a telenovela featuring heavy product placement with Old El Paso, featuring a beautiful woman forced to marry the richest, most evilest evil man in El Paso Viejo. And there’s a pool boy.

I think this kind of crazy fun can only happen in Canada. If someone tried to pull this off in the US, there’d be some kind of celebrity placement involving Justin Beiber or one of the homogeneous Disney starlets and it’d suck wind mighty fast.

But this? Oh, this does not suck wind! From alert reader Kathryn, who spent a LOT of time figuring out what the hell was going on here:

It seems that CTV (Canadian Television) and Old El Paso Tacos have put together a bizarre marketing gimmick that combines cheesy Latin American soap operas, Choose Your Own Adventure and tacos.  CTV claims to have a new soap opera called “Mi Marido, Mi Angel (My Husband, My Angel)” where YOU star as the beautiful woman forced to marry the evil Alejandro Los Rico, the richest man in the village of El Paso Viejo.  The site… read more »

Where Do You Buy Books: Survey Results

In mid-February, I asked for your responses in a very low-key, utterly not-scientific survey about Where you like to buy your books, and in what format.

Behold, the results! First, this is hands down my favorite comment in response to “Tell me what store or buying option I forgot:”

Mostly, I buy at the drugstore/grocery store these days. But I’ve bought everywhere I checked above. Yes, I’ve even swiped books from the library, but never on purpose. More in the “oh, dear, so that’s where that book went” sort of way. But the most interesting place I’ve ever acquired a book was at a yardsale where I’d run out of money. I successfully negotiated a swap for the white fringed blouse I was wearing over a tank top, for an out of print Jo Beverley hardcover. Never liked that blouse, anyway.

Will strip for out-of-print hardcovers? That ROCKS. (Why have I never thought of that?!!)

So, without further ado, here are the results, in graphic form. If you’d like to see the complete data, you can view my report—it’s available to the public for viewing and download. You can also view the complete list of book buying options with… read more »

My Initial Reaction to the iPad

I am underwhelmed.

Here’s my initial thoughts on Apple’s big announcement, culled from Notepad and Twitter.

- iPad?! Really?! REALLY? Gosh, I’m sorry I no longer have a Nook now. They would have been great partners.

The iPad, now available in Light, Maxi, and Super (8Gb, 16Gb 64Gb)? As Tessa Dare said, are there NO women at Apple who could have given them the heads up (HA) that this is a BAD NAME?

Please someone tell me they’ll just name the next device iVAGINA and be done with it? Is this how they’re targeting female technology consumers and book readers? Sweet holy crap.

- Yadda yadda bunch of stuff it does yay.

- iBooks: HOLY LAMESAUCE people. It was a throwaway app demo, with more time spent on games and on their iWork suite.

- It uses ePub. Water is extra wet sometimes.

- Helloooo? DRM? There’s none in iTunes now… so, absence of mention makes me very curious. Like, if you have to ask, you won’t like the answer.

- The amount of time spent on iBooks made it insignificant, especially when I stopped to ponder what… read more »

Internship Last Call

Last call for applications for the Dear Author/Smart Bitches internship opportunity. Applications are due by tomorrow, midnight EST. You can read the entire entry there, but the pertinent application details are below.

This internship is unpaid and is for 10-15 hours per week of work, schedule to be determined by mutual agreement. The busiest time for the task schedule will be late February and March, when extra hours may be possible, though never more than 20.

Dear Author and SBTB will work with university to establish college credit for work performed, but we make no guarantees. Open to students in the US and Canada only. (Sorry, awesome folks in other countries!) Applications are due by 25 January 2010. Please email thetoberead@gmail.com with the following information to apply:

Your name Your address (school please) Current Graduation Date Major

Your experience and reason for your interest (150 words or less, please).

Tools of Change in Publishing

Smart Bitches Trashy Books LLC is a media partner for the 2010 O’Reilly Tools of Change Conference (and if you’d like a discount off registration, click that ad over yonder and use the code toc10sb for 15% off the cost), and I’m preparing for two presentations at the 2010 conference. Nervous? You bet your sweet bippy. Why? In both cases, I’m talking about digital books and digital reading, and while these are subjects that I’ve learned a tremendous amount about, I remain convinced that those who drive the digital reading and digital publishing industries are not always listening to the reader. So my brain is spinning with all the things I want to communicate - and I’m trying to make sense of everything I want to say, because I want to make sure I do a fair job of representing the feedback I’ve received about digital books, devices, and the experience of digital reading.

One panel I’m on is titled Test Driving the Digital Reading Experience, and it’s all about - you guessed it - the Smart Bitches Test Drive of Sony Readers in 2009. My part of the presentation will explain a bit about the demographics that made… read more »

Haiti

We have readers from all over the world, and I know we have some readers from Haiti. I think they’re lurkers, as I only hear from them occasionally via email, but I’m sick and sad seeing the images from the earthquake in Port-au-Prince last night and I hope the death toll is far, far lower than news sources are predicting (which need to shut the hell up about how many Americans were involved already before I break my own tv).

If you’d like to help, OxFam America is already in Port-au-Prince, and there’s a podcast and a report on their site. The donation page is crashing repeatedly, though, likely from traffic. (Charity Navigator rating: four stars).

In addition, Save the Children is also in Port-au-Prince, and has more information about conditions there, and ways to help. (Charity Navigator rating: four stars.)

I am always amazed by how small the world is online, and how few boundaries there are between people who share a common joy like romance, even if they don’t share a common language. If you have any sources for donations or information you’d like to share, please share in the comments.

Internship Ahoy

There are some big plans on the horizon and the time has come to enter the land of excellence: internship! Below the fold are details on an internship opportunity for Smart Bitches and Dear Author. Feel free to forward, copy and paste and send to all and sundry (but be careful with sundry, as I hear she’s a bit wonky today).

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or email me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom.