I have two confessions today. One is that I went shopping this morning for pants that I can wear to cocktail parties Monday in NYC. I didn’t find any because I’m TOO SHORT. Kohls is having some great clearance sales and I tried on an embarrassing number of pants but they all were too long for me by about 4 inches. It might have been worth it at clearance prices to buy them and pay to have them tailored, but I was too overwhelmed to make that decision this morning. Maybe I’ll go back.

The other confession is that I’m not at all ready for the traveling to start again. I think it must be because I’m basically lazy at heart, and it suits me to be able to do nothing all day Also, ever since I told her I was going (last week, because she heard me talking about it and asked) Brianna has been telling me how much she doesn’t want me to go. This morning she was particularly upset about it.

But on that note, blogging will probably be lighter again in the next few weeks, because we all know I’m no good at traveling and blogging!

For the Reader:
Since I don’t normally promo my releases during the week, I’m going to start listing them here, under the “for the reader” section. So, released this week:
Taken by Anya Bast (erotic sci fi romance)
Called by Blood by Evie Byrne (erotic paranormal romance)
Mexican Heat by Laura Baumbach and Josh Lanyon (m/m action romance)

Publisher’s Weekly is looking for reviewers in fiction genres including romance!

Kristen Nelson wants to know if free books work on you. On an interesting related note, I got an email from one of my blog readers this week, who was emailing to tell me that the free books she’d gotten from Samhain definitely resulted in her buying others. Anecdotal evidence that free works! I think editor Leah Hultenschmidt talked about that on her blog this week as well.

Jane from Dear Author wonders if you’d be interested in a rent-to-own ereader and ebook subscription?

Smart Bitches has the video from MSNBC that features the Kindle (and Kate Duffy of Kensington!)

Continuing the series about the Dear Author reviewers and their new Sony Readers. I’m really enjoying these posts.

For the Author:

Edittorrent had two great posts up on rejections this week. Alicia wrote this one on form rejections that I swear I could have written myself. Theresa wrote one that relates to my blog post here a few weeks ago about how fast is too fast?

And since we’re talking rejection, here’s one more on post-rejection protocol from Jessica Faust at BookEnds.

Author Lauren Dane has started a Sunday series on promotion.

Author Maria Zannini talks about signature lines. Honestly, an obnoxiously long signature line irritates me enough to remember the author’s name in a negative light.

Author Shannon Stacey has an awesome post up about making sure you’re following your dream, not someone else’s.

In the Kitchen:

Download spice jar labels.

Nom nom nom, these Italian love cakes look good (and easy)!

Pioneer Woman is doing a series on sushi. I actually learned how to make sushi from a Japanese friend years ago, but I’m still enjoying this series.

Peanut Butter and Rice Krispie treats. Me please.

For the Crafty:

Does anyone out there knit? I really want this scarf. Almost enough to take up knitting, except it would take me five years to finish. The scarf combines my love of two things: Doctor Who (LOVE Tom Baker) and scarves.

Sew, Mama, Sew is doing Fat Quarter February. Check out all the fat quarter projects they’re sharing. Tissue holders here (and if I’d thought of it sooner, I’d have whipped up a bunch as small Valentine Day gifts for the daycare staff)

Check out this list of the top 100 tuturials of 2008

I would love to make one of these tea wallets. I like to travel with tea but it always ends up in the bottom of my purse.

I love this idea. Anyone who’s ever been to a conference has a bunch of tote bags laying around. Here’s a tutorial for dressing up and resuing those tote bags!

For Everyone:

Thankfully, the CPSIA Lead-Testing Law has been delayed for one year. I hope they can work the kinks out of that and get a new/different/better law into affect.

An interesting post on recipes and copyright (where I learned, though was not surprised, to find that recipes aren’t copyrighted).

A little insight into the editorial debate between an author and an editor. These are weighty issues we discuss!

Whee! There’s going to be another Sex and the City movie. I’m not sure what type of story line they’ll come up with, but I don’t care. I’ll go see it! Looks to be set for hopefully Summer 2010

It’s what everyone has been talking about. The Snuggie. Now you can make your own and pimp it out to boot! Score!

$25 free from E-Trade when you open an E-Trade Savings Account.

