‘guess who’s who’ competition (updated)

Posted on 14/05/2010 by Kris

So, I was bored *always such an exciting way for one of my posts to begin* and came up with a bloody amazing competition with the help of a group of fantabulous m/m authors.

Guess Who’s Who

What’s it about?

You know how some authors use pictures as the inspiration for characters in their stories (also known as novel casting)? Well, I happen to have in my hot little virtual hands a few of these images and now it’s up to you to try and match these pics with the actual characters themselves.

I know who they are. The authors know who they are. But you have to guess.

Mwahahahahahaha!

How to play?

1. Match one pic with one character/book. The character images are all labeled by a number and the characters/books by a letter. Give your answers via comment or email along the lines of 1A, 2B, etc. Name me no names, pretty please.

If you haven’t read a book, click on the link to read the blurb and/or excerpt. This is a guessing game. You won’t be marked on your knowledge but you won’t win the prize if you fuck up. Promise.

2. You get one chance and one chance only. No changes can be made once you hit that submit/send button and you certainly can’t delete it and try again. I see all.

3. No hinting whatsoever in the comments or anywhere else. If you do, I will get seriously pissed and automatically disqualify you and delete your comments. You’ve been warned.

4. Guesses must be received by 12noon Saturday 22 May 2010 12noon Sunday 23 May (Perth, Western Australia time).

5. *sigh* No, participating m/m authors you can’t play and that’s that.

The Kitty:

S/he who gets the most matches correct wins seven ebooks generously donated by said group of fantabulous m/m authors, including Wren Boudreau, Stephani Hecht, Jambrea Jo Jones, Sean Kennedy, Jaime Samms, K Z Snow and Angelia Sparrow.

Guess Who’s Who

The Pics:

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.


7. 8.

9. 10.

The Characters:

Please note that one pic shows the two main characters, but only one of their names has been listed below. *hehehe*


B. Rave from Jambrea Jo Jones’ Retribution

C. Rat from Stephani Hecht’s Savage Awakenings

D. Nick from Angelia Sparrow’s Nikolai

E. Pablo Creed from K Z Snow’s Utopia-X series

F. Kain from Jambrea Jo Jones’ Retribution

G. Michael from Wren Boudreau’s Ice Cream on the Side

H. Win from K Z Snow’s Utopia-X series

I. Simon from Sean Kennedy’s Tigers and Devils

J. Ashton Perry from K Z Snow’s Jude in Chains



Remember that you must send me your guesses by 12noon Saturday 22 May 2010 12noon Sunday 23 May (Perth, Western Australia time).


Disclaimer: All images used for “inspirational” purposes. Any similarities to RL people are a coincidence unless they were intended and in that case feel free to sue the author in question. Thank you.

PS – I’m pretty sure that no RL people were harmed in the process of these novel castings. If they were that’s not my fault either. Mwah, Kris.

Posted in angelia sparrow, characters, competition, guess who's who, jaime samms, jambrea jo jones, K Z Snow, sean kennedy, stephani hecht, wren boudreau | 94 Comments

tasting ‘in and out’

Posted on 13/05/2010 by Kris

The Blurb:

Former television sensation and renowned world explorer, Holden Worthington, is held prisoner by crippling agoraphobia. When a sexy young laborer arrives to set his property to rights, a ray of light glimmers in Holden’s dark and narrow world. A grisly discovery throws the two men together, and Holden finds his world turned inside out by his inappropriate longing for his awkward, young employee, Adam Morgan, and by a threat growing around them both. All of Smithfield believes Holden has something to hide, and Adam is determined to bring everything–including Holden Worthington–into the open.

Why I bought it:

It was an ARC. *Apparently I meant to do reviews occasionally. Did you know that? Cos I sure as hell didn’t.*

Dislike/like (ending on a high note):

Dislike~ More of a warning~ Fans of L B Gregg will be used to this author’s trademark wit and humour. Don’t worry; I’m not telling you it’s disappeared in In and Out altogether. It’s there; however, it’s been toned down in consideration of the more serious themes in the book, especially those associated with the main character’s, Holden’s, agoraphobia and anxiety as well as his relationships with love interest Adam, brother Porter, amongst others. So, more subtle, but still typical L B. 🙂

Like~ Some of you can probably remember me ranting on about wanting more stories with characters who have a mental illness. Well, this was one of the books I was looking forward to reading because of this – and it delivered. Holden totally resonated with me. Or I did with him. Whatever. While I don’t have agoraphobia, my depression has caused me to spend days hiding out in my house (aka Kris’ womb) pretending the world doesn’t exist. Also, the anxiety Holden felt when trying to challenge the boundaries of his mental illness and the self-deprecating way he talked about it, including to himself, is stuff I do all the time. I read this thinking ‘finally, someone gets it’. It was both terrific and eye-opening.

Dislike~ More of a warning~ Further to the above, I imagine some readers may find Holden’s forays ‘outside’ to come a little too soon after the beginning of his relationship with Adam. I admit it gave me a bit of a niggle at first, but the reason why it ultimately worked for me was that it was Holden’s choice, thereby making it realistic. Even more importantly, there was no sign of ‘teh healing buttsecks’. Thank fuck. I hate that ‘twu wuv sex is a cure all’ shit with a passion.

