Welcome back to Wednesday Links! While you’re reading this, I’m spending my last day of my trip in Paris! There’s a 2ish hour train ride from where my brother lives in Germany to Paris and I figured I’d take advantage. I head back Thursday. It was lovely to see him, but I do miss sleeping in my own bed. I also know I left an unfolded pile of laundry on my bed, so that’ll be fun to deal with before I can crawl into it.
While here for 2 weeks, we managed to hit a couple of Alpine towns in Germany, dipped into Austria, went to Brussels, and visited Cologne. Mainly on the weekends. Plus, did a few local things in the surrounding area. I’m sure I’ll be ready for a looooong nap to recover.
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Katee Robert announced in her newsletter that fellow author Skye Warren is putting together a huge anthology to raise money for Ukraine. A few dozen authors have agreed to participate and put forth never before published stories. All royalties will go toward relief and humanitarian efforts. The anthology is slated to come out April 5th, and preorder price is $7.99.
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I went down a rabbit hole of Google search Easter eggs! It started with hearing about the Elle Woods/Legally Blonde one.
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Loved reading through this thread of wild moments in romance that worked! Do you have one?
What's your favorite banana-pants "no way should this story work but it SO does" romance?
For example…Lorraine Heath's, my twin brother was Hulk smash killed by a gorilla so I'm secretly taking his place as your husband until I can gently break it to you book.
— Kristen Callihan (@Kris10Callihan) March 8, 2022
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The Mister Global competition is back, which means looking at men in costumes that personify their country. My favorites are Nigeria for the drama and Switzerland for the cheekiness.
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I recently found this soothing and fun pottery and ceramics channel: Shelby Sherritt! My favorite video series is watching Shelby discover what’s in one of her random pottery moulds and then creating something on a whim.
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
So excited to hear about NIGHTINGALE, the anthology in support of Ukraine. Even if it weren’t for such an important cause, $7.99 for 50 new stories by so many Bitchery favorites (Lucy Lennox, Kate Canterbary, Karla Sorensen, Helena Hunting, Penny Reid, the list goes on) is a great value. Onto my April tbr it goes!
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Google Easter egg is my favorite one that’s still up. My kids discovered the Wizard of Oz Easter egg a while back, but it looks like they took it down.
I came across this older but interesting article. Maryland has a new law that “requires that publishers offering e-books to consumers in the state must also offer to license the works to public libraries on “reasonable” terms.” I wonder what kind of affect this would have on exclusive content like amazon’s publishing arm and Audible which don’t sell to libraries at all.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/88308-maryland-defends-its-library-e-book-law-seeks-dismissal-of-aap-lawsuit.html
@Amanda. Sixteen episodes in a row of Shelby Sherritt’s mystery ceramics and I have lost my entire morning. I swear she’s Bob Ross incarnate, but with the element of surprise and a better ability to critique when and why things don’t work. Thank you for the link, but I’m still blaming you for the lost hours.
For those of us who love m/m hockey romance (I see you, DDD!), here’s an older but still relevant (IMO) article. A couple of caveats before reading:
The article was published (March 2021) before Luke Prokop came out (July 2021).
The article is about the NHL. Prokop plays in the minors.
https://thewalrus.ca/will-there-ever-be-an-openly-queer-nhl-player/
Thanks for the link to Mister global! My favorite mix of stunning and kitschy. Some of the costumes are exquisite (Sri lanka, looks like well made details, and worn with grace too) others came from the dime store (poor Mr. Panama!) The USA is probably the most ?!??, who could top the neck cage? On the other hand, South Africa falls into weird-but-it-works territory. Venezuela’s costume is slightly silly in concept but the contestant is wonderfully slinky. None of the ones holding weapons look at all warlike, not even the excellent Mr. Malaysia, but several pose like skilled dancers.
Maryland lost in federal court.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/88550-court-blocks-maryland-s-library-e-book-law.html
@Qualisign: You’re welcome and I’m definitely not sorry! I loved watching her videos when my heating pad was working overtime.
Any crafters or home decor folks out there who would like to support Ukraine and Ukranian artists, Spoonflower is promoting designs by Ukranian artists https://www.spoonflower.com/en/collections/579964-support-ukraine-artists-by-spoonflowercollections?inner_page_offset=0 Really there are some stunningly beautiful designs here, and you can get them in wallpaper, table linens, bedding, pillows, or fabric by the yard. Proceeds go to the artists and Spoonflower is pledging to get the money to them one way or another. They have also, along with sister company Shutterfly, donated $500,000 to support relief efforts. Grab you some of this fabulous fabric and make a quilt, clothing, whatever, be gorgeous and generous.
Reddit is also curating a collection of Ukranian cross stitch and embroidery designers; you can also search on Ukranian Cross Stitch or Ukranian Shops on Etsy. (Stitchy Princess is one of my faves.)
Apologies if this has already been linked: Book Aid for Ukraine. Lots of romance novelists on it.