You know you want to make one. A LOLCat purse!

So you’re bored and want to kill some time? Make your own comic strip!

Maybe your music library is like mine and could use a little attending to? MakeUseof.com has 4 suggestions for tools to fix and auto-organize your music library. Let me know if you’re familiar with any of them or try them!

Wi-Fi Hotspot finders. I need to put these links in my phone, with as much as I travel I often need Wi-Fi (even with an aircard, it’s nice to find Wi-Fi)

For the Political:
Not really political but I’m putting it here. Via HighlandGal, a quote about the Michael Phelps thing that made me laugh (also, see the bottom of this post for some links to current articles about Phelps losing sponsors):

Look, I don’t blame Michael Phelps for apologizing. He has a living to earn, so he did what he had to do.

In the meantime, I merely note that this broken wreck of a man’s failure to win any more than a pathetic fourteen Olympic gold medals (so far) is a terrifying warning of the horrific damage that cannabis can do to someone’s health—and a powerful reminder of just how sensible the drug laws really are.

-Andrew Stuttaford from The Corner at National Review Online.

A new video from Ashley Judd about Sarah Palin’s support of the brutal hunting of wolves. The video is not for the tender-hearted.

Obama puts a cap on executive pay at businesses that received bailout money. I really wish more things like this had been put in place before the bailout money was ever given out.

I’ll admit it, I laughed when I read to the end. There’s a follow-up article here. All I can think, though, is that our nation is facing the largest unemployment rate in two three decades and this guy is going to be worried about a suit jacket? Puh-lease.

Michelle Obama is stepping into the stimulus package fray. Oy.

Picture of the week:

Because the whole idea of this still makes me laugh.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Carrie on regardless: How will Sex and the City cope with the credit crunch? (guardian.co.uk)
• Michael Phelps Suspended: Dumped by Sponsor (montysmegamarketing.com)
• Friday Just Keeps Getting Worse For Michael Phelps [Michael Phelps] (deadspin.com)
• New Website Launches to Keep Tabs on Sarah Palin’s Animal Conservation Record (Video) (treehugger.com)
• In the Kindle Backorder Queue? Upgrade Offer for Kindle 2 Coming. (jkontherun.com)

Confession: I’m completely exhausted and only the thought of failing out only the second week of the Friday Confessional kept me doing it. Brianna has the flu and was up all night last night throwing up. After the second time (and second bedding change) I slept with her, nearly got barfed on the third time (and third bedding change) but after that she figured it out and managed to tell me with enough time I could get the bucket under her. I don’t either of us slept more than an hour straight at any given time. I’m just a little groggy. She had a spurt of energy for a few hours this morning but has since collapsed back to the couch and is now upstairs sound asleep. Poor thing.

I was going to post about how I think seeing other people vomit is the grossest thing ever (I’m a sympathetic puker). I worked as a nurse’s aid to put myself through college. I could deal with anything, any bodily function. Just not puke. I once discovered a body after the person had been dead for three days in the Arizona summer heat. No one but me was able to enter the apartment without a mask. I’ve dissected a number of cadavers. I can handle disgusting things. But vomit gets me. I was going to post all that and then realize there’s one thing that gets me more than vomit: maggots. I can’t handle them, not to think about, not to look at on TV, nothing. Ew ew ew ew. Now you know my weaknesses. Vomit and maggots.

Moving on!

Quick question. I’ve been using a new Firefox addon called Zemanta to help add links to my content. Some things you see (like Zemanta) are linked for me by them, just by clicking on something on my dashboard. The program will also add related content links of my choosing to the bottom of the post, have you noticed them? It does other things, but so far those are the two most useful. Oh, the “Reblog this” that you see at the bottom of the post also comes from that. What do you think? Useful or intrusive?

For Readers:

I’m sure everyone has seen this, but just in case:Harlequin is giving away 16 free books as part of their anniversary celebration. This is very cool. There’s something for everyone! You can also download them via Stanza (also very cool).

Leah (Madame Butterfly) has a rant about DRM and why one publisher has lost her business because of it. I’m not a fan of DRM from the publisher side, and Leah’s post illustrates why.

