Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Swoon and What and Humor Links

Suppose you're having a somewhat stressful day, or you're feeling a little agitated and out of sorts. It's possible, right? Tina C. is here to help, with this newspaper profile about a couple that's been together for more than 60 years:

Eric Marcoux and Eugene Woodworth will celebrate 60 years together on June 13. The couple met in Chicago in 1953. Woodworth was a ballet dancer, and Marcoux was just leaving a Trappist monastery.

Marcoux, 82, and Woodworth, 84, participate in Friendly House's Gay and Grey program, and Marcoux has been a Buddhist teacher for 23 years.

Q: How did you meet?

Marcoux: I'd just come from the 12th century. I was in a Trappist monastery when I was very very young. (I) went into a restaurant and ran into a friend, and he was sitting with someone. I was invited by my friend Nathan to come to a party that evening. And I said, "No, no, no, I'm going to a movie with friends." I went and sat down. I had what I swear was a paranormal experience. I subjectively felt like something put its hands under my armpits and lifted me and marched me… read more »

Links and Sales and Christmas Cheer!

Links! I have some! 

BookRX, a link I found via Rose Fox on Twitter, recommends books based on what you've talked about on Twitter. I'm really curious if you find it accurate. I put my Twitter feed in, and it told me I needed to read 50 Shades of Grey about 5 different times. HA! The results also indicate a rather flexible definition of romance, but still, it's a neat way to collect recommendation suggestions. 

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The Galaxy Express has three collections of science fiction romances ready to give away for the holidays. Yay!

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Links and Sales of the Day!

Thanks to Sharon and Lisa for sending over the heads up: not one but two articles at NPR about romance today. Eloisa James makes five recommendations for romances "from Shakespeare to steampunk." And Bobbi Dumas writes about how one should not be ashamed of reading romances.

Hear, hear. 

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Books on sale? Why, yes, yes they are! It's totally amazing, y'all. 

Legend of the White Wolf by Terry Spear is .99c.

In this fourth in Spear's series, Private Eye Cameron MacPherson and Faith O'Mallery are both on quests that lead them into the world of magical wolves…

Cameron arrives in the Canadian Arctic to search for his partners in his P.I. business who are late returning from a hunting trip. Faith is there to discover what her father had seen in the same area years earlier that had made him lose touch with reality—man-wolves, he called them.

The two tumble into an icy world of enemies bent on destroying… read more »

Cover Poses, Re-Coverings, and Books on Sale

I'm feeling very sad, and not much like being silly, but I so appreciate the humor that other people have created today. It is much needed, and I am thankful.

Specifically, I am thankful for Jim C. Hines and his bear. Jim emailed me asking for suggestions from romance cover art for his poses for charity, and I sent a few. The Pull My Finger Viking, for example, and a few others, but he went with my absolute favorite: nude Fabio Johanna Lindsey.

And he posed both as the male and the female in the cover art image. Oh, my.

Well played, Jim. Well played.

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And speaking of silly, I have more than my share of 50-Shades-referenced pitches in my inbox, but Francesca sent me this link to a Tumblr collection of excerpts from "Fifty Shades of Mr. Darcy," a 50-Shades-parody rewrite of Pride and Prejudice, which, judging from the clips, seems to be rather faithful to both.

My favorite: "'Come now, let's move the plot along!' shouted Elizabeth's Subsconscious."

And the bad reviews are the… read more »

Jim C. Hines Steals his Wife’s Shoes - Plus Johanna Lindsey Euphemism Book Titles on Sale

A few days ago, I linked to Jim C. Hines' cover pose challenge to raise money for the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation. Jim's willingess to shave his legs, steal his wife's and his mom's shoes, and pose in intricate fashion has raised over $6000 to date.

And his challenge to John Scalzi has been answered. 

There are more cover poses to come - including a Johanna Lindsey cover - but for now, I say the advantage is to Mr. Hines, who shaved one leg for his commitment to art. 

Well played, Mr. Hines. Well played.

