5 For Friday - May 18

Happy Friday, friends.  It's been a crazy week at my house. The hubs is in Miami to visit his best friend and to attend some porn convention.  This makes me the Best Wife Ever, and gives me the green light to attend the book conventions of my choice over the course of the next year. Win-win.  My temporary single-mom status has made it hard to get much reading done, but tonight, you can be sure I am hunkering down with Armed & Dangerous and a glass of wine!   I've been dying to read this one and I didn't get to start it until late last night. Cut and Run is definitely my favorite m/m series.  With that in mind, let's get this party started:

5. The Hop Against Homophobia is currently underway.

If you aren't familiar with it, the hop is an effort from more than 250 m/m authors, reviewers and publishers to stand together and create awareness of homophobia.  There are some really great posts here and they're delivering a message that needs to be heard by everyone.  I urge you to check some of them out. You could also win some great m/m book prizes.

4. I just found out that the uber-awesome Stacia Kane is releasing a prequel novella to her amazing Downside series.  It's called Finding Magic and it comes out June 4th. An early birthday present to me, perhaps?

Before Chess Putnam was a magic-wielding Churchwitch, she was a student in the Church of Real Truth—with a keen sensitivity to magic, a strong rebellious streak, and a penchant for self-destruction. And in Finding Magic, a grisly ghost murder becomes Chess’s baptism of fire.

When eighteen-year-old Chess Putnam is offered the chance to train with a special team of investigators known as the Black Squad, she feels torn. She’s never been a team player and hates how one male Inquisitor condescends to “the new kid.” But at her first bloody crime scene, she gets a taste for investigation—and is hooked on the high. Though the seasoned Inquisitors consider the series of ghost murders random events, Chess starts to detect a pattern. Is a psycho killer summoning ghosts from the City of Eternity and using them as murder weapons? As Chess gets closer to the dark truth, she puts herself in grave danger and risks losing everything she’s fought so hard for.

I'm excited, but can I love Chess without Terrible? (And what's up with the blond hair?)

3. Speaking of Terrible...

I am so excited to be his champion in the VBC Alpha Showdown.  We're up against tough competition.  I mean, who doesn't love Kate Daniels? But Terrible fans, we need to unite! Come cast your vote Monday, May 21st.

2. HBO has released its first trailer for Season 5 of True Blood.  Check it out:

There was no doubt that the show would have to veer away from the books this season since they decided not to make Jason a were-panther and that is such a huge part of Dead as a Doornail.  But other than some left-over Debbie Pelt stuff, this looks like a main story arc completely independent of the Charlaine Harris series.  Personally, I hate the fact that they left the books, but I know some folks prefer the changes.  What do you think? Will you be watching next month?

1. The Magic Mike release is only six weeks away! And Entertainment Weekly has a great spread on the sexy stars in its next issue.

There's also a behind the scenes video from the cover shoot.  Click below if you want to watch it, but wait until you're done reading everything here, because the link will take you to the EW website.  It's worth it just to see how many times Channing Tatum can say "junk" in under 3:00.

Warning: Joe Manganiello is not in this video.

That's about it for this week. I need to go finish crying over the Grey's Anatomy finale.

XOXO
Jen