An interesting blogpost on the Kindle, what it is and how it might affect trends.

SciFiGuy lists the February 2009 paranormal, fantasy and urban fantasy releases.

Agent Nathan Bransford asked: will you ever buy mostly ebooks? Only 10% of the almost 1000 respondents said absolutely yes. I wish I knew the demographic breakdown of people voting. That would be interesting!

Twilight fans will enjoy this: Twilight done by bunnies (in 30 seconds) via Katiebabs

For Kindle owners. MakeUseOf.com tells you how to read feeds on your Kindle device for free.

In the Kitchen:
If you’ve ever had any questions about using your bread machine, you must read this post, Bread Machine Basics. I stumbled across it Googling for something and it’s an amazing source of answers for all your bread machine questions!

What do you get when you combine a pound of bacon and two pounds of sausage (besides a non-kosher heart attack?): the bacon explosion. This horrified and fascinated me so much I had to share it. via Tastespotting

How to make Skittles Vodka from tipnut.com You know you want to. Heck, I KNOW *I* want to.

For the Crafty:

Lisa begins a series of bag making for beginners. The first post is about sewing terms. Part two is choosing fabric and interfacing. I’m really excited about this series because when I sew, purses are one of my favorite things to make. I actually thought about making something and donating it to the Brenda Novak auction but that hasn’t solidified in my head.

How to make an old cupboard door into a serving tray. I love their finished product.

For Authors:

Epublishing and traditional publishing compared by an author published with both.

Agent Rachelle Gardner did some posts on the “elevator pitch”.

Agent Jessica Faust discusses the form rejection letter. It’s a fantastic post and she lists many of the reasons we use a form letter at Samhain.

Author Ilona Andrews is doing a series of one paragraph critiques. It’s interesting to see how she tears down and rebuilds each paragraph. The first one is here and she does a terrific job of relating POV to camera angle.

Anyone who’s seen my workshop on epublishing or read the articles I’ve written has heard me talk about Yog’s Law. Agent Jennifer Jackson takes this time to remind you: money flows toward the author.

For everyone:

Domino, Wondertime, Country Home and Realms of Fantasy magazines will all be shutting down or have shut down. Ouch.

Interested in politics or what President Obama has been up to? Follow the new White House blog. It’s been interesting for me, to get updates on what’s going on. I like it.

Agent Rachelle Gardner wrote a post about Twitter. She doesn’t want you to use Twitter to try and do business with her. I feel similarly. I wish I had written this post. I almost reposted the entire thing here. I might still. I like Twitter, but it’s not where I conduct business. Like Rachelle, I rarely discuss business related things there and anyone hoping for brilliance from me on Twitter is going to be sadly disappointed.

SuperBowl Sunday is this weekend (I can’t believe it’s going to be February already!) and whether you’re staying at home with just your family, having a big bash or attending one, you must check out these two posts full of delicious-looking dishes to make. The first is from Cathy at Noble Pig and oh man, did this post make me hungry! I think I’m going to try a few of those. The second is from Pioneer Woman *insert fangrrl squee* who also has a post full of dish ideas. Both posts have photos, and I dare you to go look and not drool.

Something fun: Karen Scott posts the best complaint letter ever. Ewww is all I have to say!

Picture of the week:

I’m going to give you a couple. This one, because I saw it last week and immediately marked it to use for today. The emotion of the moment is so beautiful. via Huffington Post

Then this one from Paperback Writer’s blog because, hello, who doesn’t love a picture of a cute puppy?

And from Brianna’s photos this week. This elephant is no bigger than a tennis ball but the perspective on this one makes it look much bigger. I love this picture.

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• What if you threw a “break-the-Kindle-DRM” party… (kindleville.blogspot.com)
• Sexy Peta Commercial Banned From Bowl (takepart.com)
• Homemade bread (momblognetwork.com)

Something new I want to try, as a round up of my week around the web, things I don’t want to post about individually but want to share with you, including some highlights from my Shared Items. Let’s see how long I can keep this up. Or if anyone is interested.

