Friday stuff and Items **UPDATED**

This Friday is stuffed full of opportunity!

Here are just some of the things it has to offer:

1) The opportunity to DO GOOD + the opportunity to READ THE SHATTERING BY KAREN HEALEY!

Over at her blog, Karen Healey is offering the chance to win an advance reading copy of The Shattering, her new book, which isn't out until JULY. You can go into the draw by donating to the Christchurch earthquake appeal.

The Shattering is truly excellent. Not only are the three main characters loveable and flawed and strong and interesting, but the book has thrills and adventure; it has mystery and intrigue; it has magic and romance; it is heartbreaking; it is funny.

YOU WANT TO READ THIS BOOK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, WHICH FOR TWO LUCKY PEOPLE COULD BE ALMOST IMMEDIATELY.

Ooo look, here is the cover....

And at the SAME TIME you can do good for the people of Christchurch. WIN/WIN!

2) The opportunity to BE NICK CARRAWAY AT GATSBY'S GARDEN PARTY.

http://greatgatsbygame.com/

Don't blame us if you don't get any work done for the rest of the day.

3) The opportunity to VIEW THIS LOLCAT...

***ETA***

4) The opportunity to READ BLACK INC'S REVIEW OF THE GIRLS IN PUBLISHING

"Every girl in publishing should own at least one pair of 'mint-green lounging pyjamas'."

Friday stuff and items

1) We confess that some people in the House of Onion may not have read Happy As Larry. Silly people. To them, we offer this incentive.

2) That Nicki Greenberg, she certainly gives great Gatsby. And the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas have very cleverly made her great Gatsby giving available to the world. Hurrah!

3) 'Atmospheric, complex, and intense.' That's what Publisher's Weekly said about Celine Kiernan's The Poison Throne. They also said:

'...this epic starts strong and doesn't falter one iota, ending with a cliffhanger that will leave readers demanding more.'

More! More! More Moorehawke! And what ho! A competition! The Rebel Prince is the final installment in The Moorehawke Trilogy - Who will survive the final battle?

Well, you can be the very first* to find out, and all you have to do is cast the lead characters in the (hypothetical) movie of the books and send their photos to Celine. So if you fancy yourself as something of a casting director, or if you fancy searching the interwebs for just the right photo of that handsome actor/actress you adore, or if you fancy impressing an author with your astute understanding of the essence of her characters, then Celine has the competition for YOU! Fancy. Fancy. Fancy.

And while we are on the Moorehawke subject, we'd like to take this opportunity to impress you with Elise Hurst's brilliant covers for this series.

Genius. Pure genius.

4) And, finally, we happened to stumble upon this excellent collection of bookshelves in the wild* - and now it seems we are in breach of the tenth commandment. Alas.

* Of course, when we say very first here, we mean apart from the author, her agent, her editors, the designer/typesetter, proofreaders...

* Of course, when we say wild here, we mean in real people's homes, not, you know, in the actual wilderness - not even on the beach.