maybe it’s me, but…

Posted on 04/08/2009 by Kris

… I think there might be something wrong with my eye sight.



Either that or the same fucking stock photos are getting used over and over… and over again.

Seriously, if you are a reader don’t you somethimes think ‘well, I’ve already read that book’ and skip over it when you’re browsing the virtual shelves?

And authors – be honest – don’t you get pissed about this or do you just suck it up because there isn’t anything you can really do about it??
Posted in book covers, maybe it's me but, randomness | 45 Comments

a hypothetical story

Posted on 03/08/2009 by Kris


Say you knew someone who had recently travelled to – oh, I don’t know – Europe and the UK for example.

Say that someone ended up getting sick as a dog (get it?) and texted you with a request to make a doctor’s appointment for them asap after their arrival.

Say you rang up the doctor’s surgery and the receptionist was playing silly buggers about fitting that person in.

Say you sort of mentioned that you were sure it wasn’t swine flu in a kinda laughing way (which has a similar affect to ‘open sesame’ fyi… or so I’ve heard).

Anyway, say you took that someone to their appointment and, before you had time to read a couple of pages, that someone was back in the car with scripts in hand.

Say that someone reported they had been given a mask on arrival and whisked off to an isolated office where the doctor questioned them about their symptoms before declaring that it wasn’t swine flu.

So, given this scenario, do you think it would be wrong to piss yourself laughing all the way home?

Just wondering.
Posted in mumma, serious randomness | 17 Comments

hard though it is to believe…

Posted on 03/08/2009 by Kris


… there are a few – only a very few, mind you – things that I suck at.


The list is as follows:

1. Being a girl

2. Not being a bitch.

3. Having OCD bookshelf, toy poodle flu, GAD (Genre Attention Disorder), SSF (Sex Scene Fatigue) and randomness.

4. Internet stuff.

It’s re: #4 that I now need some help.

Basically, I’m a Kris-come-lately to the blogging and interwebz worlds. It’s always been a research tool for me when it comes to my work as opposed to a social networking thing. I’m one of those people who’ve avoided Facebook, IMing, etc like the plague. Quite frankly, I don’t want to talk to people who knew me in Grade 1 if it means it will interrupt my reading time. (See #2 above.)

Also, and to be honest, I’ve always been a bit scared of stumbling my way through this verse because I’ve an abject – albeit slightly irrational – fear of my computer exploding. Technology tends to hate my guts and no, it does NOT have ANYTHING to do with operator error. It’s Gremlins. I’m sure of it.

Anyway, amazingly I’ve yet to fail badly with Blogger, but there are a number of things that (a) I’ve no idea what they are or what they’re meant to do, (b) can’t really work out if it’s something I should to be doing or if it’s something which would simply add to my awesome skillz of procrastination, and (c) can’t be arsed working it out for myself nor do I want to join a bandwagon just because.

So, here’s what I need you all, as peeps who prob’ly know a shit load more than I, to tell me the pros and cons about:

RSS feed (it sounds like some sort of protein diet food for animals)

Good Reads and that other one (all I know is that I quite like seeing those things which show what people have on their virtual shelves)

GLBT Bookshelf ( I can understand the benefit to authors, but I’m not sure I get how useful it would be for reviewers and readers)

NOT Twitter (it would be shiny for about 3 days before it would piss me right off)

I’m also interested to know whether any of these are things that you, as a blogger and/or bloggee, take any notice of or do you just ignore it all, as I’ve basically been doing, as extraneous stuff. If it’s the latter should I really waste my time?

HALP ME!!!!
Posted in blogging stuff, I suck, me, serious randomness | 39 Comments

anyone feel like thirds??

Posted on 01/08/2009 by Kris


*Thank God no more photos of Sean Kennedy turned up. Anyone would think I was obsessed.*


Go on. You know you want to. 🙂



Nothing like tight black bathers to get the heart racing. *g*
Posted in cookies, dik, guest blogging, pretties | 12 Comments

here cookie, cookie, cookie

Posted on 31/07/2009 by Kris


Grab a cookie and come this way, partially invisible peeps.


Good virtuals. *pats on head*

Have a treat:


Geez. How many pictures of Sean Kennedy do I have?? Back to the stalker files for you, Mr Twinkie.

This is the real cookie:


I like wet pretties. 🙂
Posted in cookies, dik, guest blogging, pretties | 8 Comments

follow the cookie crumbs…

Posted on 30/07/2009 by Kris


… to DIK Island where I’ll be camping out – in a luxurious cabana though cos no leaf toilet paper for me! – for the next 3 days.


I’ll be providing cookies in a blatant attempt at bribing you all to go over there and make me look like I have at least a few friends in this virtual corner of the world.

Here’s the first cookie for you:


Oh wait. That’s Sean Kennedy. Better put that one back in my stalker’s stash.

Here’s the one I was really meaning to share:


Noice.

Posted in cookies, dik, guest blogging, pretties | 12 Comments

maybe it’s me, but…

Posted on 29/07/2009 by Kris


… I’ve been reading a lot of descriptors in m/m romance lately along the lines of ‘as thick as his wrist’.

