Book News (and other fun stuff!): January 18th, 2013

Here’s my roundup of bookish news from around the web for the week! Sometimes I add stuff throughout the day on Friday, so be sure you check back over the weekend too!

Interviews, articles, and more:

• Who is that hooded man gracing so many covers? Mazarkis Williams is offering a giveaway based on this “stock-character-of-easy-virtue.”
• Over at SF Signal, I interviewed Tracy Deebs, author of DOOMED
• I also reviewed HARD BITE by Anonymous-9 at Crime Fiction Lover. Killer monkeys!!
• Author Scott Sigler writes about the Suvudu monster over at…well, Suvudu!
• Paperback Princess interviews one of my favorite authors, Marianne de Pierres!
• E-books vs. Print: Mashable talks it up
• I interviewed James Smythe, author of THE EXPLORER last week, and so did Timothy Ford at SF Signal, so do check it out!
• Myke Cole, author of the SHADOW OPS series, guest posts at SF Signal, on writing warfare in fantasy! 
• Meghan, of Stellar Four has issued a reading challenge. Are you up for it?
• Justin Landon, of Staffer’s Book Review (and SF Signal) teamed up with Jared Shurin of Pandemonium Fiction to bring us Speculative Fiction 2012, The Years Best Online Reviews, Essays and Commentary, with proceeds to be donated to charity, so be sure to check out the cover reveal and book details!! 
• In last week’s Book News, I mentioned the fund raising effort for author Jay Lake, who is battling cancer. Fortunately,the goal has been met and exceeded, and GalleyCat has the scoop!
• The Reader Bee is having a rather awesome Blogoversary YA giveaway, so be sure to check it out!
• “It’s Not Insta-Love, It’s Insta-Skills”- Chelsea at Vampire Book Club discusses fight scenes and believability. Head on over there and weigh in yourself!
• I recently interviewed Adrian Faulkner, author of THE FOUR REALMS, and so did The Qwillery. Check it out!
• John Joseph Adams interviewed Mary Robinette Kowal at his “Mad Scientist” site!
• Recently, author Teresa Frohock had authors such as Myke Cole, Alex Bledsoe, Diana Rowland, and more write short stories anonymously, and readers had to guess at the gender of the author. Here are the results!
• Are you a writer? Do you dig Chuck Wendig’s unique brand of writing advice? Well, he’s got a new book coming out, all about how to be the kick-ass writer he knows you can be! Here’s the scoop!
• Today, I reviewed A PERFECT BLOOD by Kim Harrison over at SF Signal!

Excerpts and such:

• Read CHEW by Tamsyn Muir at Nightmare Magazine
• Over at Lightspeed, you can read the new story, LIFELINE by Jonathan Olfert!
• You can read WHEN WE WERE HEROES by Daniel Abraham at Tor.com
• You can read THE WITCH SISTERS, a Takers short story, by Alma Katsu, on her website!