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Links, News, Fun, Games, and Sales

The AllRomance rebate for a digital copy of Sorcery and Cecelia ends on 14 December 2012, so if you're thinking about reading it, go grab your copy. You will receive a 50% eBook Buck rebate if you use code SBTBARE at checkout. And, since Open Road Media is the digital publisher, coupons are welcome (Yay!).  If paper is your preference, you can find a copy at Amazon, BN, or your local independent bookseller, or perhaps your local library.

Friendly reminder: the chat will be on Wednesday 19 December at 9:00pm ET. The authors will be joining us at 10pm ET for a Q&A. I hope you can join us! 

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Tessa Dare's novella, The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright ( A | BN | K | S | ARe | iB ) has been re-released by Avon Impulse for .99c, and to celebrate, she's posted a Rake Name generator. 

I am The Audacious Ribald Well-Coiffed Miss - and this is fine except for the well-coiffed part, because that's hilariously untrue.

Links and a Tessa Dare Trilogy on Sale

First, thank you to the many, many people who have shared the reaction video from Ron Charles of The Washington Post regarding EL James being named "Publishing Person of the Year" by PW.

Link!

Never have clingwrap and leggings looked so good. Well played, Mr. Charles, well played. 

Links and eBook Deals on Six Kinsale Historicals

First: LINKS. Because sometimes the internet is a very silly place, and we want to enjoy it. 

From Becky: pictures from The Most Fabulous Santa Run, which raises money for Vital Bridges. This year's run raised over $7,000 as a few hundred men and women ran in speedos and santa hats. There's a collection at Lakeview Patch, at ChicagoPride.com, and at the Most Fabulous Santa Facebook page.

Sorry, what? Oh - thanks, Becky!  And mad props and big cheers for the Jewish guy! 

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Via James: Dalek Christmas Tree?! YES. DALEK TREE! 

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Links to Jim C. “Awesome, Sir” Hines and Books on Sale

Thanks to Kit W. there is inspiring cover madness to come from Jim C. Hines.

Hines, part-time cover model with the hottest insulin pump EVER, has come up with the awesome. After the pointed hilarity of his two collections of cover mocking exploring the differences in how men and women are posed on book covers, he's come up with a most majestic challenge:

I’m asking people to donate to the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation. In exchange, I will give you what the internet has deemed my most important contribution to society: ridiculous cover poses. All you have to do is email me at ASF@jimchines.com letting me know how much you donated. If you give more than $25, please include a copy of your receipt from the foundation. I’ll pick donors at random to suggest covers for me to try to duplicate. My only rule is that it has to be PG-13 or less. As an added bonus, if we hit $1000, I’ll challenge award-winning and bestselling author John Scalzi to a… read more »

Gift Guide, Part III

Time to put your credit cards in the freezer again, because I have more reader-submitted and reader-approved gift ideas for all the lovely people on your list. Or for you. And you should really be on your own list, right? So go shove your wallet under the peas and I'll wait right here. 

Ready? BE STRONG! WE CAN DO THIS! 

Oh, the temptation. 

Melonie says, "I have a gift idea to throw at you - Miss Aimee of Artsyville has been a blogging acquaintance of mine for years - she is talented and quirky and her Etsy shop is full of delightful stuff. Like this print about reading books. There are many more I love, about devoting time to doing what you love, the frustration and joy of the creative process, etc....I have bought many teacher gifts from her shop, and quite a few things for yours truly."

I am personally a little in love with the 'Never underestimate the importance of being properly caffeinated' print, myself.

And, hooray - Artsyville is having a sale:… read more »

Two Links and some Entertainment

I have a few links of entertaining things to share. Because, hey, why not, right? 

First: get your travel plans ready, paranormal romance writers, because Melissa has the perfect tax-deductible vacation for you: SERBIA. 

There are news reports in the Daily Mail (I heard that snort all the way over here! Wow!) of a vampire on the loose in Serbia: 

Sales of garlic are booming in western Serbia today after the local council issued a public health warning that a vampire was on the loose. The official announcement came after an old ruined mill said to once have been the home of the country's most famous vampire collapsed.