First up is something that I hope everyone is aware of by now since it’s been a topic of conversation around the internet for at least a month. Beginning February 10th, a new law will go into effect which requires ALL products for children under the age of 12 to be tested for lead. I think some might not think this is a big deal, but if you buy homemade products, buy used from resalers, consignment stores or thrift stores, or buy from local sources, Etsy, etc, this is going to affect you. Mommy Needs a Cocktail has the best post on this that I’ve read so far. Go read it here, and you might also find yourself on the receiving end of a bonus (she’s put her products on sale to move them out before the February 10th deadline. Then, consider writing a letter to your congressmen and women letting them know how you feel about the broad language of this law. Here’s another by jcaroline that I had in my Shared Items this week.

In the Kitchen:

You all know that allrecipes.com is one of my favorite places to get recipes as I often post my version here, that I’ve gotten from there. This week, allrecipes revealed a new and improved website that includes some new ways of printing recipes (which I love) and, yay! a subscription service that allows you to modify the recipes and then save them to your recipe box or print them with the changes. I LOVE this, and yes I did join, because I modify every recipe and now I can modify and save it all in one place. Even if you’re not interested in their subscription service, you should check them out if you haven’t. It’s a great resource for tried and true recipes with comments from users about suggested changes and modifications (which is another reason it’s nice to be able to modify the recipe yourself–usually I print the recipe and then have to run back and read the comments multiple times to remember the changes to make).

After some discussion with my friends Maria and Jennifer at a night out last weekend, I’ve decided to try making friendship bread. I’m only on day 4, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

I thought of my blog readers when I saw this blog, which is new to me, because I know some of you are gluten free. It looks amazing and I hope you’ll check it out. Karina’s Kitchen: a gluten-free blog

Have an Obamatini

Politics:

It’s no secret I’m a Democrat, and I haven’t always been a George Bush fan, but I appreciated this slideshow video from the two photographers who’ve spent the last 8 years photographing George Bush. I also thought this letter from the Bush twins to the Obama daughters, with this last paragraph, was very poignant.

The twins turned serious at the end, recalling how the public image of their own father got distorted over the years.

As for the Obama girls’ dad, they added, “Many people will think they know him, but they have no idea how he felt the day you were born, the pride he felt on your first day of school, or how much you both love being his daughters. So here is our most important piece of advice: remember who your dad really is.”

Surely you’ve seen this by now, but for a good laugh, go check out this short video clip of someone talking about the “Obamas fisting” (ahahaha, oops)

And one more time because I love it: the Obamas first dance as a presidential couple.

For Readers:

Agent Rachelle Gardner has a post about her experience with the Kindle.

Jan of Dear Author gives her thoughts on the Sony Reader.

Agent Lucienne Diver did a roundup of all the releases her clients have coming in 2009. This is just one post, check her blog for the whole of them.

Shannon Stacey has a great post up on Romancing the Blog talking about some of the different gadgets out there!

What kind of books would you like to see on the shelves? Agent Jennifer Jackson wants to know.

For Authors:

AAR weighs in about the petition to RWA circulating

Agent Kristen Nelson has a fantastic series going on query letters from the past (that have led her to sign the author).

Here’s a great post on what not to have on your website: (I would include that you shouldn’t have a picture of your cleavage or other inappropriate pictures)

Paperback Writer had a suggestion for using wordle to find overused words, or also to get title ideas for that hard-to-title book!

Thinking of targeting Dorchester? Editor Leah Hultenschmidt has a post up about what she’s looking for!

The editors of Red Sage keep a blog that’s always a great resource for writerly information. I don’t always agree with some of what they say or recommend, but I’m always amazed by their perception and in-depth posts. They talked POV this week.

From my Shared Items (click on the link in the sidebar to browse through all my Google Reader Shared Items):

Win a Wii

Pioneer Woman rocks. This week were at least four new recipes including Ranch Chicken, Fluffy New Potatoes and Cajun Meatloaf. Yum!

Jen wants to talk about masturbation in m/m books

Create custom themes for Firefox with Personas

Get the most out of Netflix

This made me laugh out loud. (not safe for work or children)

Favorite image of the week.

This was hard to choose, because there was so much to love in photos this week, but I thought this one summed it all up the best. Via the Huffington Post

So, if you made it this far, what do you think of the Friday Confessional? Want to see it again next Friday?