Like~ I was quite surprised to find I enjoyed the May/December relationship. This pairing is more miss than hit with me so my expectations were, to be blunt, low. *Erm, sorry LB.* Anyways, two reasons why it didn’t annoy me as much as it usually does: (1) Adam was very mature for his age; and, (2) Holden was forced – not telling you why – to actually open up and explain what he meant and how he felt to Adam. Thankfully, there was none of the tired Big Misunderstanding Age Gap Angst in this story. Yet, another theme which apparently gets my back up. *I seem to have a lot of them.*

*ahem*

So, what I think: Me, I reckon In and Out is the best of L B Gregg’s work to date. As soon as I finished it I knew this would be a book; probably the one out of all her books so far, that I would be reading over and over again. Just terrific.

==================================================

‘Tasting’ is my version of a mini-review where I talk a (very) little about what I liked and disliked about a book as well as who I think the story will appeal to. Oh, and I’ve added a bit about why I picked up the book in the first place – sometimes this can be interesting to know.

Posted in contemporary, L B Gregg, m/m, m/m romance challenge 2010, mystery, tasting | 32 Comments

maybe it’s me, but…

Posted on 12/05/2010 by Kris

I just saw this cover at Katiebabs chook’s:


I guess it’s not bad.

Geezus.

*fans self*
Posted in book covers, katiebabs chook, maybe it's me but | 47 Comments

the author/pedestal thing

Posted on 11/05/2010 by Kris


A couple of the comments on my ‘what’s a pen name got to do with it?’ got me thinking about readers putting authors on a pedestal, and I was reminded of this when I read Erotic Horizon’s interesting post about whether the person behind the book actually matters.

The main issue which always seems to come up when this sort of topic is raised is the one of ‘authors behaving badly’.

This is strangely fascinating to me because I’m not a reader who tends to follow author blogs *I’m lazy* nor do I usually find out about any wankfestry until long after the fact *I live in a bubble*.

Am I abnormal?

Well, that kind of goes without saying *this is ME we’re talking about*, but do the majority of readers stalk authors rabidly or do they tend to wander vaguely around the interwebz doing their own thing?

Another question I have is do you, as a reader, truly-ruly want to know anything and everything about your fave author?

I have to admit that in many ways I LIKE keeping my head in the sand. I WANT an author I enjoy to remain up on that pedestal I put ’em on.

Maybe that’s too simplistic a view? *shrugs*

What do you lot reckon then? Are you an ostrich or a sticky beak (translation = nosy parker *I bet some of you don’t get that one either*)?

Posted in authors, erotic horizon, serious randomness, serious shit, the author pedestal thing | 41 Comments

cookie kisses

Posted on 10/05/2010 by Kris
Posted in cookies, pretties | 17 Comments

so…

Posted on 09/05/2010 by Kris

Behold the end result after half a day, lots of swearing, cleaning, sore muscles and some pretty awesome bruises:



Pretty, right. 🙂
Posted in books, extra further randomness, I suck, me | 34 Comments

books that sucker you in: the character

Posted on 07/05/2010 by Kris


I went shopping at Loose Id the other day and had an epiphany.

Yeah, it’s a little weird, but this is me we’re talking about.

Anyhoo, it was a revelation about my book buying habits, particularly when it comes to certain characters.

That’s right. After God only knows how many years of being a Book Slut, I’ve suddenly realised that I’m a complete and utter sucker for stories which feature veterinarians.

See it. Want it. Buy it. The end.

Do any of you have a character you find absolutely irresistible to the point of getting every book that meanders your way?
Posted in book buying, books that sucker you in, characters, randomness | 83 Comments

readers are meanheads

Posted on 05/05/2010 by Kris


I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how demanding we readers are.

Most of you know how much I like to take the piss (translation: take the mickey, make fun of, etc) out of themes and tropes in fiction, in particular in romantic fiction.

I’ve also done a number of posts about issues I think should be dealt with more appropriately or at the very least just ‘more’ in romance; for example, mental illness.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes reckon there’s a perception that just because the romance genre is the so-called poor relation of ‘literature’ it makes it fiction-lite. That is, light and fluffy without all the calories.

Why shouldn’t romance also explore complex topics like mental or physical illness meaningfully? It’s not like the characters can’t still get an HEA or HFN. It’s FICTION, for Chrissake!

At the height of my righteous anger, the switch flips – hey, I am Libran 😉 – and I suddenly begin to wonder what would it be like to bear the brunt of all this angst when all you really want to do is make shit up.

Hmmm…

My conclusion = Fuck that being an author lark!

I think readers – myself included – are painfully demanding, especially with regard to the romance genre.


We want a story to be real enough that we can relate to. Yet, we want to be entertained or lose ourselves in the romantic fantasy of it all.

Sounds too much like a bloody hard balancing act to me.

Does this mean I will stop getting my grump on?? As if!

This is just a rare acknowledgement in my vast sea of (irrever)vent that authors aren’t so bad after all. 😛

So, do you think readers are meanheads?

Be sure you check out Kassa’s place tomorrow for the start of a readers blog crawl of epic proportions. It will be author fanfundom for all!
Erm, no linkity-link yet, but thanks heaps for the button, EH!

Posted in authors, kassa, serious randomness, serious shit | 42 Comments

random funny

Posted on 04/05/2010 by Kris


*wipes tear from eye*

Fucking hilarious.
Posted in extra further randomness | 23 Comments

so…

Posted on 03/05/2010 by Kris

Some idiot decided that her lounge room needed repainting.


Some idiot dismissed concerns about the difficulties of moving the SIX BOOKSHELVES FULL OF BOOKS!

*ahem*

Some idiot’s formal dining table a couple of hours later:



Some idiot needs to add ‘fucking’ to their descriptor…

… and to take a couple of ibuprofen.

Geezus.
Posted in books, extra further randomness, I suck, me | 46 Comments