Sava Savanovic was believed to have lived in the shack on the Rogacica river in Zarozje village in the municipality of Bajina Basta. It is said he drank the blood of anybody that came to mill their grain.

Local mayor… read more »

Links, Sales, and Enochs. Lots and Lots of Enochs.

First up: I'm over at Kirkus today, talking about comfort reading, and what makes a comfort read for me:

Comfort reads are those books that are the reading equivalent of your favorite pajamas, the most fuzzy blanket, the familiar recipe, warm beverages, and everything that makes your body feel cared for and, well, comforted. Books that inspire that same feeling of being cared for are what I call comfort reads, and each reader's comfort read list is a little different.

I am all about comfort reads right now, and not just because it's cold out. 

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A few promotions and deals for you, too.

First: BooksOnBoard has a 40% code, good for unlimited use and unlimited eligible (read: not Agency) titles until midnight CST Sunday. Use code wishbone to get 40% off!

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If you have an iPhone (alas I do not) and use it as an alarm clock, I received an email about a new app that might make your day a… read more »

Links! Funny and Irritating and Amazing Things to Read!

It's been awhile but I have All The Links, suitable for you to waste time with for hours and hours! 

Via Sarah Weinman, the New York Times' Pete Wells gives a truly majestic scathing review of Guy Fieri's "Guy's American" in Times Square. Highlights include what Jen Miller called a "near perfect" use of the second person, and the following paragraph:

How did nachos, one of the hardest dishes in the American canon to mess up, turn out so deeply unlovable? Why augment tortilla chips with fried lasagna noodles that taste like nothing except oil? Why not bury those chips under a properly hot and filling layer of melted cheese and jalapeños instead of dribbling them with thin needles of pepperoni and cold gray clots of ground turkey? By the way, would you let our server know that when we asked for chai, he brought us a cup of hot water? When you hung that sign by the entrance that says, WELCOME TO FLAVOR TOWN!, were you just messing with our heads?

I had to sit back and force myself to blink my eyes after reading that. 

Links of Awesomeness: Linda Lael Miller’s Scholarship, Charity Anthologies, and Sales!

My inbox is alive with the links of aweeeesommmmmmee!

There, now that's in your head along with mine, right? Good.

First up: another way to remember Linda Lael Miller's name. Many people see Lael Miller's name and think, "Cowboys." I see her name and think "pet food," because awhile back I ended up with a plastic lid for pet food cans with her name on it. But here's another: Linda Lael Miller's Scholarship Fund. I had no idea Linda Lael Miller did this, but here are the details from Meara:

I don't know if you are aware of this, but Linda Lael Miller has a scholarship for "non-traditional" female student. It's amazing. As a student with few monetary resources and even fewer scholarships and bursaries I can apply to (I'm in a professional program so why would I need money?), this type of grant is worth it's weight in gold. (And it's open to Canadians too, so yes I love love love Ms. Miller). I was too late to apply (it's closed now) but I think more people should… read more »

Links and Sales And More Links

I am over at Kirkus this week talking about difficult heroines, specifically Molly O'Keefe's, who fascinated me:

I'm… noticing that in some recent books, the heroine is not so easy to understand or even like. I'm meeting more dislikable heroines, heroines who are not lukewarm or perfectly perfect, but who makes difficult choices and who I struggle to empathize with as a reader.

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Janet Mullany has a pretty spiffy blog tour going on that ends today - with a buffalo goal: for every comment, she'll contribute a dollar to Heifer, with the goal of reaching 250 total comments so she can donate a water buffalo.

To quote Janet: "Nothing says hot romance like a water buffalo. When did you last read a literally ruminating hero with a big snuffly nose and huge, really huge horns who is a bovine tractor? A water buffalo enables a farmer to plant four times as much rice as he could on his own."

There are a few stops on the tour, so if… read more »