Best Book Promo Item Ever!

I'm always looking for items I can use as promotional tools for my fiction and for the release of Whipping Boy (due out in February from my alter-ego Kat Parrish), I snagged this fantastic Police Line Do Not Cross scarf from Barbara Perelman of "Blazing Needles" on Etsy. (Find her shop here.) I like this scarf so much that I really, really wish it got cold here. (It's been in the 80s this week and if I started wearing a scarf I'd look like one of those eccentric old ladies who wears three layers of sweaters in the middle of the summer.


Barbara provides customized knits, crochet cacti and novelty knits.
And in case you were wondering what a crocheted cactus looks like--here's one. (There are several varieties.) Isn't it adorable?

Free book listings from More or Less Online

I'm enjoying getting my daily notifications from Book Bub, but now I'm also signed up for More or Less Online, which also lists free and almost free ebooks. You can register free here.

Hasbro Adds Windblade to their Transformers line

And she's a bad-ass who transforms into a VTOL jet. Here are some more details.

Word Lists as story prompts

One of the ongoing gigs I have is preparing targeted word lists for a marketing firm. The topics range from "manga" to "medical devices" and researching the lists often leads me to weird terms that suggest stories to me. For example, did you know there's something called "bipolar forceps?" Doesn't that sound like some futuristic medical machine that's gone haywire? The picture makes them look pretty sinister.

Outlander comes to Starz

I am not a huge fan of Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series, but I love the idea that it's being brought to life by STARZ. It looks like a lot of fun. You can find the trailer here on Deadline Hollywood.

Seriously Sherlick?

I enjoy Elementary, the modern-day CBS Sherlock Holmes show. I have always liked Lucy Liu and since seeing Jonny Lee Miller in the Danny Boyle-directed stage play Frankenstein, I am a big fan. (He alternated the role of the doctor and the creature with fellow Sherlock Holmes Benedict Cumberbatch, and although I am a fan of BC also, I have to say, JLM owned both parts.) I also covet that brownstone. I know it's just a set, but I want to move in. that's a cook's kitchen they have and the study, with its fire and comfy chairs is the study of my dreams.
But there are two things that drive me crazy about Elementary.  One is that the writers don't seem to know the difference between "I" and "me" and constantly give Sherlock dialogue using the wrong one. As a word snoot, I expect Sherlock to know better and it always takes me out of the episode.
The other thing that will take me out of the moment is that whenever the doorbell at the brownstone rings, either Sherlock or Watson will open it without bothering to look through the peephole to see who's on the other side.
Usually it's someone like their colleague Marcus Bell or some random guy Joan's dating. (One of whom tracked her down to see if she was "okay" after their encounter, which was kind of disconcerting to me). But they live in New York. It's like those movies and television shows (Friends, I'm looking at you) where no one bothers to lock thier doors. In New York. Seriously?
Does that bother anyone else?

Dead Cows Washing Up on Beaches in Sweden and Denmark

There are so many things wrong with that headline that I don't even know where to start, but the story is one that starts my creative juices flowing. There's a short, speculative fiction story brewing here. Something apocalyptic, I think. (And this is why I will never stop checking Drudge Report every day. CNN just does NOT cover news like this.) You can read the story here. Talk about your Nordic Noir.