Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Because I am embarrassingly proud of my man-titty photoshopping skillz, I just have to post my homage to the Fabio/Clooney chicken fight. I hope this link works…

You know, that’s actually a pretty classy response from George.  Sounds like he’s laughing at himself and the situation in general.

my word: serious39.  The spam filter is a person, isn’t it?  One with his or her own bizarre sense of humour.

OMG Victoria!  I’m jealous!  You got mad SKILLZ, gurl! Srsly!

That pic made me snort my sweet tea!

I’m glad their drama is over.  I’m also happy for Star Jones.  Srsly…keeping a man for 3 years must have been difficult for her (although it sounds like he was only in it for the money).  I’m happy UF is making inroads into romance…so long as it steadily improves the pool of great writers I have to read from.  And lastly, I’m happy for the conglom that is Harlequin, even though it frightens me beyond belief.

I avoid Harlequin, although I’m sure I read books published by them (I don’t read the little Harlequin Presents, though…they’re just way too short), because they’re just SUCH a symbol of the old-school bon-bon eating housewife stereotype to me. 

Am I the only one?  According to my spamword, there is evidence to the contrary…evidence59.

RSewie, I’d be even more impressed with myself if I’d remembered to photoshop water into the space under Fabio’s arms. Ah, well. Despite my skillz, I am a mere mortal. The Clooney nipplz distracted me, I think.

S’ok, though!  I thought they were leaning on a rock or something on the beach.

Damn distracting man-titties!

Victoria…wow, thanks for sharing those mad skills.  I can’t figure out how to instert a pic, much less phototshop one.

RSewie…so relieved to know I’m not the only reader who finds Harlequin scary.

So Big Gay Al got caught?

Slick, Vic!  So lucky for me I can’t afford Photoshop.  A toy that much fun is bound to disrupt work and sleep patterns…big time.

Thank you so much for mentioning me and RT shindig!

Victoria: Oh.  Dear.  God.

On a vaguely related note, has anyone been to HQ HQ? I was wondering if they have a factory outlet type store there, where you can buy back issues that didn’t sell for cheap or something, cuz I am highly broke.

spamfilter: zebra23 wait, I didn’t know Zebra was a HQ line too? Do they own EVERYBODY?

Well, I write for Harlequin (yes, even Harlequin Presents!) and the Romance Report bewilders me. It’s so glossy and big and pretty looking, and I don’t even get what it’s for. The first time I received one I was expecting sale figures and market news, not ‘What’s Hot and What’s Not’ about sex and romance. It looks like it costs quite a bit of money to put out, so its purpose must have been researched and documented as being useful… I guess.

Kate

Nope, Zebra is Kensington, the last big, independent NY publisher.

Sigh. A self-deprecating sense of humor. While Fabio sounds like an eight-year-old.

I heart Clooney.

Victoria… all that man-titty and George Clooney’s nipples definitely distracted me from the lack of under-Fabio-water.  I didn’t notice it until you mentioned it.  The photo is brilliant.  I am still hyperventilating from laughter. Thank you for sharing it!

I’m so glad I’m not the only one who’s a complete sucker for self-deprecation.  A completely normal man can become an irresistible sexual being to me with just the right amount of self-deprecating humor. Mmm.

Wry Hag, YES… stay away from the Photoshop! You wouldn’t believe how much time that sucked out of my life, though it was all fun. I’m currently trying to resist the urge to Photoshop Fareed Zakaria into some hot Pasha garb. Rowr!

Thank you, SB Sarah, for giving me a place to share my wasted time with the world!!!

I was weaned on Harlequin/M&B, but so few of their books call to me, you begin to wonder if these surveys scew the themes to their books and as only those willing to respond must be slightly… I can’t think of a polite way to say it, is this the underlying reason for the quality of the house’s books.

Also SB Sarah, thanks to you and Candy for the lovely blog, and I get left and right mixed up all the time, but if something is far far left and far far down in the “NY Magazine Approval Ratings” wouldn’t it be despicable and lowbrow?

word shall92: shall read my way through the next 92 comments? Only if I get no sleep.

Oh come on! Sheik ur booty.

You know you want to be George Clooney’s secret baby… I mean, Secret Sarah.

George…

Grab his flowing locks.
Give one good yank forward while you deliver a solid upperpunch to the nose and then a couple of kidney shots to finish him off

Viola.
Fabio’s is your bitch.

Worked for me in the fifth grade against Douglas Spensor.
The little creep.

I was just at the HQ confessions site.
It’s sad, not spicy.  I need a shower now. (not in a good way)
Though, damn, I wish I read spanish!

Victoria, I bow to you!

Jeez, you ought to send that to Clooney. I bet he’d laugh his suave and classy ass off.

Victoria the Fug Girls at gofugyourself.com are HUGE Clooney fans and I bet they’d love to have that pic too.

I’m with Kate…the HQ Report is very confusing.  Is it a magazine, is it an actual report?  It seems like it’s trying to be something of a newsletter about the HQ reading community, but wouldn’t there be a better name for it?  Although, as we’ve seen with cover snarks, titles have never really been HQ’s strong point.  Maybe we should make some gentle suggestions for a different title.

Victoria, I bow to you!

Gah! Nora, can I put that on my next book? ROFL

Thanks, everyone. You’ve all made the wasted hours worth it.

Btw, after all the copyright issues, does anyone know if this constitutes fair use? Not that anyone on the web seems to care much about this stuff these days, but I bet there are some experts here.

Btw, after all the copyright issues, does anyone know if this constitutes fair use?

Er, I meant the Photoshopped pic, NOT stealing Nora’s props for my own nefarious purposes.

Aaaannd Clooney wins my heart once again.  Damn the man for being so self-depracating and charming.

God Clooney is a class act, and funny as all get out. Fabio? Not so much.

Always 84? I hop the hell not!

Victoria—brilliant!

And on the subject of Lindsay Lohan singing… I have no idea how much of the recording is improved in the studio engineering, but she did a song for the remake of Freaky Friday that I lurve. Yes, I confess, I like a Lindsay Lohan song! ::shame::

Come on, the studio hired really good songwriters and studio musicians. I’m not digging it for the singer.

Love love love the picture, Victoria!

I heart George Clooney, too!  I just read some more excerpts from his Esquire interview.  I can’t decide which of these three are my favorites:

In the April issue of Esquire, the debonair A-lister gamely agrees to a Google search session to check out a few of the rumors circulating about him.

One of the items that pops up is a Facebook group headlined, “George Clooney is NOT the sexiest man alive,” which solicits members by declaring, “That man is so full of himself it isn’t funny. Anyways join this group if you totally agree with me.”

Clooney, who is out stumping for his forthcoming football flick “Leatherheads,” responds by having the interviewer post the following comment: “That’s bulls**t. He looks great for a 70-year-old.”

Especially since he’s keeping a spot in his heart open for buddy Brad Pitt (given the right conditions, of course): “Well, you know, if I was a girl and he was a girl, and I was a lesbian and he was a lesbian, I’d be all over him.”

or

As for Rupert Everett declaring the “Ocean’s” film franchise a “cancer to world culture,” Clooney wonders, “Where did that come from? You kind of go, Dude, weren’t you in ‘Dunston Checks In’?”

You can see the whole blurb (not the interview) at http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/hotgossip/3-10-08_3