This is something I’m used to seeing in het romance, but never really noticed how frequently it came up (nudge, nudge) in m/m work too until the last month or so.

I’m not talking about descriptions of guy bits and pieces in general cos this IS romance and readers expect to find out what’s going on in every sexy, if not flattering, detail. I’m talking about the seemingly massive proportions that some dicks take.

Perhaps I’ve been reading a lot of big Alphas/small Betas stories? Maybe I’m the only one who cringes when Mr Thick As His Wrist continues to pound Mr Fisting Fetish into the mattress everyday??

Who knows? Although I do know that this is something which has stumped other romance readers such as the marvellous Lisabea. Check out her post on the subject from 2007.

See. It’s not only me… this time.
Posted in Lisabea, m/m, maybe it's me but, randomness | 13 Comments

kanga rules: an occasional serial by sirk

Posted on 28/07/2009 by Kris


Previously on Kanga Rules…

*************************************************************

Chapter 2


*looking towards the head of the mob*

“Uncle, why is Father taking me to the conclanfab? I’ve always stayed behind with the elders and joeys before. It seems strange that he would now bring me to such an important session.””

“I don’t know, Albie, although *seeing a lone Roo making its way back to them* I have a feeling we’re about to find out.””

###

“You do realise that big Red bastard is up to something, Cam.””

*snort* “There’s no doubt in my mind, Brett.” *continuing to watch for signs of the Red Kanga Clan while talking*

“With our Clan more dispersed and open to integration with humans than the Reds, we are not as affected by the annual Culling.””

*going on* “I know I don’t have to tell you that most of those hurt or killed during these times are either due to accidents or elders who have returned to the ancestral lands. This makes me all the more suspicious of Big Red’s motives.””

*tensing* “They’re here. Tell the others to be on their guard and make sure everyone has changed to their animal form. Let’s not start things off on the wrong paw.””

*muttering* “Pretentious wankers.”” *salute* “Will do, Cam.””

*moving forward*

“Greetings, Big Red, Leader of the Red Kanga Clan.”” *inclining head*

“Greetings, Cameron Grey, Leader of the Grey Kanga Clan.”” *returning acknowledgment*

“As per your request, the Grey Kanga Clan has come to discuss THE CULL with the Red Kanga Clan.””

*angry murmurs from Red Kanga Clan* *Big Red raises paw to silence the mutterings*


*raising kanga eyebrow* “Are the Greys so impatient like the humans they associate with then that they do not follow the traditional greetings?””

“Unlike you Reds, many of us have actually interrupted our lives to meet with you today.””

*whisper from within the ranks of Greys* “Jesus. So much for not getting off on the wrong paw.”

*stares at Cam* “Very well. The Red Kanga Clan has been decimated by what our healers say is a mutation of the human’s swine flu.””

*bows head* “We had heard of this and are sorry for your losses. However, I still don’t understand what this has to do with the Greys or THE CULL.””

“Our numbers have fallen to such an extent that we cannot afford to lose anymore to THE CULL.””

“And?””

“We want the Greys to provide bodies to meet the quota for this year’s CULL.””

*************************************************************

Until next time,
Sirk.
International bestselling author of m/m werekanga manga.

Posted in chapter 2, kanga rules, sirk | 29 Comments

maybe it’s me (again), but…

Posted on 26/07/2009 by Kris

… aren’t the things you take away from books weird sometimes?


I interrupted my hibernation on the weekend to brave the masses and go and buy some groceries.

As I drove past a house with a whole heap of washcloths on the line I immediately thought “gee, those guys have been going at it”.

What. The. Hell. Apparently I now associate washcloths with gay guys. O_o

Because it couldn’t possibly be me, I’m blaming all the m/m authors in the whole wide world for constantly writing about stashes of washcloths kept in bedside drawers for the ever romantic post-coital clean ups.

I’m also intrigued as to whether this is really the case and am calling upon the guys and gals out there to tell me (a) if the washcloth thing is true and (b) does a line full of ’em provide an indication of the amount of sex someone is having?

What?! I am so NOT weird!
Posted in further randomness, m/m, maybe it's me but, tropes | 15 Comments

maybe it’s me, but…

Posted on 26/07/2009 by Kris

… what do you guys and gals think about ‘the BIG misunderstanding’?

I realise I bitch a lot like to post on different issues that have struck me about the books I’ve been reading.

Despite this, and hard though it may be to believe, I’m actually a reader who’s pretty much willing to be convinced about any theme, plot device, etc, etc as long as they are relevant to the story in question. This includes ‘the BIG misunderstanding’; a trope we see often in romantic fiction.

Recently I read two books which used this device. I enjoyed the stories in different ways; however, my problem was not that both authors used ‘the BIG misunderstanding’, but the fact they used it twice.


All I could think of was ‘why’? Why leave the reader feeling ‘meh-ish’ about the second half of the story when the first was pretty good? I’m telling you, I seriously itched for a red pen.

So what about you? Can you take or leave ‘the BIG misunderstanding’? If you’ve read either of these books, did you come away with the same response I did or are you wondering what the hell I’m talking about?

Speak!
Posted in m/m, maybe it's me but, serious randomness, stormy glenn, tropes, Z A Maxfield | 28 Comments